For the longest time I been meaning to visit Antelope Canyon . I have seen so many photos of it and it always looks so beautiful in the photos.

Happy to say I have finally booked my trip to see these incredible canyons.

I read multiple blog posts in order to figure out what to do in Arizona in Addition to the Antelope Canyon .

Some good links:

Arizona Attractions

Grand Canyon First Time Guide

Places From My List

1. Grand Canyon
2. Antelope Canyon
3. Horseshoe Bend
4. Devil’s Bridge
5. Monument Valley

Grand Canyon 

I had visited Grand Canyon about 8 years ago with friends as a day trip from Vegas. It was only for a few hours and I remember being blown away by the sheer magnitude of the Canyon. Ours was a very rushed tour and it was my first vacation ever ! So I didn’t know enough to plan it well. This time I was determined to do it better .

• South Rim – Seems to be the more popular part of the Grand Canyon.
• We are coming in from Phoenix so South Rim seems to make sense for us . However people are recommending 89 and Eastern Entrance to be more scenic. Drive from flagstaff to Cameron and come in through Eastern Rim.
• Visit watch tower if you come through Eastern Entrance .
• There are free shuttles that takes you between scenic viewpoints . We will have a car and haven’t decided if we want to take advantage of the buses or not .
• Based on Lonley planet recommendation we are going to be doing a short hike . Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge (3 miles total roundtrip) 
• For my random facts loving husband we are going to stop by the natural history of Grand Canyon  museumat Yavapai Point.
• El Tovar Dining Room seems like a restaurant we should try for lunch or dinner . Will see if I can make dinner reservations. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/restaurants/el-tovar-dining-room/a/poi-eat/1107875/362143
• Hermit Rest Road for sunset Or Lipan point. Following Lonely planet guidelines. “FlagStuff recommends that visitors take the shuttle bus from the Village out on the Hermit’s Rest Road, get dropped off at a viewpoint, and then walk the Rim Trail to another viewpoint to catch the bus for a ride back.“
• There is a pass required for cars . National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. Will see if that he be bought earlier.
• Allow for 6 hours to drive along the Canyon Rim.
• 11 stops along dessert view drive . https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/desert-view-drive.htm
• Tips on popular scenic points and parking: https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/sr-tips.htm

Antelope Canyon 

We decided to do both an Upper Canyon Tour and a Lower Canyon Tour. Simply because we probably are not going to be back in this area for some time.

• Upper Canyon is recommended if you want to photograph sun light beams . You need to be in a tour between 10 am to 1 pm to do that .
• Both Canyons have a photographer tour that require you to have a proper camera . They apparently won’t let you go on these tours without proper cameras .
• You need to book months in advance to get the times you require for the tours . Upper Canyon Tours get sold out fairly quickly.
• You should stop by Horse Shoe Bend when you are in this area .

Tour companies we considered : 

1. Ken’s Tours
2. Navajo Tours

Sadly we didn’t get tickets for upper Canyon! We booked our Lowe canyon tour with Ken’s tours . We are going to see if we can get a walk in tour on the day that we are there for the lower Canyon tour .

 Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe bend is a bend in Colorado River that is stunning. You have probably seen photos of it !

This post covers everything you need to know about visiting Horseshoe Bend :

Visiting Horseshoe Bend

Photos of Horseshoe Bend at different times

• There is construction going on at Horseshoe parking lot in April 2019 . Most likely we would need to get there before 7 pm to use the parking lot and avoid taking a shuttle.