USA 2011 - New York City and The Southwest
Tour facts
Hotel review
Date of the tour: End of September until end of October 2011
Start and end point: New York/Phoenix
Flight: Munich - New York - Phoenix (Continental)
Car: Booked IFAR (Midsize SUV) with Alamo through the travel agency - we got a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Duration of the tour: 29 days
*****
****
***
**
*
Very good, everything fit here
Good, we felt comfortable
Complies with the standard
Very simple but clean
Never again
Tour details
| Day | Activity of the day | Day remarks | Overnight stay | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Day 1 | Arrival and drive to New York City | New York City - from Newark it takes 1h to Times Square | Best Western in Times Square (no longer operated as a Best Western hotel). | - |
2.-5.Tag | New York City | Best Western in Times Square (no longer operated as a Best Western hotel). | - | |
Day 5 | Morning in New York City and flight to Phoenix | After our booked shuttle doesn't show up, we take the Limo to the airport. | Best Western Airport Inn, Phoenix/Arizona*** | 25mi |
Day 6 | The unpaved portion of the Apache Trail was very easy to ride. | Best Western Paint Pony Lodge, Show Low/Arizona *** | 217mi | |
Day 7 | The Petrified Forest NP was the pleasant surprise of the vacation. We had always left it out on our tours, but found it really great in the end. | Quality Inn Gallup/New Mexico*** | 171mi | |
Day 8 | If you want to see the Pinedale Hoodoos in detail, you might not make it to El Malpais NM. | Best Western Plus, Executive Suites, Albuquerque/New Mexico | 251mi | |
Day 9 | The program was optimal for a relaxing day. | Best Western Plus, Santa Fe, New Mexico*** | 96mi | |
Day 10 | Today is more of a driving day with a few nice nature photo stops. | Courtyard by Marriott, Farmington/New Mexico**** | 251mi | |
Day 11 | We use the day completely to explore the Bisti Badlands North. | Courtyard by Marriott, Farmington/New Mexico**** | - | |
Day 12 | We explore the Bisti Badlands South in detail up to the Cracked Eggs. | Courtyard by Marriott, Farmington/New Mexico**** | - | |
Day 13 | Very beautiful driving route with many scenic highlights. | Best Western Capitiol Reef Resort, Torrey/Utah**** | 328mi | |
Day 14 | Hiking in Capitol Reef NP is great everywhere, you can't really go wrong on any of the trails. | Best Western Capitiol Reef Resort, Torrey/Utah**** | - | |
Day 15 | We drive through a snowstorm. Up in the Boulder Mountains the sun appears. With the colorful trees we experience a true winter wonderland. | Courtyard by Marriott, Page/Arizona**** | 351mi | |
Day 16 | The weather was not that great, so we spent a lot of time waiting for sun. Usually you can do more in one day. | Courtyard by Marriott, Page/Arizona**** | - | |
Day 17 | We do the tour with Paria Outpost so the day is packe full. | Courtyard by Marriott, Page/Arizona**** | - | |
Day 18 | We pass the Paria Ranger Station around 9am and spontaneously decide to try to get a permit....... and we succeed. So we will probably hike to the Wave tomorrow.... | Courtyard by Marriott, Page/Arizona**** | - | |
Day 19 | ... our second hike to the Wave... exhausting but super cool... | Courtyard by Marriott, Page/Arizona**** | - | |
Day 20 | Driving day through a brilliant landscape. | Motel 6, Moab/Utah** | 420mi | |
Day 21 | Long Canyon was not drivable for us with our Grand Cherokee. Here the conditions of the road change very often. | Motel 6, Moab/Utah** | - | |
Day 22 | In Arches NP you can easily spend a day. We were mainly in the Windows Section. | Motel 6, Moab/Utah** | - | |
Day 23 | Two new locations for us that we liked very much. | Best Western, Alamosa/Colorado*** | 398mi | |
Day 24 | A great national park, but in our opinion only worthwhile if you make the effort to climb the dunes. | Best Western, Alamosa/Colorado*** | - | |
Day 25 | Very long drive with a few nice interruptions. However, we arrived only in the dark. | Best Western Canyon de Chelly Inn, Chinle/Arizona*** | 588mi | |
Day 26 | A full day is comfortably enough for both rim sections and the hike down into the canyon. | Best Western Canyon de Chelly Inn, Chinle/Arizona*** | - | |
Day 27 | Driving day interrupted by nice scenery around Sedona and Jerome. | Best Western Airport Inn, Phoenix/Arizona*** | 279mi | |
Day 28 | Shoppingday in Phoenix | We didn't love the mall in Scottsdale, so we ultimately ended up at Arizona Mills Mall. | Best Western Airport Inn, Phoenix/Arizona*** | - |
Day 29 | Return flight | - | - | _ |