Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff and Grand Canyon South rim - Jan 2011 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff and Grand Canyon South rim - Jan 2011
Hubby and I are seriously considering a winter trip to AZ for a week. Anyone been to Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff or the south rim of the grand canyon? Any must dos?? Any things to flat out avoid?
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I know nothing about going there in January, but the Grand Canyon is absolutely amazing and a real must-do for us. We've been lucky enough to go there twice and the second trip we took, which included a helicopter trip down to the base of the canyon and a boat ride along the river was by far the best way to see the place and get the feel of the enormity of it.
Of your list, I've only done the GC (overnight trip, drove from LV). Try to stay inside the park if you can. If you're going to just do an overnight trip, try to find out the ranger talk list before you go. That was a problem w/ us. By the time we arrived at the hotel (Maswik), checked in, grabbed a quick bite and got oriented, all of the ranger talks were over for the day. Then, we had to leave by noon the next day, so we didn;t get to do any of them that day, either. So basically, all we got to do was ride the shuttle bus around and look in the canyon, cause once it's dark, there is nothing to do.
Keep in mind that the GC is higher up than Phoenix, so you will contend w/ cold temps and very possibly snow.
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We've been to Sedona and The Grand Canyon for New Years several times. It can be cold and there may be snow. We hiked down the canyon in early January one year. It was snowy and icy at the top and warm and sunny at the Colorado river later that day.
Winter is a great time to visit Sedona and Grand Canyon--the crowds are much smaller than during the summer months. Its also a lot easier to get rooms at the historic El Tovar hotel on the rim of the Grand Canyon.
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
We were just in Phoenix back in July. Given that you're looking at January, I think things will be a lot different then. We went to a baseball game. No baseball in January. The majority of the trip, we just lounged by the pool at our resort.
I haven't been to any of the other places, but from what I understand, you'll probably experience a range of temperatures. From what I've heard, the GC area can get pretty chilly at night, and I'm thinking January it could be downright cold.
I suggest ordering some travel brochures. We have so many from Arizona and we are thinking of moving out there in about 2-3 years - which is why we went to Phoenix in the peak of summer - we had to see if we could handle it at its worst.