Grand Canyon

tinkerbell

I know this has been discussed a lot on here but I'm actually thinking of booking a tour now and would like some help!

Has anyone had any experiences with http://www.allgrandcanyontours.com/Body.asp?tour=LAS-H0026&page=TourDetails
?

I'm assuming a helicopter tour would be better since you can actually land in the Grand Canyon?

Thanks

CountryWise

Havent used them but their tour is of the West Rim, South rim is meant to be the most spectacular, i was only at the south rim so i cant compare!

rossie1977

CountryWise wrote: »

Havent used them but their tour is of the West Rim, South rim is meant to be the most spectacular, i was only at the south rim so i cant compare!

actually north rim is the most spectacular, its higher and lacks of the queues of homosapians which kind of ruin the south rim. It is far more isolated though and much harder to get to.

OP i haven't taken a copter trip to grand canyon but i will some day, i have hiked down the canyon and that in itself is amazing. But if i was to go there by helicopter i would go with these guys who come highly recommended from various customers http://www.papillon.com/

Benedict XVI

rossie1977 wrote: »

actually north rim is the most spectacular, its higher and lacks of the queues of homosapians which kind of ruin the south rim. It is far more isolated though and much harder to get to.

OP i haven't taken a copter trip to grand canyon but i will some day, i have hiked down the canyon and that in itself is amazing. But if i was to go there by helicopter i would go with these guys who come highly recommended from various customers http://www.papillon.com/

I took a helicopter trip with those guy about 6 years ago, from the south rim, Tusayan actually.
It was Ok but not as good as the half day hike into the canyon itself.

rossie1977

Benedict XVI wrote: »

I took a helicopter trip with those guy about 6 years ago, from the south rim, Tusayan actually.
It was Ok but not as good as the half day hike into the canyon itself.

nothing beats hiking down the canyon, you can take all the pictures you want from the top or the bottom but hiking down (even a 1 or 2 hour hike) is just freaking amazing. loads of my friends have done the south rim tour and left after a few hours, i always tell them they have missed out big time. Watching the sun set from inside the canyon is something i will always remember. I wouldnt recommend hiking the canyon in summer, we hiked in the middle of april and the further down you go the hotter it gets, july must be like a blast furnace

hot fuss

I took a helicopter trip down into the canyon this year and as fun as it was, actually walking along the rim of the canyon was much better and I agree that if you have time hiking down is supposed to be amazing. We just did the short small plane, helictopter, boat tour because we were short on time.. Just sitting on the edge of it though was just as amazing as flying down into it in a helicopter. The helicopter flight was about 3 minutes each way!!

Davidth88

The south rim is the most built up. The north rim is just amazing.

Things I would note:-

You can stay on both the North and South Rims the hotels are run by the US Parks Service ( Amfac ).

If you are staying on the north rim , book the restaurant well in advance for an evening meal , there is only one restaurant and it gets mighty busy . Remember its 4-5 hrs drive to the next restaurant !

We drove from the South to the North rim , it takes a whole day.

We booked a flight locally , I just checked the yellow pages when we got there and we found this cheaper.

If you consider hiking down the canyon BE CAREFUL. Its easy to get down , but a LONG way up. Take plenty of water.

We walked for 3-4 hrs along the rim , found it very tiring because of the altitude ( south rim is 8k feet north rim is 10 k feet ! if I remember rightly )

It is basically the most incredible thing you will ever see ! The funny horse shoe walkway wasnt there when we went , but I reckon that maybe worth a visit ?

FrCrilly

Make sure to enquire as to how much time you will be allocated in the Grand Canyon and take this into account when deciding. I took a helicopter out and we had only half an hour on the ground before flying back. I felt this was way too short. I would have loved to have stayed out for the whole day.

dave2pvd

I'd recommend Papillon also. If you book with them, opt for the more expensive of the 2 trips; you get to fly in an EcoCopter, which has great visibility with windows all the way to the floor. Expensive, but then again, it's not every day...

I did a 1/2 day hike down Bright Angel on the Sth Rim. Amazing stuff. Never been to the Canyon floor; never had the time.

I have heard that the North Rim is indeed more interesting, but it is very hard to get to. Which is why I've never been - in 3 trips to the Canyon.

Don't forget all the other things to see in the Southwest. Buy a decent travel book specifically about the SW. You could easily spend 2 weeks in the area. Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Zion NP and Bryce Canyon are quite spectacular. I've made great use of the Park Service annual pass.