In September my husband and I are going to Vegas with 2 other couples. We are not sure of whether or not we should pay for a tour comapny to take us out to the Grand Canyon or if we should rent a van ourselves. Any thoughts/suggestions?
Grand Canyon - tour company or drive yourself?
I usually drive myself since that gives me more control over itienery and time. Costwise with 4 people even with gas price nowadays may still come up better than tour company.
I would also recommend staying overnight so you can wake up early to catch the sunrise which is gorgeous.
The only time I did tour company was when I did either helicopter or plane ride to GC from Vegas. And with tour company the benefits are you have narration, and leave the driving or flying to someone else. The downside is you are paying for it.
Grand Canyon - tour company or drive yourself?
Ditto!
Drive yourselves and spend a night there. It will cost you less than an all day tour and you%26#39;ll have a much better GC experience.
Agree with above . . . with your own van you can stop when %26amp; where you want to, eat where you want to, and with several drivers easily split up the driving hours (and the fuel/rental costs). I%26#39;d also suggest staying overnight :-)
I also think you should drive rather than take a tour. With bus tours you are on their schedule-not your own. You will see what they decide you should see. When they say get on the bus- you have to get on that bus even if you want to stay longer (or leave earlier). You also waste time picking up other passengers and dropping them off after the tour.
It takes about 5 hours to get to the GC so most people do suggest staying overnight.
If you%26#39;re doing this in Sept, you have time to plan a proper trip to GCNP which includes an oevenight stay. If you can drive yourselves, you don%26#39;t want to think about a coach tour .... you only get 3 hours at the canyon. On you own, you can have whatever time you can reasonably plan.
Make your reservation inside GCNP asa possible at www.grandcanyonlodges.com If booked call for cancellations. Or try to find accomodation in Tusayan at the south entrance to the NP.
Tet
Save yourself the headache and rent a car, we took the bus tour and broke down and was stranded at a truck stop 80 miles from any town and waited fro 6 hours before another bus showed up. There were 6 buses from same company on the tour and we were the second bus out in the morning and the last to arrive back. We left at 5:30 am and returned at 2:30 am and no compensation from the company.
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