Places of attraction: Las Vegas & Grand Canyon

Dear friends,

I am starting this thread for each and everyone of us to share the places to visit at various cities, countries, islands etc. This can be used as a guide by all those who plan to visit a particular place and need help or just for people like me who like to know stuff abt places so it comes in handy in related discussions.

Love
Shal

Hi Shal & Vandhana

We are planning on a weekend trip to Las Vegas & Grand Canyon, can you share your tips and experience with us. I find your tips very valuable and it kind of helps me plan things and thus making the trip a pleasurable one.

i have a few queries like

- any particular airlines or site to book tickets at a deal
- Is four days enough to cover both the places
- any hotels that you suggest
- how to go to GC, do we take the tour at the hotel or rent a car
- we would like to see the sunrise and sunset at GC, so how about the stay arrangements/ is it wise to spend overnight there


Thanks in anticipation
hopefloats

Dear Hopefloats,

Vegas and Grand Canyon are two places one defly wouldn't like to miss. Although I've been to Vegas, we couldn't cover Grand Canyon as we fell short of time.

We went to LA(Universal Studios alone, as we'd already covered LA plus Disneyland earlier) just bfore new years(guess on 28th) and drove from there to Vegas on the 29th and returned on 1st. We drove both ways.

We booked the hotel through Travelocity...we usually book through Hotels.com or Expedia, but after some research, I came to the conclusion that travelocity gave much better rates. We were booking at the last moment(like just a week or two bfore the new year), so we were getting good hotels like Luxor/Wynn for over 800 a night! So, we were forced to book in a cheaper hotel, but we sure were not disappointed with the hotel or the service. This one named Palace Station is just abt a mile away from the strip.

1. Be prepared to walk a lot and cover the whole strip for each of the hotels is worth visiting. If you are a freako like me, you'd not miss the New York New York roller coaster or the Stratosphere Freefall!

2. Try any of the lunch buffets and you're sure to like 'em. We had the buffet at Sahara and also the ones at the hotel we stayed at...I enjoyed both.

3. Gamble in the casinos if you like doing that...I know a lot of friends who just love it...though not a great fan of it, I defly like playing the Blackjack. I did not play the last time we went, but if we happen to go again, I surely want to try once at the table. I am bored of playing in my cellphone!!

4. Try going atleast to one of the shows like Cirque Du Soleil, David Copperfield Celine Dion show, etc.

Lots of more fun stuff to do once you arrive there...I am sure each of us could give a new idea, for Vegas is never short of ideas for fun!

Hope this helps

-Shal

Dear Hoep Floats,

Since Shal already covered LV, I will cover GC. Try southwest airlines to Vegas from the bay area. They usually have good deals. Regarding GC, It is a 4 hour drive from Vegas. You can stay in Williams, AZ. They have a lot of Hotels and it is about 40 minutes drive to the entrance of the South Rim.
There are a few lodges in the park itself, but you must book well in advance. Sunrise is possible if you stay in the park lodges. But don't miss the sunset. it is worth while to stay overnight.

4 days is enough to cover both places. Here is a link for you to get more info about GC:

http://www.thecanyon.com/

Vandhana

Hi All

Thanks Shal & Vandhana.........i had a very nice time.

If you are going to visit LV, then combining it with a trip to GC is recommended. We reached on saturday morning at LV, then visited Hoover Dam and then rented a car and reached GC. We had booked accomodation inside the park. Its called Maswik Lodge. A place worth staying. There are seperate houses too which they rent, they almost look like "nambha oru koorai veedu"...and at midnight if you come out you will definitely meet lots of deers walking past your window. The next day morning we went to see sunrise. It was absolutely amazing. I strongly would recommend sunrise. I feel the best time to visit GC is september. The weather was bearable and the sky was clear, so the view was great. The lodge also has chartered buses to take you around. The food at the lodge is also resonable and a variety of fruits and food is also available.

We reached LV on sunday night. the moment we drove to the city limits it was like a river of gold. we were amazed to look at the way they have capitalised the place. LV has a lot of casinos/hotels which are replicas of famous buildings/monuments. you go about exploring each and every one of them. the are a lot of good shows worth watching but unfortunately every thing was full. my friend, who has a thing for music, went for the phantom opera and she went ga ga about it. the blue man show is also worth watching but the availability of tickets is a hitch. but apart from these there are lots and lots of free shows which kept us busy for two full days. we stayed at Stratosphere. we got a very good deal. there are a few rides at stratosphere, which would normally cost you $29, but if you are staying there you get a good discount to visit as well as buffet. keep looking for discount coupons everywhere. we got a few at the rental office company. it gave us 50% at madam tussads, a free ice-cream at paris hotel, a free slice of pizza at new york-new york, a free gift at antique shop (we missed it tough) and half price on buffet tickets too..and many more discount tickets on various shows. so look for coupons, but even without any of these you are sure to have fun.

cheers
hopefloats

Is october november a good time to visit GrandCanyon? we might be going to CA and i wanted to combine LV,Gc all together in one trip, is it possible? how many days will be needed to cover all of it?

hi nila1

In my opinion, it would take four days to cover both GC and LV. This year September was the best period, but wouldnt say the other months would not be nice. My friend went to GC last week and because it was slightly foggy, she did not have a clear view but she had a chance to see lighting in the GC and she says it was a sight to see. They were advised by the rangers to settle at the observatory instead of a hike and from there she says the experience was totally different. So plan you trip with the weather in mind. Be prepared for the cold. The wise way would be to go to their official site that vandhana has mentioned and check their forecast and their suggestions.

Friends,

We are planning to combine Los Angeles and Las Vegas within 3 days. Is this possible. Any suggestions please?

Thanks,

Friends,

To add to my previous post, we are planning to visit LA and LV during the 1st week of June with a 2.5 year old kid. We will be flying from Chicago. Waiting for your suggestions and guidance.

Thanks,

Thanks for sharing the information.
We are also planning a trip to California and GC.
Thanks,
Punitha