Las Vegas and Grand Canyon

Hello,
My spouse and I would like to take a short trip.
He's thinking Las Vegas (works for Hydro-Quebec and fancies everything "electric" )
and I'm thinking Grand Canyon.
And so we're going to compromise and go 3 days/each place.

We haven't researched anything yet since we just took the decision.

Is it an easy drive from Vegas to the Canyon? How long does it take?
Any suggestions on where to stay near the Canyon? Better yet, directly in the park?
(I'm in a wheelchair and that makes "just-getting-there-and-improvise" harder. I need a plan...)
Any "musts" I should know about for either place?
We were thinking June...

I welcome all comments and suggestions.
Thanks

Sounds like the south rim at the Grand Canyon is going to be your best bet. There are lots of hotels right outside the gate in "Grand Canyon Village" and a simple search on google will turn up a lot of choices. The next closest place for a place to stay will probably be Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff will have a much wider variety of restaurants and hotels, but it's about an hour drive to the canyon from there.

I've done the drive to Vegas before... but I can't remember how long it took. It wasn't TOO long, though. I want to say 4-6 hours. Depending of course on how many times you stop to take photos and buy coffee...

In Vegas... well, my best advice is to do the strip at night, and during the day get out of the city. Lake Mead is not too far away, Valley of Fire State Park too. Beautiful land out that way! If you're lucky you might even have some wildlife sightings as well. I've seen wild horses, bighorn sheep, and other good stuff.

Hope you have a great trip!

My sister stayed in the lodge on the south rim, I think. She paid about 100 dollars a night there, which isn't bad considering the location. The location cannot be beat, as the rooms overlook the canyon, and you can walk around at night or even dusk and watch the colors change. It's how I'll do it next time. I'm not sure about the prices, but I think I recall her saying it cost that much. You pay more for a good Vegas room sometimes.

Do not even think about those bus tours from Vegas. Do it right. Rent a car in Vegas, and drive it to the Canyon. Its an easy 4-6 hour drive, depending on how fast you like to drive, how long you want to stop in between driving sessions, and if you want to risk a speeding ticket. My bus took six to seven long hours at legal speeds, if that's any gauge, and we stopped for about 45 minutes for rest breaks.

Oh yes, the Skywalk. Apparently, the only way you can get to it is by a packaged tour, and its a bit expensive. Also quite amazing, I'm told. My father went there. They don't allow cameras on the skywalk, so if you're lucky, you might sneak a photo with your cellphone or something. Word to the wise.

In July 2006, took a $99 bus day tour from Vegas to the Grand Canyon (flew to Vegas from LA on a whim specifically for that purpose) and I didn't have a problem with the bus at all. It was a far cry from the Greyhound in comfort anyways. Played a couple movies. Fed us. Stopped at the Hoover Dam for a photo op.

In December 2007 I stayed in a room right on the south rim that had a private sink and a shared toilet and shower. I paid $60 a night.

While in Vegas, maybe check out the Neon Museum. http://www.neonmuseum.org/

CSI films there a lot.

My bus driver wouldn't stop talking the entire time, and we only spent 3 actual hours at the Canyon. We arrived back tired and all talked up. The movies were well, horrible. I told the people at my hostel about the experience, and the response was "Let me guess, she wouldn't shut up. Next time rent a car"


It costs less to rent a car, drive it yourself, stay overnight, and drive back the next afternoon. Then you have a full day at the canyon, and no one yapping at you for 12 hours with a 3 hour respite.

You can also stop for an hour or so to get the Hoover dam tour.

Bottom line, renting a car is far more productive for the time and money.

We rented a car for our trip all around Utah (absolutely fantastci) did the north and south rim and Vegas. It makes it so much easier and you have your own space to come and go as you like. We were camping which wouldn't be any use to you but there are many hotels as you would image near to the canyons which you can book on-line. In Vegas we stayed off Strip in a 1 bed apartment for £50 a night, full kitchen and lounge TV, we just booked off the Internet again.
check out my website for places to visit
www.getjealous.com/trio
Best of Luck and keep safe
Jean

You might consider visiting the Havasupai Native American Reservation, at the bottom of the far western part of the Canyon (and some argue this is not the Grand Canyon...but I'm not gonna go there) - they have a 20-room lodge there, but I am unsure if there are accessible rooms. Helicopter is one of two options to get there (the other being an 8 mile hike down the canyon). The drive to the helicopter pad is about 4 hours from Vegas, and you'd pass right by Hoover Dam which sounds like it might be interesting for you.

While it would be difficult for you to descend a bit further to the signature attraction of Havasupai Falls, staying at the lodge and taking in the reservation area would still allow you to admire some beautiful scenery (and at night, see more stars than you ever thought possible). Most of the reservation area is hard-packed dirt and is "rollable".

here's some more information, from the article that inspired me to take the trip:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/19/TRGTBH8UAO1.DTL

Last year there was some severe flash flooding, and I am uncertain if the lodge and reservation area is open - the links in the article should help answer that question.