by Matt, Oct 2021
Most people I talk to rate Bryce Canyon in their top 2 or 3 national parks, ahead of places like Zion and the Grand Canyon. It’s truly a marvelous experience.
A quick search of lodging near Bryce Canyon provides an overwhelming number of options. This list is meant to simplify it for you depending on your situation.
Bryce Canyon Lodge is the only lodging inside Bryce Canyon.
With some national parks, staying inside the park is a big advantage because it’s closer to the action and you don’t have to wait in line to enter the park.
But with Bryce Canyon, that’s not the case. Nearby Bryce Canyon City has a lot of lodging (see below), and it’s very close to the amphitheater (where all the hoodoo rock formations are).
However, don’t overlook Bryce Canyon lodge. It’s a historic building that is within walking distance of the canyon rim, perfect for seeing a sunrise first thing.
They have cabins, suites, rooms, and studios, each with different rates. Rates range from about $170 to $270 per night during the summer, but they are cheaper during the winter.
It also offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If you’re looking for a more nostalgic experience, the Bryce Canyon Lodge is worth checking out.
Bryce Canyon City is located right next to the park entrance. It’s close and affordable. Although touristy, it still feels small enough.
There are 5 places to stay in Bryce Canyon City.
Ruby’s Inn has long been the go-to place for Bryce visitors.
Ruby’s Inn is in Bryce Canyon City, located right next to the park entrance. There is only one entrance to the park, so Ruby’s Inn has held a near-monopoly on lodging at Bryce Canyon ever since about 1916.
Today, Ruby’s Inn is a resort offering lodging, camping, tipis, a huge RV park, group tent sights, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
It also offers many activities, such as ATV tours, helicopter tours, and horseback rides (but make sure to read our article on horseback rides at Bryce).
It also has a shuttle stop right next to it, with an information booth staffed by a park employee right next to the entrance of the hotel.
Try Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel for a higher-end experience. This is basically a newer version of Ruby’s Inn (which is also now a Best Western).
We haven’t stayed here, but we can vouch for Best Westerns in general — we’ve rarely had a bad experience with them. It’s not just that the accommodations are nice, it’s that they all seem to value customer service more than most places.
It’s a little more expensive but reviewers seem to rave about it.
If you’re traveling with a large group, consider Ruby’s Inn Resort Vacation Rentals.
This costs over $300 per night but can be worth it if you’re traveling with a big group. We’ve used VRBOs like this because we often travel in a large group.
If you’re just looking for affordability, go with Bryce View Lodge or Bryce Canyon Resort. These have fancy-sounding names (they aren’t lodges or resorts, nor do they have views of the canyon, LOL), but they are basic options to crash for a night or two.
They are plain, but there is nothing wrong with them at all; they get good reviews.
Tropic is a little town 15 minutes east of Bryce Canyon. This is best if you’re traveling to or from Capitol Reef National Park — many people do a Utah Mighty 5 trip.
There are many hotels, B&Bs, cabins, and the Bryce Pioneer Village. We analyzed the reviews on Google and TripAdvisor, and here are some suggestions:
For seclusion, try Stone Canyon Inn. It’s located on the edge of town in Tropic, but right at the base of Bryce Canyon. In fact, if you drive to the end of the road, you can hike the Tropic Trail which is only 1.7 miles and enters Bryce Canyon from the bottom, with the added benefit of no crowds!
If you want to stay in a cabin, try Bryce Canyon Inn, Bryce Canyon Log Cabins, Bryce Pioneer Village, or Bryce Country Cabins.
If you want a bed and breakfast, Happy Trails BnB has fewer, but much more positive reviews than Bryce Canyon Livery Bed and Breakfast.
This is a cute little town 30 minutes west of Bryce that has old historic homes and nearby Panguitch Lake in the mountains. They also have fun festivals in June each year, like the Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally, and the famous Quilt Walk.
Stay here if you want to get away from the touristy spots and you like cute little towns.
The choice here is the Panguitch House. It is a cute little old-timey bed and breakfast that gets rave reviews.
![8 quirky things to do between Zion & Bryce [Belly of the Dragon, Cedar Breaks, and more]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ss48pUvKibs/0.jpg)
Many people visit Bryce and Zion National Park on the same trip. To get the most out of each park, we recommend staying close to each park and changing hotels.
But if you want to stay in one hotel and use it to see both parks, here are some options:
Cedar City is 1.5 hours from Bryce and 1-hour from Zion. It’s a mid-sized city that has many hotels.
It’s a little college town and puts on the yearly Utah Shakespeare Festival, with a gorgeous outdoor Old English-style theatre.
Also, Cedar Breaks National Monument is nearby.
There are too many chain hotels to choose from, so I won’t cover them here. What stands out about Cedar City is it has so many cute little B&Bs with Shakespear and English cottage garden themes. The homes are gorgeous and the ratings are awesome. Here are two:
St. George is the largest city in Southern Utah, with plenty of lodging options. St George is an outdoor playground in and of itself and is the most common home base for Zion, but it can also be used as a jumping-off point for Bryce.
It’s 45 minutes away from Zion and just over 2 hours away from Bryce.
There are a TON of hotels, condos, Airbnb’s, VRBO’s, etc. You can use booking.com to find places, but we’ll give two suggestions that stood out to us as we researched this:
Kanab is located on the east side of Zion National Park. It’s 1.5 hours away from Bryce and 30 minutes away from the east entrance of Zion National Park (but to drive to the shuttle takes an extra 30 minutes).
Kanab is another outdoor playground (all of Southern Utah has insanely fun things to do).
It’s quite affordable to stay. Here are two places that stood out to us:
There are a few other things to do in Kanab, such as the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the Little Hollywood Movie Museum.
This is also on the east side of Zion but is located closer to Zion and Bryce.
Mt Carmel is an hour away from Bryce and only about 15 minutes away from Zion (although it’s an extra 30 minutes to drive to the shuttle).
Here are three places that stood out to us:
Yes! If you want ALL the secrets to having an amazing trip to Bryce Canyon, check out our Bryce Canyon Travel Itinerary.
We give you a step-by-step guide to see the BEST of Bryce and it comes with an audio guide to tell you all about it while you drive through the park!
It’s just like having a tour guide in your car, only it’s WAY cheaper and you don’t have to deal with the body odor. LOL
Check it out today! And keep reading for more resources to Bryce Canyon.
We’re Matt and Cheryl, and we’re in the Rockies. :) We are both teachers. Cheryl teaches special ed, and Matt teaches American history. We love the American West and the national parks. We want to help you have a great vacation on your next trip to the Rockies.
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