Grand canyon tours - Las Vegas

overthebridge

I'm spending a few days in Vegas in early August on my honeymoon. I have been advised by lots of people to go on one of the Grand Canyon tours. The sky walk looks amazing ! I have looked up the various sites and seen the various offers - some a bit expensive I might add.

I was wondering has anyone any first hand experience of any of the tours. Maybe some of the do's and don'ts etc or are they even worth it ??

Imposter

Afaik the skywalk tour is a 5 hour each way bus journey so that you get 10 mins on the skywalk where you can't even take pictures. They are handily available to buy in the attached shop though.

Do yourself a favour and do one of the helicopter tours - it's more expensive but you get to land in the middle of the canyon as well as fly over hoover dam. You also get to 'see' the skywalk from a distance by which time you'll be glad you're in the helicopter.

If you do the sunset tour there are some amazing views of the strip on the way back in! (but that's more expensive again)

Gran Hermano

This is the crowd I used and recommend them highly
http://www.papillon.com/

The dollar is weakening against the euro again so it's good value.
I didn't do the skywalk as feedback I heard from friends who did felt
it wasn't worth it.

I did my flight coming up to sunset and felt it was a tad too dark for
photos inside the canyon. The temperature also drops quickly around sunset so bring an extra layer of clothing.

Fr Tod Umptious

I was at the Grand Canyon a few years back and found the best part of it was an actual hike into the canyon itself
The parks service have organized hikes of various duration (mine was a half day) they are free and they are a brilliant way of experiencing the canyon
I did the helicopter trip with Papillion after I did the hike and it was a let down to be honest compared to the hike, then again we did not land in the canyon.

If you have the time you could take a night away from Vegas, stay in the canyon national park and do a hike.

ports best

we to are going there on our honeymoon in early august and we are doing the pink jeep tour of the canyon as my fiance hates the taught of a small aircraft

rossie1977

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I was at the Grand Canyon a few years back and found the best part of it was an actual hike into the canyon itself
The parks service have organized hikes of various duration (mine was a half day) they are free and they are a brilliant way of experiencing the canyon
I did the helicopter trip with Papillion after I did the hike and it was a let down to be honest compared to the hike, then again we did not land in the canyon.

If you have the time you could take a night away from Vegas, stay in the canyon national park and do a hike.

best piece of advice on this page, its a 6 hour drive to the visitors centre at the south rim from vegas but worth it, there are numerous trails to hike, hiking into the canyon is an experience i will never forget (its been over 10 years ago now)

from everything i have heard the skywalk is overpriced, the skywalk is much closer to vegas though

Ponster

overthebridge, there are a lot of threads in the forum with a lot of information on Grand Canyon tours.

IMHO.....

You have several choices :

1/ Skywalk : is for me a complete waste of time and money. It's nothing more than a commercial gimmick but happens to be pretty close to Vegas so attracts a lot of people who wish to see the canyon. Now if all you're looking for is a day out and don't have much time to spare then I guess it's better than nothing. But to me it's like an American tourist spending 3 hours in a bar in Temple Bar and saying "Hey, I did Ireland" !

2/ South Rim : It's a ~5 hour drive from Vegas. You can either rent a car (get a convertible!!!) or take a guided tour by bus. To be honest though if you're not able to spend the night there then it's a long drive though the South Rim is the 'real' Grand Canyon that you see on the TV. A hike into the Canyon is a "must do" in my book but it really depends on what you enjoy doing yourself.

3/ Helicopter/Plane ride : the most expensive but well worth it if you're starting from Vegas. A bus takes you from your hotel to the airstrip and you have a large choice of trips, some involve flying to the South Rim while others involve landing in the actual Canyon.

Stray Cat

Hi
Yeah def take the helicopter if you can,we used Maverick Tours,great value and sound pilots.They took us down into the canyon and then had a champagne breakfast as u do. They they take you up to the airport in the valley and a bus will take you to the skywalk if you want or otherwise u can do lunch and wander around the reservation there.
When u are there just below the skywalk there is an old crane/hoist which was used to extract bat droppings in the 60's for use in ammunition. Some useless trivia for you!!!

tinkerbell

We went to Vegas two years ago and did the helicopter tour from Vegas. We flew over Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam and then landed in the Grand Canyon, it was very cool And my bf and I were lucky to be the ones sitting up front next to the pilot so our view was amazing. The four people in the back didn't have as good a view as us so it'd be great if you got the two front seats.

We booked the one that comes back to Vegas at sunset so you get to see the strip when it's just gotten dark, all those neon lights ...

Defo recommend it. As for that sky walk thing, I haven't heard anything good about it - everybody I've spoken to about it thought it was a waste. Actually we saw it when we were in the helicopter and being in the helicopter is far more impressive!

Quint

I went with Sundance Helicopters. They pick you up at your hotel in a limo, drive to the airport and fly you out. You get to see great views of Hoover Dam on the way. Anyway, you land at the bottom for champagne and a light snack. You get about an hour to walk around and take photos.
Then fly back when the sun is setting, which means it's dark when you get back to Vegas so they do a fly-by of the strip at night. Which is almost better than the grand canyon. Then a limo back to your hotel.

Ponster

overthebridge, if you still need help, the guys over at Poker are the Vegas Experts around here

overthebridge

Cheers lads and lassies !

One final question is it cheaper to pre-book online or should we wait until we get there and see what offers are there on the day ?

gandalf

Ponster wrote: »

3/ Helicopter/Plane ride : the most expensive but well worth it if you're starting from Vegas. A bus takes you from your hotel to the airstrip and you have a large choice of trips, some involve flying to the South Rim while others involve landing in the actual Canyon.

I took this option with http://www.papillon.com/ and it was excellent. While I didn't do the one that landed in the canyon I did one where you flew to Grand Canyon "International" Airport (LOL when you go there you'll see why I have that in quotes!). You were picked up by coach and you go to two vantage points. Your then bussed back to the airport hop in a chopper and flown through the Canyon which is absolutely amazing. You get back to the airport and are flown back

Definitely well worth doing

rizzla

I went here. http://www.grandcanyonranch.com/

Great fun. Drive out to the ranch with a stop off at theHoover Dam, then went horse back riding, steak dinner and then songs and beer around a massive camp fire. Spent the night in a tipi too. And a great helicopter flight back to Vegas through the Grand Canyon.

anotherlostie

Was just there recently and we took this tour.
http://www.viator.com/tours/Las-Vegas/Grand-Canyon-West-Rim-Air-Adventure-Day-Trip-from-Las-Vegas/d684-3441GCA

The only downsides (and they were minor compared to the scale of the day):
- tour felt rushed, could have done with a bit longer at the Guano Point
- our guide on the Colorado River had very poor English, and was hard to understand
- the BBQ lunch wasn't great.

But overall it was a great day, for €325.

OP, I did the helicoptor tour with the OH last year, it was unreal.

We were picked up by Limo in the morning at the hotel and driven to the airport in Vegas, and went from there to the canyon.

The chopper landed on the canyon floor and we had a champagne breakfast. It was stunning and one of the best things I've ever done. I think the whole journey was about 3-4 hours so we were back in Vegas by lunchtime and still had the day to do whatever we wished.

I can't recall the company but i remember it costing approx $500-$600 for both of us. Well worth every cent.

Hope this helps a bit. Enjoy it.

messrs

me and my bf were in vegas for christmas last year , stephens day we got picked up at our hotel in limo, taken to boulder city airport and flew out in 5 seater helicopter, we got to be in front seats next to pilot and views were amazing, lake mead, hoverdam - got some great photos from helicopter. landed in Canynon and had champange lunch, sambos, snacks ect and had bout hour there taking photos ect b4 we headed back to airports again. we just booked of guy on street and cost us $300 each - but well worth it - amazing expereince
defo think helicopter wud be best option

Africa

overthebridge wrote: »

Cheers lads and lassies !

One final question is it cheaper to pre-book online or should we wait until we get there and see what offers are there on the day ?

=


anyone tell us this? cheers

Town Man

Africa wrote: »

=


anyone tell us this? cheers

I was in Vegas in July and went on a bus tour to the south rim booking it from one of the companies brochures. I paid $160, however I found out when I came back that there was a coupon booklet in my room and I could have gotten the exavt same tour for $90, so if your in a hotel get the booklet with the offers

an example was the helicopter,boat ride tour was $220 per person in the booklet.

Hope this is of help

badinfleunce

check out Viator - 136 las vegas tours, attractions and things to do . Great prices!

Irish Gunner

We are looking to go to the grand canyon go to a ranch for a tourist cowboy show and then come back to vegas

I rang papillion and they dont seem to do this they only do helicopter rides

http://www.grandcanyonranch.com/ do an overnight but they have their own ranch so are there any others ?

Also 3 of the party are afraid of heights I know Grand Canyon Hoover dam etc so not sure if they will get in a helicopter. Is it cheap to hire a car for the day and drive there and back ?

Any other companies that do the ranch and canyon tour?

Irish Gunner

Anyone tried this tour

http://www.heliusa.com/tour.g03.html

Drive out and back and the cost is $324 but does not seem to stop at the Grand canyon only does helicopter ride

This a good price?

overthebridge

Hi Guys,

I went ahead and booked thru papillon and it was well worth it. Like the previous poster, we got picked up from hotel in limo, brought to airport - where they had a lovely waiting area that had lots of light snacks and refreshments.
The flight itself is a about 1.5hours each way and you get about 30 minutes in the canyon itself where they had champagne, crackers cheese, grapes etc as a breakfast. We got some amazing pictures going to and fro. On the way back the pilot flew up the strip sp we got to see it in all its splendour - I can only imagine what it's like at night !

And yes we saw the skywalk from the helicopter and it looks pretty poor to be honest !!
The trip cost us $600 US which was well worth it with the exchange rate.

Thanks for the advice !!!

no money mo pro

messrs wrote: »

me and my bf were in vegas for christmas last year , stephens day we got picked up at our hotel in limo, taken to boulder city airport and flew out in 5 seater helicopter, we got to be in front seats next to pilot and views were amazing, lake mead, hoverdam - got some great photos from helicopter. landed in Canynon and had champange lunch, sambos, snacks ect and had bout hour there taking photos ect b4 we headed back to airports again. we just booked of guy on street and cost us $300 each - but well worth it - amazing expereince
defo think helicopter wud be best option[

Hi, I know this is off topic but what was Vegas lik at Christmas? My wife and I are thinking of going. We were there on honeymoon in July 08 and loved it.

thanks

marathont

I am fairly sure that none of the helicopter tours fly into the actual grand canyon. Also the skywalk is not at the actual grand canyon. As the the grand canyon is a protected area and they banned helicopters and development etc.

atgate

marathont wrote: »

I am fairly sure that none of the helicopter tours fly into the actual grand canyon. Also the skywalk is not at the actual grand canyon. As the the grand canyon is a protected area and they banned helicopters and development etc.

You might be right although our pilot mentioned that the site we landed at was owned by an Indian tribe and they were one of only two companies that were allowed to land on the tribal land.

It certainely looked like the grand canyon - it was very big and a canyon

marathont

atgate wrote: »

You might be right although our pilot mentioned that the site we landed at was owned by an Indian tribe and they were one of only two companies that were allowed to land on the tribal land.

It certainely looked like the grand canyon - it was very big and a canyon

Yes I considered one of the helicopter tours, they did look impressive. But in the end I opted for a plain trip to the south rim This one (I think)http://www.viator.com/tours/Las-Vegas/Grand-Canyon-South-Rim-Air-and-Ground-Tour/d684-3511_A0001

Which I thought was really good.

I have heard the skywalk is a bit dissapointing.

Ponster

atgate wrote: »

It certainely looked like the grand canyon - it was very big and a canyon

The part of the Canyon where the helicopter from Vegas travels to certainly is big and canyon-like but isn't the actual *real* canyon that you have maybe seen on TV.

The trip though is well worth it if you don't have the time to ravel to the South-Rim of the canyon.