Grand Canyon

[KittyGlitter]

Hi there. What is the best way to see the Grand Canyon? Will be staying in Las Vegas. Is the south or west rim better? thanks

[TWR]

Hellicoper trips, well worth the money. you have ALL ROUND vision.

[Clanad]

It's about 180 miles from Vegas to either rim. One can also drive out to the south Rim, but that's 280 miles.

Helicopter tours are the most popular, but by far the most expensive, costing around $400 per person. Most tour operators offer landings on the lfoor of the canyon as well as the usual touring.

Fixed wing tours are very affordable, being about $100. These are usually done in FAA approved tour aircraft, the standard is the DeHavilland Twin Otter, which flies about 160 mph on the way out. (Seen here: http://www.scenic.com/ ) that've been specially modified (I'm a commercial pilot as well as an FAA Safety nspector here in the U.S.) with large picture windows on each side. They're a little noisy and I'd recommend using the available ear phones.

Here's one source of securing booking for the tour(s):
http://www.grandcanyontourcompany.com/helo.htm ...

Welcome to the U.S. by the way...

[gazzawazza]

We went last May and did the trip with a company called SunDance Helicopters, and it was fantastic!

http://www.sundancehelicopters.com/tourpage.as px?id=311

We chose the Grand Canyon Sunset Tour and loved every minute of it.
They picked you up from your hotel in a limmo, flew you to the canyon (via the hoover dam and Lake Mead, we even saw a tiny speck on the rim which was the skywalk!) and then landed on the canyon floor where we had a champagne picnic under sunshades.
There was plenty of time to take photos of the magnificent scenery, and then the return flight was timed to take in the beautiful sunset and get back to Vegas just as night was falling. They call this the Twylight Tour and it is a tour in its own right, but on the Sunset Tour they combine the two so you get the iconic view of the city at night. Then it's back to your hotel in your limmo ready for a night on the tables!
The whole tour takes approx 3.5 hours door to door and was under �450 in total. We heard an american couple saying they'd spent almost 14 hours on a bus to save a bit of money doing the tour!
If you're thinking of doing the skywalk some say it's not worth the money so check it out before you go, I think you pay for the journey and then have to pay another $70 or something to go on the walk, and I seem to remember you're not even allowed to take photos from the walk!
Hope this helps.

[ganesh]

We drove ther from Las Vegas as I'm not keen on helicopter rides. Long journey but interesting and worth it. Make sure you have enough petrol as the gas stops are few and far between and we nearly ran out which was scary (reminded me of those horror films out in the middle of nowhere!)You can stay there overnight or maybe 2 at the grand canyon entrance,and spend one day on the little bus that takes you along it giving different views,(take water-not many facilities)or have a great helicopter ride over it (my family did that) in the morning,while I stayed at the hotel in the pool.

[buildersmate]

A couple of extra points.
At some points of the past, helicopter flights were banned, so they must have now restarted. Not (on the eminently sensible grounds) that they b***er it up by noise for everyone else on the ground but because several crashed. Something to do with air currents in the canyon, I thought. Maybe the pilots have been constrained more. Any further comments Clanad?
The Skybridge may be in Grand Canyon but it is about 80 miles to the west of what most people regard as the main GC tourist attraction. The only infrastructure there is that provided by the native American Indians on whose (isolated) land it is on. Avoid.
The South Rim is about 10x busier than the North Rim simply because it more accessible to decent roads. I'm genuinely surprised Clanad says the mileage from LA is the same - but he's the native, so he must be right. Certainly the roads from LA to the north rim are a lot slower.

[Clanad]

The helicopter (and fixed wing) tours are now highly regulated, not only by the FAA but also the National Park Service. They have to adhere to fixed routes and can only tour after a certain time of the morning and not later than a certain time in thevening. The helicopters themselves must be maintained to "airline" standards but that wasn't neccessarily the problem to begin with, but more the congestion with too many tour operators with no set lanes.

The worst crash, ironically, was between a Trans World Airlines Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 back in 1966. They both decided (this was pre-radar days) to descend for a sight seeing tour on their way into Los Angeles and the resulting collision cost 128 passengers their lives...

Not only is it about 270 miles by road from Las Vegas to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and about 260 miles from Las Vegas to the north rim, it's 215 miles to drive from one rim to the other on some pretty unpleasant roads...Not for the timid...

[Cathyhuns]

White water rafting. Not cheap $459 for a day trip but an amazing experience. Book well in advance.

http://www.raftingthegrandcanyon.com/lowest.ht ml