Grand Canyon

This is high desert and plateau country, and swimming is not part of the usual visit. The Colorado River at the canyon floor comes out of a dam upstream and stays cold all year, around 10°C, so river trips involve a quick, bracing dip at most. The turquoise pools below Havasu Falls are famous, but they sit deep in a side canyon at the end of a long hike that needs a permit.

For real swimming, base yourself at Page on the eastern edge, where Lake Powell warms to the mid-20s°C in summer and has sandy coves along its shore. From the South Rim it is a drive of several hours. Most visitors make do with a hotel pool.

Eating at the canyon is practical rather than memorable. On the South Rim the choice is the lodge dining rooms, with the historic El Tovar dining room the most atmospheric, plus cafeterias, delis and a general store for picnic supplies. The gateway strip at Tusayan adds chain restaurants and steakhouses.

Flagstaff, about an hour and a half away, is the best base for food. Its old downtown has a cluster of craft breweries, cafés, diners and a few serious kitchens, along with Southwestern dishes such as green chile and Navajo frybread. Williams leans on Route 66 diners. Plan for good-enough meals, not a reason to come.

The built heritage of the South Rim is small but distinctive. Grand Canyon Village keeps its early twentieth-century railway-era buildings: the log-and-stone El Tovar, the Hopi House modelled on a pueblo, and the Kolb Studio hanging off the rim. Architect Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower, with Hopi murals inside, is the finest single building. Small exhibits at Yavapai Point explain the canyon's geology, and the Tusayan ruin shows an Ancestral Puebloan village.

Flagstaff adds the Museum of Northern Arizona, strong on Hopi, Navajo and Zuni art, and Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered. This is a place for one or two absorbing mornings, not a cultural trip.

Evenings at the canyon end early. Hikers are up before dawn, and the rim lodges have only a lounge or two that closes at a sensible hour. The best night-time activity is the sky itself, which is one of the darkest in the country.

If you want a night out, Flagstaff's historic downtown has brewpubs, dive bars and some late student venues serving the university. That is pleasant but small, and too far from the rim to combine with a sunrise start.

This is one of the defining landscapes on earth: a mile-deep gorge cut through nearly two billion years of layered rock, changing colour hour by hour from the first light to sunset. The South Rim Trail follows the edge for miles with easy walking. The Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails drop steeply towards the Colorado, and the full rim-to-rim crossing is a classic multi-day challenge. Mule rides, multi-day rafting through the rapids and backcountry camping go deeper still. California condors ride the thermals along the rim.

The quieter North Rim sits higher, among aspen and spruce, and opens from mid-May to mid-October. The inner canyon is brutally hot in summer, so spring and autumn are the best seasons for serious hiking.

From Flagstaff or Williams, the obvious outing is Sedona, about two hours from the South Rim and much closer from Flagstaff. It is a red-rock town of galleries and resorts, and the old mining town of Jerome sits on a hillside beyond it. Closer to Flagstaff, Wupatki and Walnut Canyon protect Ancestral Puebloan pueblos and cliff dwellings, and Montezuma Castle is a five-storey cliff house above the Verde Valley.

Williams keeps a stretch of Route 66 small-town America, and the Grand Canyon Railway runs from there to the rim. To the east, the Navajo lands around Cameron and Page lead towards Antelope Canyon. Distances are long, and much of what lies within reach is scenery rather than towns.

Most children remember their first look over the rim for life, and the park works hard to involve them. There are Junior Ranger badges, ranger talks, short paved stretches of the Rim Trail and the vintage train from Williams that arrives at the village. Williams also has a drive-through wildlife park with bears and bison.

The difficulties are real, though. Much of the rim is unfenced, so small children need holding onto. The rim stands above 2,000m, and the descent trails are steep, with summer heat at the bottom that is dangerous for children. Distances between towns mean long hours in the car. The park suits school-age children who can walk well more than toddlers.

Reaching the South Rim means driving, about an hour and a half from Flagstaff or an hour from Williams on good, uncrowded highways. Some visitors take the historic train from Williams instead. Inside the park, free shuttle buses loop the village and run along Hermit Road, which is closed to private cars for much of the year, so you can leave the car parked and hop between viewpoints. The Rim Trail also links many viewpoints on foot.

Beyond the village, everything needs a car. The North Rim is only a few kilometres across the gorge but about four and a half hours away by road. Summer brings full car parks and queues at the entrance gate.

The one shopping worth seeking out is Native American craft. Hopi House on the South Rim and the old trading posts east of the park, especially at Cameron, sell Navajo rugs and silver jewellery, Hopi kachina carvings and pottery. Knowledgeable staff can explain the makers and their styles. Otherwise expect park gift shops, outdoor gear in Flagstaff and Route 66 souvenirs in Williams.

Staying on the rim is the expensive way to see the canyon. The historic lodges book up far in advance and charge accordingly in summer, the hotels just outside the gate at Tusayan follow their lead, and meals in the park are priced for a captive audience.

Once you have paid the park entrance fee, the canyon itself costs little more. Walking the rim, the viewpoints, the shuttle buses and the ranger programmes are all included. Motels in Williams and Flagstaff cost noticeably less than rooms at the rim, and the park campgrounds are cheaper still. The money goes on the guided extras, such as mule rides, helicopter flights over the gorge and multi-day rafting on the Colorado, which are among the costliest outings in the American West.

Live performance is occasional rather than nightly. A long-established chamber music festival brings concerts to the South Rim in late summer, and Native American dancers and artists sometimes perform at Desert View and the village in the warm months. Flagstaff has a small symphony orchestra, a university arts programme and a historic downtown theatre that hosts touring bands. Beyond that, evenings belong to ranger talks and the night sky.

There are no hot springs or bathhouses here, and spa options at the rim are minimal. The restorative side of a visit is the stillness. You can sit at a quiet viewpoint at dawn, walk the forested North Rim, where days run slower, or watch the stars come out under very dark skies.

If you want treatments, retreats and yoga, go to Sedona, two or so hours south, which has built a whole town around them. The canyon itself is for long walks and early nights, not pampering.