Need some recommendations for a Canyons holiday

[Guest]

Another question has occured to me... what do you book first? Flights, or accomodation?

[paw]

We booked flights, then started looking at hotels. A few of the places we wanted to stay were full (ie the lodges in the NPs) but we had no problem finding others nearby which were of excellent quality and turned out to be cheaper. The only one we really wanted was at Mesa Verde as I didn't want to drive up and down the mountain in one day - there was no availability but the drive wasn't as bad as I thought.

Once we decided our route and the places I wanted to see I looked for nearby hotels - some of the smaller ones in remote areas were really good, much better than the chain run ones in the towns - you just wouldn't expect that standard in the middle of no-where. The Navajo run hotels and restaurants were fantastic with food to die for at a very reasonable price.

On our first trip we had two hotels that were not too good. One in Bryce that even the locals didn't know existed and took hours to find - real 'banjo' people running it but the most fantastic home made food. The restaurant in the other was a microwave in the local hunting store but the accomodation was fine! I was a lot more careful looking at reports for the second tour!

If you decide to go to Archers NP or Canyonlands NP there is a fantastic ice cream shop in Moab to while away an hour or two.

[Guest]

wouldn't discount an RV as we've had 2 with baths in. We're looking for next year and they now have a cabover version which also has bunk beds as well as the big bed in the back. so both kids would have thier own space.

Touring by RV is much easier than hotels (we've found) as you only unpack once ( like in a villa) and you have a fridge and things at hand. and the views tend to be much better as you're higher up!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by paw

We booked flights, then started looking at hotels. A few of the places we wanted to stay were full (ie the lodges in the NPs) but we had no problem finding others nearby which were of excellent quality and turned out to be cheaper. The only one we really wanted was at Mesa Verde as I didn't want to drive up and down the mountain in one day - there was no availability but the drive wasn't as bad as I thought.

Once we decided our route and the places I wanted to see I looked for nearby hotels - some of the smaller ones in remote areas were really good, much better than the chain run ones in the towns - you just wouldn't expect that standard in the middle of no-where. The Navajo run hotels and restaurants were fantastic with food to die for at a very reasonable price.

On our first trip we had two hotels that were not too good. One in Bryce that even the locals didn't know existed and took hours to find - real 'banjo' people running it but the most fantastic home made food. The restaurant in the other was a microwave in the local hunting store but the accomodation was fine! I was a lot more careful looking at reports for the second tour!

If you decide to go to Archers NP or Canyonlands NP there is a fantastic ice cream shop in Moab to while away an hour or two.

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I'll look out for it, thanks

[Guest]

Originally Posted by nix75uk

wouldn't discount an RV as we've had 2 with baths in. We're looking for next year and they now have a cabover version which also has bunk beds as well as the big bed in the back. so both kids would have thier own space.

Touring by RV is much easier than hotels (we've found) as you only unpack once ( like in a villa) and you have a fridge and things at hand. and the views tend to be much better as you're higher up!

See more...

I like the sound of that RV! How long is it? Managable for all the twisty turnymountain roads? I think that's what bothers me most...mobility, even though it wouldn't be me that drives it!

How about site availability, that's another grey area... how likely is it that we'd be able to plan very loosely our whereabouts and on any given day be able to pull up to a site and find they have availability in late July through August? I don't really want to be booking sites more than a day in advance as I have no idea how long we'd want to be at each place we visit.


I'm loving the planning of what we want to see, but I reckon there's enough to fill 6 months worth of time and am largely ignoring the 'how will we get between A and B' because it's so daunting!

[paw]

The only twisty turny roads we came across was the one going up to Mesa Verde and there were plenty of RVs doing that, although I personally wouldn't like to, but then again I am a wimp and don't like sharp turn with massive drops. The rest were fine, mostly 2 lane highways similar to Enlish main roads. We took many of the Scenic Byways and they were great, even Utah Scenic Byway 12 (Bryce - Capitol Reef) which I was dreading because one section is described as a narrow hogs-back where you need to take care. It was as wide as a good A road!

[DIBBadmin]

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