Help needed planning a road trip

My husband and I are looking to visit in September for 2-3 weeks and need help planning a route.

We don%26#39;t want to drive everyday but are looking to incorporate the following:

- Scenery, both enjoy photography

- visit to observatory (Kitt Peak ? or any other recommendations) (keen astronomers)

- visit to meteor crater

- somewhere (possibly a resort) to relax for the final few days.

We%26#39;ve visited Las Vegas and Grand Canyon before so don%26#39;t necessarily need to incorporate these, although would be interested in other canyons (Bryce, Zion ?) if possible.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Help needed planning a road trip

7270

2-3 weeks is a long time and a bit ambiguous, so I%26#39;ll just throw out some stuff and you guys can go from there.

A couple of things to remember:

- The temperature in early September still hovers in the upper 30%26#39;s to low 40%26#39;s (C) around Tucson and Phoenix. It%26#39;s much more pleasant in the higher elevations, if not a tad cold in the evenings.

- Early September is still tourist season in the Grand Canyon region, but you%26#39;ll be able to still find bargains on accommodations in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

%26gt; - Scenery, both enjoy photography

You didn%26#39;t mention having previously visited Sedona, so that would be my first suggestion. Very, very pretty.

Then you%26#39;ve got the mountains. There are the Superstitions east of Phoenix, the Sky Islands in Southern Arizona (Santa Catalinas and Santa Ritas near Tucson, Mount Graham near Safford, Chiricahuas near Willcox), the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, and the desert areas west of Tucson. The area southeast of Tucson is also very pretty and famous for birding, although September is not really the time for that.

%26gt; - visit to observatory (Kitt Peak ? or any other recommendations) (keen astronomers)

Kitt Peak would be best. You%26#39;ll need to reserve for the night program at least a month in advance.

%26gt; - visit to meteor crater

This really shouldn%26#39;t be a priority. It%26#39;s just not that exciting.

%26gt; - somewhere (possibly a resort) to relax for the final few days.

Look into the resorts in the Phoenix area. You should be able to get some good deals in September.

%26gt; although would be interested in other canyons (Bryce, Zion ?) if possible.

Canyon de Chelly would be my first thought. You can arrange a guided tour of it. You could also do a tour of Antelope Canyon or spend the night at Marble Canyon. If you%26#39;re flying into Vegas, Bryce and Zion make sense though.

Help needed planning a road trip

You%26#39;ll get a lot of suggestions. I plan to be ambitious since you said you%26#39;d have 2-3 weeks.

Day 1-2:

Arrive in Phoenix and adjust to the local time, etc.

On day two check out the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. make some time for the Heard Museum of Native American Art.

Day 3-6:

Drive north to Sedona. Lots of great scenery there. Book a jeep tour, check out some local hiking (trails range from easy to moderate in most areas) and soak in the perfect Sept. weather. Visit nearby Montezuma Castle indian ruin. Shop. Eat. Relax. While you%26#39;re here, you can drive 30 minutes to Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon - amazing. There is the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and it%26#39;s open to the public. Lowell is where Pluto was discovered.

Day 7-8:

Drive to the Grand Canyon. Spend a night at the South Rim. Enjoy.

Day 9-10:

Leave the Canyon via the East Rim and head down to Winslow via Flagstaff. Spend the night at La Posada (a former Harvey House and well worth the time). As a day trip from Winslow, drive to Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

Day 11-13:

Drive east through Holbrook and then south on Hwy 77 to Show Low. Spend the night in Show Low and just enjoy the forest .

Day 13: Nice driving trip. Take Hwy 77 from Dhow Low and drive to Globe. Beautiful scenery on the way, but no real destinations. Once in Globe, grad some Mexican food at any local place. They%26#39;re all good. Stay on Hwy 77 through the tiny towns of Hayden and Oracle until you reach Tucson.

Day 14-18: Arrive in Tucson. Spend some quality time here relaxing. Great resorts such as Starr Pass (JW Marriott) Loew%26#39;s Ventana, Arizona Inn, Westward Look, La Paloma....

Lots of astronomy in Tucson. Kitt Peak is about 90 minutes away by car. The University of Arizona has a planetarium and there are some other observatories nearby, but I don%26#39;t know if they%26#39;re open to the public. (Mt. Graham is about two hours east of Tucson near Safford, but I don%26#39;t know if they do tours.)

Day 19-20: Drive back up to Phoenix. Hit some nightlife, or just relax by the pool.

Day 21: Adios. Back to the UK.

I like DougAZ%26#39;s itinerary, but since you have already been to Grand Canyon--here%26#39;s my suggestions to %26#39;tweak%26#39; it.

Days 7-10: Drive north from Flagstaff to Page and tour Antelope Canyon, then go east to Monument Valley/and or Canyon de Chelly. These places are much more interesting and scenic than the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest IMO.

Pick up on Doug%26#39;s interary on Day 11 in Holbrook. You can see my review of the LaPosada Hotel in Winslow on the TA Reviews.

Re: Meteor Crater--I wouldn%26#39;t drive out-of-my-way to visit this. If you are passing by, O.K., but I thought it a little spendy to see a big hole in the ground--interesting though.

Some great ideas already given. I will list a trip plan which includes lots of astronomy/space stuff!!

Here%26#39;s a link to various star gazing programs www.stargazingforeveryone.com

There are a number of B%26amp;B%26#39;s in AZ and NM that you may want to check out. Most have telescopes for you to use.

www.astronomersinn.com In Benson

www.oldwestbb.com in Sedona

www.shootingstarinn.com in Flagstaff

http://casitasdegila.com in Silver City NM

Day 1 arrive Phoenix. Stay there

Day 2 Phoenix area.

Day 3 To Sedona

Day 4 Sedona. Check out these tours: www.eveningskytours.com and www.sedonastarlight.com

Day 5 Sedona

Day 6 Grand Canyon, enter via south entrance. Stay inside the park. Many times the rangers have Star Talks in the evenings and full moon talks around the full moon time.

Day 7 Grand Canyon in morning drive to Page AZ. Stay in Page

Day 8 Page area all day. Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon. Drive on to Monument Valley for the night. Stay at Gouldings or The View

Day 9 See sunrise at Monument Valley the off to Canyon de Chelly Nat Mon. Stay there.

Day 10 Petrified Forest and Painted Desert Nat Park and then over to Meteor Crater, which I enjoy visiting occasionally, especially since I%26#39;m into astronomy too. Stay in Flagstaff this night. See Lowell Observatory

Day 11 Drive to Tucson for the night. Stop and see Montezuma%26#39;s Castle Nat Mon, Casa Grande Nat Mon on the way.

Day 12 Arizona Sonoran Museum in Tucson and Saguaro Nat Park. Also there is a great bunch of museums at the Univ of AZ, the science museum has a planetarium, and a small observatory. A larger observatory is on Mt Lemmon. http://skycenter.arizona.edu/

www.flandrau.org/

Day 13 Drive out to Kitt Peak in early afternoon. Make reservations for the night program. www.noao.edu/outreach/kpoutreach.html

Day 14 Tombstone or Kartchner Caverns

Day 15 Drive on to Silver City. Maybe stay at http://casitasdegila.com which has telescopes and head up to Gila Cliff Dwellings.

Day 16 Las Cruces NM. Interesting town and just north of there is where the new Spaceport is going in. Also visit Alamogordo and White Sands Nat Mon and there is a great Space Museum www.nmspacemuseum.org . Also this is one of 3 places in the country that the space shuttle can land. Outside of Alamogordo is Cloudcroft with Apache Point Observatory www.apo.nmsu.edu and the National Solar Observatory http://nsosp.nso.edu/pr/visitors_center.html

Day 17 Drive up to Socorro and then west to see the Very Large Array (VLA) http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

Day 18 From Socorro drive west to AZ and to Phoenix for a resort stay

Day 19 Phoenix/Scottsdale

Day 20 Phoenix/Scottsdale

Day 21 Phoenix/Scottsdale

In re-reading your OP, I have to concur with CasaAzul%26#39;s suggestions for adding the additional week (making your trip 3 weeks). It would be a shame to come all the way from the UK and miss some of the best space museums and observatories in the SW area.

The space museum at Alamagordo is absolutely outstanding! We spent half a day there and we really are not particularly keen on astromomy or space exploration. We also found the National Solar Observatory near Cloudcroft interesting, although we didn%26#39;t understand a lot of what we saw.

The Lodge at Cloudcroft is a fun place to stay. Located at 9000 ft., it includes a 9 hole golf course if you are into golfing. www.thelodgeresort.com

If you choose to add the NM leg to your trip, be sure to allow a few hours to tour White Sands National Monument. Great photo ops here.

Thanks for all this info. Gives me plenty to work on. Given that temperatures will still be high in early Sept, would we be better travelling late Sept/early Oct. We still want hot weather, but perhaps not 40+ degrees !!

Yes, you might want to consider late September/early October instead of early September. The temperatures should be more comfortable at that time.

We usually go to AZ in late October/early November and always seem to hit good weather. Warm (shorts and sandals type) weather, but not too hot in the desert. However, in the mountain areas, it sometimes gets rather cool, even freezing at night.

In early October, it should still be very pleasant in the mountains too.

Thanks for all the information. I now know that we will be in Arizona for 18 nights, flying to and from Phoenix. So how does the following route sound?

Day 1 - arrive Phoenix, stay overnight

Day 2 - drive to Sedona for 2 night stay

Day 3-4 - around Sedona

Day 5 - drive to Page for 2 nights

Day 6 - Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell

Day 7 - Drive to Monument Valley for 2 nights

Day 8 - Monument Valley

Day 9 - Drive to Show Low via Canyon de Chelly for 2 nights

Day 10 - visit Very Large Array (New Mexico)

Day 11 - drive to Tombstone area (any ideas for overnight stay please?)

Day 12 - drive towards Kitt Peak Observatory, stay somewhere in vicinity for 2 nights

Day 13 - Kitt Peak Observatory (day and night tour)

Day 14 - drive to stay in resort in Phoenix/Scottsdale for 5 nights

Days 15-18 - relax in Phoenix/Scottsdale

Day 19 - depart Phoenix

We still need to plan what to do/see each day but this is the route we%26#39;ve come up with for the moment. Any further suggestions greatly appreciated. If this is too ambitious or driving distances not practical then please say. This is our 1st visit to Arizona so we need all the help and advice we can get please.

Thanks again for all help.

Good plan! Here%26#39;s some input..

Day 1 - arrive Phoenix, stay overnight

Day 2 - To Sedona

Day 3 - Sedona (I would think about another day and night in Sedona)

Day 4 - Drive to Page, stop and see Wupatki and Sunset Crater along the way. Stay Page

Day 5 - Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell. Stay Page

Day 6 - Drive to Monument Valley.

Day 7 - Monument Valley

Day 8 - Drive to Canyon de Chelly. Stay there for the night.

Day 9 - Drive to Show Low via Petrified Forest National Park.

Day 10 - Drive to VLA about 3 hours driving. Return to Show Low or continue to I25 in NM and down to Las Cruces for the night.

Day 11 - drive to Tombstone area. There are a few B%26amp;B%26#39;s or you can go to Tucson for the night.

Day 12 - Tucson and Kitt Peak Observatory

Day 13 - Tucson

Day 14 - Phoenix/Scottsdale

Day 15 Scottsdale

Day 16 Scottsdale

Day 17 Scottsdale

Day 18 Scottsdale

Day 19 - depart Phoenix

Thanks for all the replies. Taking Casa Azuls suggestions, would we be able to change as follows or would this mean too much driving:

Day 4 - drive to GC North Rim for the night.

Day 5 - Spend morning/early afternoon at GC North Rim, drive to Page for the night.

Day 6 - Visit Antelope Canyon, drive to Monument Valley for night

Day 7-10, as CasaAzul suggests.

Day 11 - drive to Tombstone, stay Astronomer%26#39;s Inn Benson.

Day 12-19 - as CasaAzul suggests