Driving from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, Any advice?

limpdd

Hi,
My girlfriend and I are going to Las Vegas in Mid Feb and we are planning to spend one day driveing to the Grand Canyon, has anyone done this recently and can share any advice (like which part to drive to)?

Thanks

rossie1977

the south rim is the main tourist part of the canyon, its the part you see in the movies, in most photos etc, however it is quite a drive from vegas, looking at 5hrs, grand canyon airport is nearby and from there you can get helicopter rides down into the canyon

the north rim is closer and higher but won't be accessible in feb, the west rim is the closest part to vegas and has the skywalk attraction but the view here isn't nearly as good as the two other rims

word of warning, it will be very cold in the grand canyon in feb given the high elevation, expect ice and snow and worst of all fog, before setting out on any trip keep up to date with the weather on google, webcams and the national park site http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm you could travel for hours and not be able to see anything past 10 feet and that would be a terrible waste of time

daithi2011

I would go for the south rim.
But do yourself a favour and dont drive. Either get the coach/helicopter or fly the whole way. Not cheap those for those options.

dudara

If you can afford the expense, I'd recommend flying to the Grand Canyon. We were in Vegas last year and organised a plane trip to the Grand Canyon. We were picked up from our hotel by the company in a minibus, driven to an airfield near Boulder and then we flew to the airfield. We were then bussed into the West Rim.

We could hop on and off the bus route while we there, and our ticket also covered the Skywalk and a meal (limited quality).

The plus of flying is you get to see the desert and you also fly over the Hoover Dam, which is also pretty awesome. It is a small plane (about 8-10 pax IIRC), but the pilot was chatty and pleasant.

As a previous poster said, it will be cold there that time of year. Wrap up warm!

I booked the flights through Viator - these act as a agency. I think our actual tour company was Stars & Stripes Air Tours

meathgal2010

Yes I agree with the guys above. We were going to drive but it was going take up a full day and we were only there for 4. So we opted for the helicopter trip. Company mini bus collected us from the hotel at 8am and we were back at our hotel by 1pm so only half a day. We paid 250 dollars I think. The trip took in the Hoover dam, Lake Meade and the Grand Canyon. It didnt land but the queues to get onto the see through walk way and to get to the dam are supposed to be huge so we werent pushed. We still got to see everything just from height!

noveltea

I drove to the south rim last year. It took a good 5 maybe 6 hours. We stopped at the Hoover Dam along the way. If you plan on stopping there, you should drive past it and park at the other side of the state border as it is free to park there, and it only takes 5 minutes to walk down. The south rim is good, quite a few hotels there. If I had my time over however, I dont think I would drive again.

Ponster

Drove to the South rim last June (my second time).

5.5 hours there (taking Route 66) and 5 back. Well worth it if you have the time to spare and 2/3 people willing to drive. Leave at 8 and back again for 9 that evening. You take in the Dam, Route 66 and if you're in Vegas for a while it's great to get out for a day.

mcnallg

I'd agree with the majority of posts above, its not worth driving. Its about 10-11 hours return, and the drive is not very interesting which makes it very tiring. Just desert really. I'd recommend Viator. You can get a copter flight, they pick you up at your hotel, bring you to the helipad, fly you over the Canyon and down into it, provide a simple lunch, and then fly you back and drop you back to your hotel.

Costs about $300 p/p if my memory serves me correctly.