Insight Guides Arizona & The Grand Canyon

Insight Guides

• Editore: Insight
• ISBN:
  9781780057675
• Edizione: 3
• Argomento: Personal Development
• Categoria: Travel

Insight Guide Arizona and the Grand Canyon is an essential guide to one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the world, brought to life with hundreds of evocative photographs. Our inspirational Best of Arizona section highlights the area's unmissable sights and experiences, while a comprehensive Travel Tips section gives you all the practical information you need to plan your trip, and our selective listings bring you the best hotels and restaurants in the state.

Lavish magazine-style features offer a unique insight into natural wonders, such as the ecology of the Grand Canyon and the region's birdlife, as well attractions such as The Heard Museum in Phoenix and Arizona wineries. A detailed Places section, with full-colour maps cross-referenced to the lively narrative written by our local author, guides you around the villages, towns and cities of the Copper State, from the vast expanses of its national parks to the eery emptiness of its former mining towns.

Accommodations

Price Categories

Price categories are based on the cost of a double room in high season.

$ = $110 or less

$$ = $110–250

$$$ = $200–250

$$$$ = more than $250

Choosing Lodgings

Reservations and Prices

Grand Canyon National Park

All lodgings within the park may be booked through Xanterra Parks and Resorts, 6312 South Fiddlers Green Circle, Suite 600N, Greenwood Village, CO 80111; tel: toll-free within the United States 888-297-2757, 303-297-2757 outside the United States; www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

Chain Hotels and Motels

These are ubiquitous throughout the United States and have many fans. Some people dislike chains because they offer no variety, lack a personal touch, and are often located in the most commercial, nondescript areas of town next to busy highways. The advantage is that once you’ve been to a hotel run by a particular chain, even though these are usually a franchise, you can bank on certain facilities and a standard of service wherever you are in the US. For travelers wanting to focus on their vacation, this can be a boon.

Bed-and-Breakfasts

Bed-and-breakfasts vary greatly in terms of price and quality, but the one thing they have in common is that they are almost invariably in a private and/or historic home. Few have restaurants, and facilities will not be as extensive as in a regular hotel. Privacy can be an issue in older inns, but some have separate cottages with self-catering facilities, allowing you to come and go as you please. Hosts are usually a mine of information about local sights, and this can be a great way to make lifelong friends. For those travelers who enjoy the personal ambience – not to mention the afternoon teas, wine and cheese happy hours, and gourmet breakfasts found in many places – bed-and-breakfasts are a great choice.

High vs Low Season

High season prices for lodgings in Arizona (winter in the low desert in the south, and summer in the high desert in the north) can vary considerably. If you’re willing to travel to Phoenix and other Sonoran Desert locales in summer, when the daytime temperatures top 100°F (37.7°C), you’ll score deep discounts even in the most highly-rated lodgings. Prices in Flagstaff and other Northern Arizona locales may drop in winter, except for the Grand Canyon, where the National Park Service fixes rates with the concessionaire for the whole year.

Camping

Private Campgrounds

A nationwide network of private campgrounds, called Kampgrounds of America (KOA; tel: [phone]; www.koa.com), has members in Arizona. They offer good-quality facilities, including swimming pools, restaurants, and laundries. Most accept reservations.

Camping on Public Lands

Camping inside one of Arizona’s world-class national, state, or tribal parks is a major attraction for many travelers. You’ll find developed campgrounds with individual tent and RV sites that have an adjoining car parking spot, barbecue grills, picnic tables, and nearby flush toilets for about $10–25 per night – you can get more than one tent on a pitch. State park campgrounds are usually the best designed, and most have showers. Most campsites are on a first-come, first-served basis and fill by early afternoon at the most popular places (winter in the low desert and summer in the high desert mountains). Campsites in many national parks may now be reserved by calling 877-444-6777 or logging on to www.recreation.gov. A number of federal and private campgrounds may be reserved by logging on to www.reserveamerica.com. US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campgrounds are usually “primitive,” meaning they have designated sites and picnic tables, but usually only vault toilets. Many campgrounds have no water, so keep a 5-gallon (22 liter) water carrier in the car. The cost is low for these sites, making them an excellent budget option. Dispersed camping in nondesignated sites is allowed for free on national forest lands. Bring all you’ll need and pack everything out when you leave. Aside from food and water, the most useful items are moist babywipes for general hygiene, resealable plastic bags for trash, toilet paper, and a small trowel for digging a 6in (15cm) cat hole to bury human waste in the biological layer of the soil away from precious desert water sources. Treat, filter, or boil all water to avoid giardia, a nasty bug transmitted through contaminated water at campsites downstream from cattle grazing areas.

Grand Canyon

Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn

100 Highway 64, Tusayan

Tel: [phone] or toll free 800-622-6966

www.grandcanyonsquire.com

Larger and better appointed than most properties in the Best Western chain, this hotel – on a commercial strip in Tusayan, just outside the national park – offers large rooms and a plethora of distractions, including a bowling alley and tennis courts. The restaurant is your best bet for a good steak and seafood dinner if South Rim restaurants are booked. Pool, restaurant, coffee shop, bar, exercise room, sauna, air conditioning, TV. $$

Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins

West Rim Drive, Grand Canyon

Tel: [phone] or 888-297-2757 (reservations)

www.grandcanyonlodges.com

This rustic lodge was designed by Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter in 1935 and built on the site of Bright Angel Camp, the first tourist facility in the park. The historic turquoise-trimmed lobby features Indian motifs and a huge fireplace. There’s a museum about the famous Harvey Girls in a side room as well as a fireplace made of all the rocks in the Grand Canyon. The accommodations range from dormitory-style rooms with shared baths to private cabins with canyon views. Creature comforts are simple, but the location and price make the lodge good value. Reservations for the rim cabins should be made at least a year in advance. Restaurant, coffee shop, ice cream parlor. $

Swimming at a Lake Mead resort.

APA Richard Nowitz

Canyon Plaza Quality Inn and Suites Grand Canyon

PO Box 520, Tusayan

Tel: [phone] or toll free 800-228-5151

www.grandcanyonplaza.com

Next to the IMAX theater in Tusayan, a short drive from the park entrance, this property has 232 rooms that are large, clean, and comfortably furnished, although not much above standard chain store chic. The public spaces are airy and well maintained, and the suites, though modest, are roomy enough for families. Service here is usually satisfactory. The buffet is a firm local favorite. Restaurant, bar, outdoor pool, whirlpool, air conditioning, TV. $$

Grand Canyon Lodge

Bright Angel Point

Tel: [phone] or 888-297-2757 (reservations)

www.grandcanyonlodges.com

A log-and-limestone lodge with 50ft (15-meter) ceilings and a glass-walled sunroom overlooking the canyon is the centerpiece of this historic complex – the only lodging inside the park’s Nor...