Having never been to the Grand Canyon before, my husband and I decided to book a day trip instead of figuring everything out for ourselves. Super glad that we did! Our tour guide/driver, Chris, was super knowledgeable about not only the Grand Canyon, but also about Sedona and Flagstaff and the area in general. He kept up a constant stream of information while driving which was interesting to listen to, and made the drive feel shorter. We felt like all the stops that we made to view things (both before the Grand Canyon, during lunch at Cameron trading post, and while at the Grand Canyon) were a good length, we never really felt rushed. The drive was structured so that there were bathroom breaks every 45 mins to an hour, which was great because I tend to guzzle water while I'm out west (not used to the dry air!).
For those wondering, here was the basic flow of our trip: Picked up in Sedona from the Chamber of Commerce (we were staying in an AirBnB and the bus isn't allowed in residential areas) around 7:30 then drove up to Flagstaff to pick up a few more people from hotels there. Then drove to Sunset Crater and Wupatki ruins - had some time here to mosey around the ruins. Then we drove up to the Cameron Trading Post (arrived there around 11 am) where we had lunch and did a little shopping. Then we drove into Grand Canyon National Park! Started at the Desert View Watchtower, made two additional stops at viewpoints, then ended at Grand Canyon Village (for a total of 4 stops for viewing the GC). It was nice that GC Village was at the end, as by this time it was later in the afternoon and much less crowded than I imagine it is earlier in the day. We left GC Village around 3:30 pm, drove back to Flagstaff to drop off folks, then back to Sedona Chamber of Commerce (arrived back around 6pm).
All in all, this was a great trip! We now feel prepared to go back to the Grand Canyon ourselves on a future trip for a more in depth experience!