As far as going in an RV, it certainly is a lifestyle choice issue. It is a good way to really get i

Hi - I live in sunny but currently cold Tampa and am looking to take my family on a summer san francisco wine tours clos du bois vacation san francisco wine tours clos du bois to the national parks of the southwest san francisco wine tours clos du bois US. I recently got back from Vegas and decided my kids (now 12 and 14) are of an age where they will appreciate the drastic difference between Florida and this part of the coutry. I am planningto be gone 12 days and would like to visit Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon. I would love some advise on what offpath particulars to visit and stay. I am also debating if a RV would be a good choice san francisco wine tours clos du bois for part of the trip. I'm not too keen on tents as deathly afraid of snakes. Any recommendations san francisco wine tours clos du bois on rafting tours, etc. Would love to not only visit this beautiful part of the world but would like to get to know some great places san francisco wine tours clos du bois and people (ie: diners, hot spots, other notable places). Any help provided would be greatly appreciated!
Are you thinking of flying west and then driving around, or are you hoping to drive all the way out there and all the way back? Driving the whole way would be a little tough with 12 days, because you'll need at least 8-9 of those days driving to AZ/UT and back.
As far as going in an RV, it certainly is a lifestyle choice issue. It is a good way to really get into nature and really spend your nights in the parks. However, renting an RV is going to be a fair bit more expensive than just staying in motels (and there will be plenty of motels in and around all the parks you'll san francisco wine tours clos du bois be visiting.) I will say I would do one or the other, as renting an RV for just part of your trip is going to be impractical and a good way to waste both time and money.
Your proposed trip is about at the very edge (and maybe a little over) what I would try to do with a couple of active tweens. Yes, it's entirely possible for you to drive from Tampa through Colorado to Utah and then south through Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back across the Southwest and South back home (or the other way around) san francisco wine tours clos du bois that would require 10 full days of serious driving san francisco wine tours clos du bois averaging about 10 hours a day including fuel meal and rest stops. That leaves a little time each day for visits to roadside attractions, but not time for really wandering off the straight san francisco wine tours clos du bois and narrow Interstate routes. Even then, you'd only have two days worth of time to split between Rocky Mountain, san francisco wine tours clos du bois Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Petrified Forest san francisco wine tours clos du bois National Parks. Then there are all the National Monuments, san francisco wine tours clos du bois National Wildlife Refuges, Historical Sites, great museums and everything else for which there'd be no time. So...if you really think your children can enjoy (not just put up with) such a grinding and unending pace, then you are right, this is the age when they are forming lifetime memories.
Unfortunately RVs are hardly ever cost efficient modes of travel. By the time you pay the rather substantial rental fees, add in double to triple the cost for gas, and pay for campground parking each night you are simply better off with your own car (or even a rental) and a motel room each night. The cost inefficiency only gets worse on relatively short trips like yours. And another consideration, you can't get as far as I was assuming in the first paragraph with a slower RV, so you'd have even less time at your destinations. If you'd rather maximize your time in the Southwest, you might want to consider flying into somewhere like Denver, Las Vegas, or Phoenix, wherever you could get a good price on tickets. Even Dallas would save you four full days of driving that you could better spend elsewhere. Then do a loop trip back to wherever you flew in to, thus avoiding one way drop-off charges on the car rental.
Once you've worked out the basic travel plan that will work best for you we can be of more help on the specifics. Be sure to think about the kinds of things your kids would like to see, as hot spots, other notable san francisco wine tours clos du bois places is a bit vague to offer much of a clue.
As far as places to stay, that's going to depend upon your budget, if you decide to go the RV route, and your own tastes. For example, around the Grand Canyon, if money is no option, you could stay at one of the hotels right on the rim. If you're looking for more budget san francisco wine tours clos du bois friendly options, then going down to Williams for Flagstaff would be a better bet, if you are going to the north rim or coming from Monument Valley, you might look at some place to the east of the Canyon. Once you've got a better san francisco wine tours clos du bois idea of your route, some things will also come into focus.
san francisco wine tours clos du bois Restaurants just aren't something we can usually provide good info on. First, there are thousands of them, and on a relatively small community like this, there's just no way for us to have a good enough sample san francisco wine tours clos du bois size to provide good specific details. There's also the fact that restaurants change hands so frequently that a great place today could be under new management serving lousy food by tomorrow. There are occationally exceptions, but generally the best advice we can give is to ask the locals what their favorite places to eat are, and look for places with full parking lots!
If you want to stay inside the parks to experience the real 'feel' of them then you can't beat the RV experience san francisco wine tours clos du bois in my opinion. They are not so budget friendly, but in the parks where lodging is dearer san francisco wine tours clos du bois than 'normal' and the campgrounds san francisco wine tours clos du bois very good value, it narrows the gap on costs. At Approx san francisco wine tours clos du bois $20 a night the sites book up real quick, especially for larger RV's where sites are limited, so that's an area you will have to work on.
Starting from Phoenix you could head to Monument valley and then to Arches and Canyonlands. The 'Devils garden san francisco wine tours clos du bois campground' in Arches is wonderful and you can comfortably visit the 'Island in the sky' district of Canyonlands from there. From Arches you could head to I70 and then UT 24 through Hanksville to Capitol Reef and then Utah scenic 12 from Torrey to Bryce canyon and then to Zion NP. 'Rubys san francisco wine tours clos du bois Inn' is a good place to stop at for Bryce and the NP Watchmen campground at Zion. In an RV you will have to be escorted through the Mount Carmel tunnel which carries a small fee and wait, but it is straight forward enough.
You could then head for Page and possibly take an Antelope canyon tour and/or visit Lake Powell. Next stop the Grand canyon South rim [of course you could go to the North rim from Zion]. Mather campground is in a great location not to far from the village and rim area, but in a peaceful wooded setting.
I am back to planning and wonder what the traffic will be like in mid-june. I am leaning towards renting a home between Zion and Bryce for a week versus doing the RV thing. We still plan to visit both the south and north rims of the canyon, canyonlands and arches. Any rafting trips (not too rough) you could recommend or places to rent near the north and south rims for a couple of nites.
Traffic at Zion and Bryce canyon was virtually non existent when i went June 19 of 2009, and just a little san francisco wine tours clos du bois more traffic in June 16 of 2005. Mid June is an excellent time to visit the southwest and four corners area. Its warm but not HOT, and the nights are cool. The north rim of the canyon was a little chilly but the southern rim was nice. I love the view from the south rim but the solitude and tranquility of the north rim won me over. Instead of standing in a crowd at the south rim we were able to sit on a nice log bench at the north rim lodge that overlooks the canyon san francisco wine tours clos du bois and just relax. No, you dont have to stay at the lodge to enjoy the chairs or the view. The contrast in scenery to what we have here in the southeast is amazing. People like different. Westerners san francisco wine tours clos du bois want to travel east and we in the east want to see the west. This is an amazing country san francisco wine tours clos du bois and the kids will remember your trip for the rest of their lives.
-Any- All Accor Hotel Brands All Extended Stay Hotels All Hilton Hotel Brands All Hyatt Hotel Brands All Marriott Hotel Brands Abba Hotels AC Hotels Acc-Nifos Hotels Accor Hotels Affinia Hospitality Allegiance Services AmericInn Amerihost Amerisuites ANA Hotels International Atel Hotels san francisco wine tours clos du bois Axcess Hotels Barcelo Baymont Inns Suites Beaches Resorts Best Inns and Suites Best Value Inn and Suites Best Western Boscolo Hotels Boutique Brisas Hotels Resorts Bulgari Hotels Caesar Park Camino Real Hotels Candlewood Suites san francisco wine tours clos du bois Charming Hotels of World City Partners Hotels Clarion Classic san francisco wine tours clos du bois International Hotels Club Quarters ClubHouse Inn Suites Clubhouse Inn and Suites Coast Hotels Columbus Reservation Services Comfort Inn Comfort Suites Concorde Hotels Conrad Hotels san francisco wine tours clos du bois Coralia Club - Accor vacances Corus Hotels Country Inn Suites san francisco wine tours clos du bois Courtyard Crowne Plaza Dan Hotels Corporation Ltd. Days Inn De Vere Hotels Delta Hotels Derag Hotels Design Hotels Destination Hotels Destinations Unlimited Distinguished Hotels Domina Hotels Doral Dorchester Group Hotels san francisco wine tours clos du bois Dorint Resorts DoubleTree Hotels Drury Hotels Econo Lodge El Cid Embassy Suites Hotel Envergure Hotels Epoque Hotels Eryokan Exclusive Hotels Extended StayAmerica Extra Holidays Fairfield Inn Fairmont Fiesta Americana Hotels First Hotels Flag Hotels Four Points - Sheraton Gaylord Entertainment Genares Worldwide Global Connections GlobRes Golden Tulip Grand Heritage Grand Hospitality Grand Plaza Great Hotels of the World Gresham Hotels GuestHouse International Hampton Inn Harrah's Entertainment Harvey Hotels Hawthorn Suites Hilton Hilton Garden Inn Hilton International Historic Hotels America Holiday Inn Express Holiday Inn Hotels san francisco wine tours clos du bois Homewood by Hilton Hot Key International Hotel Provider SRL Hotelbook HotelRez Hotelzon International Hotusa Hotels Howard san francisco wine tours clos du bois Johnson Hyatt Hyatt Place Hyatt Vacation Club Ian Schrager IBIS - Accor hotels iHotelier Independent Managed Hotels Indigo Inn Points InnLink Inns InnPoints Reserve Intercontinental ITWG - Italy and world hotels Joie De Vivre Hospitality Jolly Hotels Jumeirah Jurys Doyle Hotel Group Karyon san francisco wine tours clos du bois Kerry Hotels Keytel Kimpton Hotel Group Knight's Inn KSL Resorts La Quinta Langham Hotels Le Meridien Leading Hotels of World LeisureLink Lexington Collection Lexin