Is the Grand Canyon overrated ?

When we planned to visit the Grand Canyon this past spring, one question kept coming up: Is the Grand Canyon overrated? Everyone wants to visit it, but what if it’s just one big hype and nothing more? Sure, the pictures looked nice, some reviews were great, but what is there to see anyway…just some rocks? Well, I was about to find out why The Grand Canyon National Park is so grand!

Main tourist attractions at Grand Canyon National Park South Rim

• See more pictures from Grand Canyon National Park.
• Visit the Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center in the neighboring village of Tusayan. The iMax Movie is worth seeing indeed. See resources at the end of the article.
• The main attraction is the Grand Canyon indeed ! Just walk around and enjoy the view…I can’t say enough about that !
• Yavapai Observation Station. It’s a bus stop and you can ask anyone where it is…you can’t miss it. The views are amazing and the information panels are…well informative, if you like history and geology.

How to get to Grand Canyon National Park – South Rim

If you have never seen the Grand Canyon before, make sure you plan to see the South Rim and not Grand Canyon west. While Grand Canyon West is home of the SkyWalk that seems very interesting, the grandeur of the Grand Canyon is best seen from Grand Canyon South Rim. When people speak of the Grand Canyon, that’s what they’re talking about.

Driving from Southern California straight to the Grand Canyon is one long drive…you really have to be prepared for it, especially if you have kids. It was good for us that we traveled from Las Vegas instead. We spent one week in Vegas and we had three more days left from my vacation and we decided to include the Grand Canyon in our vacation. So, we only faced the very long drive, on our way back to Southern California.

Here’s one piece of advice: If you have kids, try to get a portable DVD player that has a car charger. And, yeah, get a few DVDs that your children like. This device will save you during this long, long, long trip.

Until this trip we have been very determined in not buying a portable DVD player for our daughter. We wanted to keep talking to her and singing with her no matter how long the trips were. However, driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon really challenged our resolve, and we gave in ! We bought the DVD player…and oh boy…how glad we were that we bought it !

Oh yeah, the Canyon is the star at Grand Canyon National Park

Pictures don’t do justice to the impression that the Grand Canyon makes on the visitor; especially the first time visitor. We parked our car very quickly after getting into the park, got out quickly and just walked across the street to look at the Canyon…wow ! Well, that’s what we both said. I don’t think anyone can say anything else other than wow, especially the first time! Then, we kept walking and looking and walking and looking and looking some more…and taking tons and tons of pictures !

We made sure that we held on to our year and a half daughter. We actually put a small harness on her. We were advised by many friends to do that and once we got there we clearly saw why. There is not much protection at all against simply…falling down. You just have to be very careful.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
The Grand Canyon appears through the trees as we walk across the street from our car.

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Next Page: Once we saw it…we couldn’t get enough of it!

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As a traveler, I love reading about other people's travel experiences. I know for certain that my articles are by no means complete and they can certainly benefit from your input. Feel free to share your own experience and add a comment or correction to this article.
| February 25, 2009 | Posted in Arizona, Destination Guides |