British couple going from Vegas to San Diego

Hi everyone,

We are going to LA on our honeymoon in May, staying with a relative who will be driving us to Vegas mid way through our trip. We will then be hiring a car and in Vegas after a few nights there and we are going to visit the Grand Canyon. The idea was to drive from Vegas to GC in the morning and ive read it takes about 4.5 hours. I have no idea how long we will spend at the GC....a couple of hours or is there lots to see and do there?

From the GC we planned on driving later afternoon and staying somewhere maybe 200 miles away or maybe a bit more, i have seen on a map either Sedona or Lake Havasu City. From there, in the morning we would head to San Diego. As we are from England we arent used to long distance driving so need to split the journey up and this way we get to see more places. Can anyone recommend anywhere to pass through and stay over night or are the places i mentioned ok? I am just wondering if there is anywhere else that would be even better to see? Or whether we would need more time at the GC.

Thanks for your help and advice in advance.

Victoria x

p.s just adding this, We leave Vegas on Monday morning and need to be back in Los Angeles on the Saturday, we wanted to see the Zoo in San Diego and possibly meet up with a friend if she is around but thought of an extra day in San Diego as a beach day which actually isnt neccessary really as we are going to the beach in LA. So that could be Friday in San Diego and stay over night, back to LA saturday morning. So the question really is what can we see on the way from the GC to San Diego and we have about 3-4 days to play with.

Hello, congratulations and welcome to the RTA forums !

I would start by saying that going from Vegas to GC and then travelling another 200 miles would an real long day and no time to do justice to this natural wonder. I would stay close to the Grand canyon, or better still at the Grand canyon and witness a romantic sunset. Staying in the National park will be the dearest option, but if your budget can take it worthwhile. [It is your Honey moon after all] Nearby is Tusayan and then the 'budget friendly' towns of Flagstaff and Williams. If you can work it into your itinerary, I would still recommend an overnight stop on route to SD.

hi, yeah i have looked at the Grand Canyon Hotel which was a bit pricey but as you say it is our honeymoon and its one my relative recommended. Im thinking just one day in San Diego so that we can see more places. I saw Palm Springs on a map....would you recommend that. I know our trip isnt much of a roadtrip compared to others but its our first time to america and for us a trip of a lifetime so we want to make sure we see all we can afford to and have time to see

this is what i have written down

sat 14th - vegas
sun 15th - vegas
mon 16th - grand canyon stay over night
tue 17th - ???????????? stay over night
wed 18th - ??????????? stay over night
thur 19th - San Diego Zoo stay over night
fri 20th - back to LA

I have just noticed your edit, so you certainly have time to enjoy the GC and I would recommend staying a night. On the way you could take your time, stop at the Hoover dam and even detour onto a stretch of the original route 66 from Kingman through Seligman. Down through Sedona and 'Red rock country' would be an option on the way to Palm Springs. I have not been to Palm Springs, but it is a world famous resort that competes with Vegas for tourist trade and portrays it in a more relaxed style, you will find Lot's of info using your search engine as only you can decide if it's what you are looking for. Nearby is Joshua tree NP that you could take a detour through to keep things varied. Mon night at [or near to] the canyon and a little more time there Tues Morn before heading to the Sedona area and Weds onto Palm Springs and a couple of days in San Diego could work nicely.

Use the search function to look around the forums for ideas, plus you can scroll down this page and you will find 'similar threads'.

Thank you very much, i have found a place called Bright Angel Lodge which has good views for staying at the GC and very reasonable so we could get the better lodge but still within our budget. Thanks for your help :)