Las Vegas - Going to the Grand Canyon

MS291988

Im going to Las Vegas in 2 weeks time and looking into best way to go to the Grand Canyon

Im not looking for the cheapest but best way of doing it without spending over the odds

Thanks

coylemj

Another poster here recently recommended waiting until you get there to book trips to the Hoover Dam or the GC, there are loads of options available.

Thread about Vegas tips, started last Monday ....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057578446

OU812

if you just want to get out to it yourself, hire a car for the day, it's a little over 90 minutes drive (over the hoover dam), otherwise book a helicopter or bus trip when you get there.

JeffKenna

I'd be inclined to rent a car for the day. There's not a whole lot to the Grand Canyon really and if you go on a bus tour you'd be waiting ages at every stop looking at what is essentially the same thing.

KeithTS

OU812 wrote: »

if you just want to get out to it yourself, hire a car for the day, it's a little over 90 minutes drive (over the hoover dam), otherwise book a helicopter or bus trip when you get there.

Where did you get this?

I'm just back from a trip here, it's about a 4.5 hour drive from the strip to the south rim. On top of that, depending on where you're staying in Vegas there's a lot of road work and construction around the strip at the moment so you may well be in traffic for a while before even getting onto the 515 which will bring you onto the 93 and to Hoover Dam. Also, allow for an hour stop one way at the dam as it's well worth a walk over and a look around. I wouldn't bother with a tour myself as they're short and expensive.
You're looking at about 6 hours to get there maybe.

You can get a helicopter tour from vegas which will bring you around the canyon and land on the canyon floor, probably talking 300-400 pp though. I'd say it's an amazing experience but not cheap. For closer to $250 you'll get a flight without the landing which is a waste in my opinion,

If you're lookig to just see the place and go for a few walks around the rim then I'd suggest seeing if you can get lodging for a night. I'd recommend Yavapai lodge, affordable and just 3/4 mile walk from the South rim visitor centre. Most places in the park are probably booked out now but you may get lucky. Failing that there's the camping option which in April should be OK, it was warm enough when I was there a week ago or so.

Book a car for a day, drive to the canyon, have an afternoon/evening there to see the sunset and get up early to do a walk whilst it's not too hot.

A couple of notes for you:

In one day you're not going to be able to hike the trails to the floor and back up but you can still see an awful lot, especially as the free shuttle service around the different view points is pretty good.

The park entrance is $30 per vehicle I believe (I have an annual pass so not sure on the weekly rate you'd get) so add this to lodging and car rental, fuel etc. and it may be almost as affordable to spend the extra few quid to get a helicopter tour, will last a couple of hours rather than a couple of days but may give you a better overall experience.

faceman

MS291988 wrote: »

Im going to Las Vegas in 2 weeks time and looking into best way to go to the Grand Canyon

Im not looking for the cheapest but best way of doing it without spending over the odds

Thanks

How long do you plan on spending in Grand Canyon?

If you plan on just doing a day trip you'll miss out on hiking or cycling the canyon.

Also many people go to the east side of the canyon as its closer to Vegas. I recommend going to the south side of it. While the east side has the skywalk, there are photography restrictions. Not to mention how busy it always is

Minderbinder

KeithTS wrote: »

Where did you get this?

I'm just back from a trip here, it's about a 4.5 hour drive from the strip to the south rim. On top of that, depending on where you're staying in Vegas there's a lot of road work and construction around the strip at the moment so you may well be in traffic for a while before even getting onto the 515 which will bring you onto the 93 and to Hoover Dam. Also, allow for an hour stop one way at the dam as it's well worth a walk over and a look around. I wouldn't bother with a tour myself as they're short and expensive.
You're looking at about 6 hours to get there maybe.

You can get a helicopter tour from vegas which will bring you around the canyon and land on the canyon floor, probably talking 300-400 pp though. I'd say it's an amazing experience but not cheap. For closer to $250 you'll get a flight without the landing which is a waste in my opinion,

If you're lookig to just see the place and go for a few walks around the rim then I'd suggest seeing if you can get lodging for a night. I'd recommend Yavapai lodge, affordable and just 3/4 mile walk from the South rim visitor centre. Most places in the park are probably booked out now but you may get lucky. Failing that there's the camping option which in April should be OK, it was warm enough when I was there a week ago or so.

Book a car for a day, drive to the canyon, have an afternoon/evening there to see the sunset and get up early to do a walk whilst it's not too hot.

A couple of notes for you:

In one day you're not going to be able to hike the trails to the floor and back up but you can still see an awful lot, especially as the free shuttle service around the different view points is pretty good.

The park entrance is $30 per vehicle I believe (I have an annual pass so not sure on the weekly rate you'd get) so add this to lodging and car rental, fuel etc. and it may be almost as affordable to spend the extra few quid to get a helicopter tour, will last a couple of hours rather than a couple of days but may give you a better overall experience.

I gather he's talking about the skywalk which is about 2 hours drive. That's what I did.

CiaranW

I went on a day bus trip to Grand Canyon that stopped off at Hoover Dam in September.
It was amazing, the bus tour guide was excellent too.
I would definitely recommend it, it was a full day out, got our lunch there and it included a helicopter down to the pit of the canyon.

We were going to go with straight helicopter to the Grand Canyon but made the right call as it was a great day.
Probably the best part of staying we had in Las Vegas!

KeithTS

Minderbinder wrote: »

I gather he's talking about the skywalk which is about 2 hours drive. That's what I did.

Makes more sense!

I always just assume people go for the South Rim as I love it there.

OU812

Yup. Skywalk. Was there last year.

MS291988

CiaranW wrote: »

I went on a day bus trip to Grand Canyon that stopped off at Hoover Dam in September.
It was amazing, the bus tour guide was excellent too.
I would definitely recommend it, it was a full day out, got our lunch there and it included a helicopter down to the pit of the canyon.

We were going to go with straight helicopter to the Grand Canyon but made the right call as it was a great day.
Probably the best part of staying we had in Las Vegas!

how much was the day bus trip which includes the hoover dam and helicopter?

thanks

x43r0

My fiance & I did the grand canyon last week. We booked a helicopter trip with Sundance Helicopters.

We took the All-American package which incorporated hotel pickup/dropoff, landing in the canyon and a breakfast (we flew at sunrise) while landed in the canyon.

It was expensive but worth it for us as we only had 3 nights in Las Vegas and doing this via helicopter only took a few hours out of a day allowing us to maximize our time there

I'd definitely recommend it if it's within your price range. In my opinion, the time saved sitting on a bus is valuable so makes up for splashing out a bit

madalig12

Having done a tour by jeep/bus yoke id recommend you helicopter out to it. It takes a full day otherwise for a bit more money go by air. Do get one that lands cos you just have to stop and admire the sheer size.