LA in 5 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)

Five Days From LA: Death Valley, Vegas, and the Grand Canyon’s West Rim

Five days is the first version of this trip with real range: Death Valley on the way out, a Las Vegas base, and a full day trip to the Grand Canyon’s West Rim before heading home. That’s three distinct landscapes for one rental car, and it’s still built around honest drive times rather than squeezing in a stop just because it fits on a map. If three days is all you have, the 3-day version drops the Grand Canyon; add a day or two and the 6-day and 7-day versions add Utah’s Zion and Bryce Canyon on top of this same route.

One correction worth making before you book anything: the Grand Canyon’s West Rim, the one with the glass Skywalk, is a different place from the famous South Rim, and it’s reached from LA by way of Las Vegas, not by driving straight there. The South Rim is roughly 490 miles and 8-8.5 hours direct from LA, a separate multi-day trip on its own, not something to bolt onto this one.

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Los Angeles to Death Valley

Budget the full 260-270 miles and 4.5-5 hours to the Furnace Creek area. Entry runs $30 per vehicle for seven days at a cashless kiosk (details on the official NPS Death Valley site ). Spend the afternoon at Zabriskie Point and Badwater Basin, both short stops rather than hikes. Stay at Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells for convenience, or drive 45 minutes further to Beatty, Nevada, where rooms run roughly 60% cheaper and gas about 25% cheaper.

Day 2: Death Valley to Las Vegas

A short morning at Dante’s View or Artist’s Palette, then the drive to Las Vegas: 120-142 miles and 2 to 2.5 hours via NV-160 through Pahrump. Check in somewhere off-Strip if you want to dodge the heaviest resort fees, and spend the evening walking the Strip once the desert heat breaks.

Day 3: Grand Canyon West Rim, a long day trip from Vegas

This is the longest day of the trip: 125 miles and 2 to 2.5 hours each way, plus several hours at the canyon, so leave by 7am if you’re driving yourself. General Admission ($67 per person) covers shuttle service to the viewpoints and Hualapai cultural stops; add the Skywalk for the All-Access Pass (about $99 per person, roughly $113.54 with taxes and fees). The West Rim sits on Hualapai tribal land, not National Park Service land (official visitor FAQs ), so there’s no $35 vehicle fee and no $100 non-resident surcharge here, unlike the South Rim, Zion, or Bryce. If you’d rather not drive it yourself, a guided day tour from Vegas covers the same route without putting the miles on your rental.

Day 4: A buffer day in Las Vegas, or Hoover Dam

Use this day to recover from Day 3’s long drive, or add a half-day at Hoover Dam, about 45 minutes from the Strip via US-93 through Boulder City. The Visitor Center runs $15 per adult, the Powerplant Tour $25-30, and parking is $10 (tour details from the Bureau of Reclamation ); the view from the bypass bridge overlook is free if you only want the photo.

Day 5: Las Vegas to Los Angeles

Same 270 miles and 4-4.5 hours back down I-15. Leave by early afternoon to avoid the worst of it, and fill the tank in Nevada one last time before crossing the state line.

Day Focus Drive Overnight
1 LA to Death Valley 260-270 mi / 4.5-5h Furnace Creek or Beatty
2 Death Valley to Las Vegas 120-142 mi / 2-2.5h Las Vegas
3 Grand Canyon West Rim day trip 125 mi / 2-2.5h each way Las Vegas
4 Rest day or Hoover Dam ~45 min each way (Hoover Dam) Las Vegas
5 Vegas to LA 270 mi / 4-4.5h Back in LA

Is the Grand Canyon West Rim the same as the South Rim?

No, and mixing them up is the single most common planning mistake for this trip. The West Rim is closer to Las Vegas (about 2-2.5 hours) and privately run by the Hualapai Tribe, with its own fee structure and the Skywalk. The South Rim is the more famous National Park Service side, roughly 8 hours direct from LA, with the $35 vehicle fee plus the $100 non-resident surcharge.

How much does the Grand Canyon day trip actually add to the budget?

Figure $67-99 per person for park admission depending on whether you add the Skywalk, plus fuel for a 250-mile round trip from Vegas, roughly $45-60 at current prices. A guided day tour bundles the driving and admission together for a comparable total without the long solo drive.

Where the money actually goes on this trip

Across five days, the two biggest line items are gas (four separate driving legs, all 120 miles or more) and the Grand Canyon admission. Everything else, food, casual Vegas entertainment, budget lodging, can be held to $50-80 a day per person if you skip Strip steakhouses and shows. Keep a paper map or offline map downloaded for the Death Valley and West Rim legs; cell coverage disappears for long stretches on both.