Dear Arizona Travel:

We are traveling from London 1 adult, 3 children- I do not want to drive. We would like to head for the Grand Canyon in late October -  maybe fly into Flagstaff and take the train. Then stay at a lodge, take a scenic flight and take the overnight mule trip. We then need to go back to Tucson where we plan to stay on a dude ranch. Can you help me build an itinerary?
Thanks,
Anne

Hi, Anne. I believe you’re in a position in which many potential Arizona visitors find themselves. It’s easy to misunderstand the geography of the area and be confounded by the array of available tours available at the Grand Canyon.  I’ll be honest and tell you that driving yourself yourself at least some of the trip is the most sensible way to go, but if you’re dead set against driving yourself, it’s not impossible to do it your way.

The Grand Canyon Railway does not depart Flagstaff; it leaves from Williams, which is 39 miles west of Flagstaff. Most people drive from Flagstaff to Williams, but you could take a taxi (try www.afriendlycab.com).  You can certainly stay in a lodge at the Grand Canyon rim, using the free shuttles to explore the South Rim itself, and take your scenic helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon from the South Rim area (flights depart from the airport near the Village of Tusayan. You’ll need a cab from the lodges at the Rim to go about 8 miles to the Grand Canyon airport helicopter pad for your flight.)

You will take the mule trip from the South Rim. Call Xanterra Parks & Resorts at (303) 297-2757 to reserve as soon as possible. Reservations can be made up to 13 months in advance and they fill up very, very quickly.

You may take the train back to Williams on a different day than your train trip up to the Grand Canyon rim, I believe up to 2 nights, 3 days between trips. If the Grand Canyon Railway folks give you the go ahead, note that the train goes back to Williams in the afternoon… just be sure to ask the mule trip folks if you’ll back back up at the Rim in time to catch the train back to Williams.

You’ll need to drive or take a cab back from Williams to Flagstaff and board your flight from Flagstaff, connecting through Phoenix to Tucson. As for transportation to the dude ranch in Tucson, I can only speculate that you’ll be able to take a cab from the airport to your final destination.

Thus, your itinerary might look something like this:

• Day 1:
  • Flight from (or connecting through) Phoenix to Flagstaff
  • Cab ride to Williams
  • Stay overnight in Williams (For your itinerary, I recommend the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel)
• Day 2:
  • Train ride up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
  • Explore Rim by shuttle and on foot
  • Cab ride to Grand Canyon Airport for a helicopter tour
  • Cab ride back to Grand Canyon Village at the Rim
  • Stay overnight in one of the Lodges (book up to 13 months in advance)
• Day 3:
  • Depart on Mule Trip from the South Rim
  • Stay overnight at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon (book at least 13 months in advance)
• Day 4:
  • Return from the Mule Trip, back up the Rim
  • Take the afternoon train back to Williams
  • Cab ride to Flagstaff
  • Stay overnight in Flagstaff
• Day 5:
  • Flight from Flagstaff through Phoenix to Tucson
  • Cab ride to Dude Ranch (theoretically)

Hope this helps! Take care and enjoy this very full and exciting-sounding trip!

–ChristinaToo

Dear Arizona Travel:

Visiting the US for the first time from Wales UK in early April. We will stay in Phoenix for 2 days with our daughter at Uni.,then shuttle to Flagstaff for much of the remainder of our 10 day trip. The Budget Inn, Flagstaff, seems to be well considered or do you have another to recommend?
However, we fancy seeing Las Vegas for a short trip (1 or 2 nights.) Please can you advise us on travel? We would welcome advice. Thank you.

Rebecca R.

Dear Rebecca,

Your trip sounds wonderful! Welcome to the US!

Flagstaff’s weather should be lovely in early April; you’ll experience high temps of about 57°F (14°C) and lows around 26°F (-3°C) with a majority of the month being sunny or partly cloudy.

The Budget Inn in Flagstaff is not a hotel with which I’m personally familiar but I can recommend a couple of other hotels that might suit your budget as well as be a bit more comfortable for a 10-day stay. Look for “Inn and Suites” type hotels, which has become a sort of code word or euphemism for “upscale motel.”  I think a suite hotel, with a typical two-room setup (or at least a bachelor suite with a separate sitting area) and sometimes a fridge, microwave or even a full kitchen, makes an extended stay more comfortable, less expensive and healthier (when you prepare some of your own meals and snacks in the suite.)

Try these Flagstaff inn and suites:

• Hotel Aspen Inn Suites (around $64/night for a two-room suite in early April) Book Here
• Days Inn and Suites (around $75 – $99/night for a mini-suite to two-room suite in early April) Book Here
• Embassy Suites Flagstaff (around $129/night in early April) Book Here

» Another smart tip: Look for hotels with a 3rd or 4th Night Free promotion, and those with complimentary Continental or full breakfast included in the rate (such as Embassy Suites) to add further value to your 10-day stay.

Embassy Suites Flagstaff

Las Vegas is a great 1 – 2 night side trip idea, and it’s easy to drive there from Flagstaff.  I suggest you rent a car (I would rent a car in Phoenix for the entire trip, myself… Flagstaff is a walkable city, but you’ll need a car at some point, since cabs get expensive and there is no public bus or metro transportation in and around Flagstaff.) Drive yourselves to Las Vegas via Interstate 40 to US-93. Las Vegas is approximately 250 miles (402 km) and takes 4 hours, 10 minutes.  You can browse, compare and book Las Vegas hotels on Flagstaff.com’s hotel booking tool, and I suggest you opt for a Las Vegas hotel on “The Strip” versus Downtown Las Vegas or Off the Strip. Of course, the Strip is where you’ll find the ultimate in luxury hotels (and prices) but there are several budget-friendly casino resort hotels such as Bally’s that will put you right in the center of the action and still leave money left over for a little gambling and entertainment.

You can’t come to Flagstaff for ten days and not venture out to see the Grand Canyon (another reason to have your own rental car.) It’s just 90 minutes from Flagstaff to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and you can soak up the awesome beauty in a day-long trip, walking along the Rim Trail to different view points, attending free Park Ranger talks and dining in the Grand Canyon National Park lodges and visitors’ areas. Check out our sister website, theCanyon.com, for things to do at the Grand Canyon, from helicopter tours to day hikes to free events.

Once again, welcome to the US and enjoy your trip!

– ChristinaToo

Rodney Ramsey on Flickr - (CC BY 2.0)

Dear Arizona Travel:

My family and I are taking Amtrak from Albaqerque [sic] to either Williams or Flaggstaff [sic]. We are taking the Grand Canyon Railroad the next morning from Williams to Grand Canyon. Is there affordable transportation between Flaggstaff and Williams?

We are considering renting a car but we cant seem to pick it up in Williams and drop it off at the Flaggstaff airport prior to our flight out? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you,
Jeannie

Dear Jeannie:

I suggest you come into the Amtrak station in Flagstaff, not Williams, to make it easiest to combine a car rental with your train travel. In Flagstaff, you’ll want to rent a car from a downtown rental agency such as Hertz Local Edition (Downtown Amtrak).

Drive your rental car to Williams (about 39 miles) and take the Grand Canyon Railway to the South Rim and back to Williams, then drive back to Flagstaff. You should be able to return to the Hertz location at the Flagstaff Airport without trouble, but just check with Hertz to be certain.

If you choose, you can instead take Amtrak into Williams, take the Grand Canyon Railway as planned, and then take a cab or shuttle from Williams to the Flagstaff airport. Try A Friendly Cab (www.afriendlycab.com) – very reasonable rates and nice people. Tell them Christina at Flagstaff.com sent you.

Hope this helps!
ChristinaToo

Dear Arizona Travel:
I will be staying at [name redacted] resort in Scottsdale, AZ from April 18th thorough April 22nd, I would like to tour the Grand Canyon. How far is it from the hotel? How much will it cost? trasportation? how long will the trip be? Give all possible details please.
Thanks.
Natalia

Hi, Natalia!

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is approximately 4 hours from Scottsdale… 232 miles.

I recommend Open Road Tours or DeTours. The cost for either tour is $145/person.

Plan on 12.5 hours; it’s a full day trip. Most tours depart around 7:30 am and return around 8:30 pm, depending on when they pick you up at your hotel.

Hope that helps, Natalia! Have fun!
–ChristinaToo

Dear Arizona Travel,
My wife and I will be visiting Sedona in April, and then will spend a few days on the South Rim.  I want to go ahead of her by a day to do some hiking and would like to find out if there is a bus or shuttle service from Sedona to the South Rim.  If so, can you please provide details on it or a web link?
Thanks,
Brian, Pennsylvania

Hi, Brian.

Sure! You can either pay for a “tour” from Sedona to the Grand Canyon and maybe not take the round trip back to Sedona, or you can take a shuttle from Sedona to Flagstaff and Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.

For the “tour” option, we recommend All About Grand Canyon Tours (priced at $99).
For the shuttle option, we recommend Arizona Shuttle. You’ll pay $25 for Sedona to Flagstaff and $24 – $28 for Flagstaff to Grand Canyon (does not include the park entrance fee.)

Have fun!
ChristinaToo

Here’s a question we received this week on our site, Scottsdale-Phoenix.net:

 

I am planning on flying to Phoenix in September and was hoping to locate a bus or train that goes to Sedona, near Phoenix airport. Please let me know the status of transportation from Phoenix to Sedona. I wasn’t planning on renting a car.

Thanks, Sue from California

ChristinaToo says:

Hi, Sue. We recommend the Sedona-Phoenix Shuttle. You can find a link to their website from this page on Sedona.net: Sedona Shuttles & Transportation

However, you may rethink not getting a rental car; once you arrive in Sedona, you’ll want to explore the town and it’s too large to do so on foot and taxi service would equal the cost of a rental car anyway. If you want to wait until you get to Sedona to rent a car, that’s a viable option and there are several companies to check into: Sedona Car Rental, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and several others. Check out our Directory page for more details: Sedona Car Rental Directory

FYI: There is no train that runs from Phoenix to Sedona. Folks interested in riding a train can, however, board an Amtrak line in Maricopa (train station MRC) to Flagstaff (train station FLG). Greyhound bus options are available to and from Phoenix, Flagstaff and Sedona to augment your trip.

Good luck and have a great trip!

–Christina

We hope this helps anyone out there with the same question… enjoy Sedona!