As much as I hated leaving the fabulous city of Las Vegas behind, it was onto our next adventure. The 4 and a half hour drive to the Grand Canyon was pretty smooth sailing – aside from Mr Ayla having a slight panic at having to drive out of the busy city, in an automatic, on the other side of the road, amidst 4 lanes of crazy Vegas traffic. After Googling which pedal was which (don’t judge – we drive manuals at home and neither of us know much about cars!) we were on our way with our ultimate road trip album blaring out of the CD player.
Despite being quite a long drive there were plenty of places to stop off along the way and the Hoover Dam was the first place on our itinerary. We’d left Vegas a little later than we’d intended (possibly due to too many cocktails the night before) so by the time we made the short 45 minute drive there, it was already packed full of tourists. We decided not to do a tour but instead just drove across the dam itself and ogled at the size of it before taking a few snaps and carrying on with the journey.
The drive is a straightforward one and I didn’t need to get out my old school paper route map once. It’s also a beautiful one and even though I could totally have taken a nap in the passenger seat, I didn’t want to miss out on any of the scenery. We drove past huge Lake Mead, around the winding mountains, along wide stretches of open road and through quirky little roadside towns.
After around 2 hours of driving through Arizona, past signs leading to the most random named places such as Rattlesnake Wash and Devil Dog Road, we came to our favourite stop on this route. The little town of Seligman is the birthplace of historic Route 66 and is about as typically American as you can get.
As we pulled off the interstate into Seligman there seemed to be no one else around so we slowed down as we drove along the main street, expecting to see tumbleweed rolling past the front of our car at any moment. Every store, diner, bar and gas station burst with giant signs and historic memorabilia, like it hadn’t changed at all since Route 66 was thought of as the main street of America. It was wacky, it was crazy, and I absolutely loved it.
It seemed like we’d driven straight onto the set of Pixar’s movie Cars as everywhere we looked there was a dusty truck or vintage race car all with those boggly eyes in the windscreen. Seligman was the inspiration behind the fictional town of Radiator Springs so it only made sense that of course I would love somewhere that had me feeling like I was in a Disney movie.
Delgadillo’s Snow Cap, the quirkiest of quirky roadside diners, epitomises everything that is old school Americana and we couldn’t resist stopping in to grab some lunch. Opened by Juan Delgadillo in 1953, the diner remains exactly the same as it was then – put together with scrap lumber, an odd collection of tables and chairs dotted around, and an old rusty Chevy sitting outside with Santa Claus waiting to greet drive-in customers despite the shining sun in April.
But it seemed that finding our way inside was a bit of a puzzle in itself as the door is hidden under hundreds of brightly coloured Route 66 stickers and posters and we embarrassed ourselves by trying to get in using the fake doorknob instead of the one that actually opens the door!
You can just about make out the kitchen in amongst all the stickers and posters
Even the toilets were the coolest I’ve ever used…
Seligman is only a tiny town made up of pretty much the one road, but it was just too interesting and wacky a place not to explore some more and the Instagrammer in me was getting extremely excited as every painted wall and colourful store front seemed to present another great photo opportunity.
I could have spent all day here just wandering around this quirky town, but we still had almost 2 more hours to go before we reached the Grand Canyon. There aren’t many other major stops on this section of the route apart from the western style town of Williams, set along a railway line with the forest as a backdrop, and Bedrock City where you can meet the Flintstones!
From Williams to the Grand Canyon it’s just an hour’s drive and even I managed to drive this stretch myself while Mr Ayla took his turn to rest in the passenger seat. I’m not a confident driver at all – I very rarely drive at home and have never driven more than 20 minutes away from my house, but I absolutely loved this drive down those long wide American roads. It’s even convinced me that I need to buy an automatic car back home because it’s SO much easier – even on the other side of the road!
By the time we arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – almost 7 hours later thanks to all our little stops and photo taking along Route 66 – it didn’t feel like we had spent most of the day in the car at all. And we were just in time to watch the sun light up this breathtaking Wonder of the World as it started to set over the Canyon.
Tips for driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon:
♥ Despite a bit of a panic at first, it’s a super easy route. If you’ve never driven an automatic, have a drive around the car parking lot before going out onto the street just to get the hang of using a different shift.
♥ Make sure you have a Sat Nav or use Google Maps on your phone. Finding our way out of Vegas was the trickiest part as there are so many lanes but it’s smooth sailing from there and is pretty much just three straight long roads.
♥ Take it in turns to drive to alleviate tiredness and boredom. Like I said, I’m not a confident driver in the slightest but even I managed to do a fair bit of the drive myself on the long wide American roads and I really enjoyed it!
♥ Pick some interesting and fun stops on your way to break up the drive and make sure you don’t miss the Hoover Dam or Seligman.
♥ To get to the Hoover Dam: from Boulder City take the 172 where you can stop for a tour or just have a quick look. If you drive over the Dam and onto the Arizona side, there are car parks which offer free parking.
♥ Aim to arrive at the Grand Canyon either as early as you can or later in the day just before sunset like we did. When we left in the afternoon the following day, the queue of cars to get into the Canyon went on for miles.
♥ Check out Roadside America for more quirky stops along this route.
Have you driven along this part of Route 66 to the Grand Canyon? What was your favourite stop? Let me know in the comments below or at:
Mama Ayla's Adventures 
Ayla Ayla Ayla! I absolutely love road trips, and your post basically captures everything I adore most about them. I’ve read so many articles on just Las Vegas, or just the Grand Canyon, and now I know what it looks like to get between the two 🙂
Your road trip looked quirky indeed (I want to go to that diner) and I’m looking forward to reading about the rest of your great American road trip ❤
I’m so glad we drove and didn’t get a helicopter as this route was so much fun! So many quirky and odd stops all through this part of America 🙂
Oh wow! Now, my helicopter ride over the Canyon was incredible, but it meant I missed out on gems like this. Gutted! I’ll just have to live vicariously through you 😄
I’m sure the helicopter ride was amazing and nothing can even come close to those views you must have got from up high. It’s just an excuse for you to go back and do it again in a different way 😉
That’s true! I had better start planning… 🚁😄
Aw this is all bringing back memories! I went to that very same diner (and will be writing my own post on it soon!) I loved how quirky Seligman was, and the Grand Canyon is just incredible too!
Milly // Mini Adventures
So completely American and so colourful and fun. The best road trip stop!
Now THAT’S what I call a road trip!
An epic American adventure 🙂
Gosh, what an absolute fun! You totally inspired me to do it one day. 🙂 xoxo, nano
It’s such a fun road trip – you should definitely do it one day 🙂
Ah, this is bringing back so many great memories of our Route 66 road trip! That diner looks amazing (loving the straw gag too!) I know what you mean about not feeling like you’ve driven that far, as all of the little stops along the way break up the driving. My favourite thing was just stopping at random one-street towns along the way 😍
There are so many fun stops along that route and so many completely random ones! We could have made so many more stops if we’d had more time but it’s a brilliant part of the US!
a bit similar to driving in Australia, except not as sparsely populated and you know, otherside of the road. Did a road trip recently to Canberra from Melbourne but I was the only driver as my wide doesnt drive. great post. did a tour from LV to the Grand Canyon 12 years ago.
Road trips are just brilliant and one of my favourite ways to see the world. Haven’t done one in Australia yet though (we tended to jump on the good old Greyhound bus instead) so may have to come back and do one ourselves 🙂
I absolutely loved stopping in these quirky little towns on our road trip too – and I am super impressed you did some of the driving… my poor boyfriend did all of the driving for the whole 5 weeks we were on the road! I am ashamed to say the insane traffic just made me too nervous especially I haven’t really driven in years!
Mr Ayla was knackered after just 10 days of driving so I can only imagine how your boyfriend must have been after 5 weeks of it! But there are so many random stops in America that it makes it so much more fun even when you’re the driver 🙂
Oh my goodness, all the COLOURS! So fun! What a great road-trip 🙂
Such a colourful little town! I adored it there and could have stayed for days just taking silly photos!
Love this – really want to go on a road trip now!!! It sounds so amazing. I’m not a confident driver either – my hubby does the majority of any long journeys (he’s much calmer than me) I’m just the kids chauffeur for their various footie and swimming sessions – but it actually sounds like I could drive there too!
Really what to visit Seligman – looks unreal! 😊xxx
If I can drive there then anyone can! Honestly, it’s a lot easier than driving here and there are so many fun stops along the way to keep you entertained and wake you up on any long stretches. I think a family road trip for you lot sounds just perfect 🙂
So glad you loved quirky Seligman just as much as we did! The Snowcap was closed so we missed out on those cheeseburgers with cheese….!
Ah shame you missed out on the smiley faces too haha but I know that everywhere else in Seligman is just as quirky!
We got back from a two-day road trip and I am so sorry we didn’t have time to swing through Seligman! Great photos!
Ah what a shame! It’s such a cool and quirky little place. Hopefully you’ll get the chance to visit another time 🙂