Grand Canyon tour / day trip

[shamrock77]

Have a group of 24 women going to LV in January. Some of them would like to take a day trip to GC - either via plan or helicopter. Where they get picked up at hotel in the morning and returned that night. Could anyone recommend a tour company for this sort of thing. Thanks Jude

[Vegas Vic]

Tours of any kind are problematic from a recomendation standpoint. Any tour is only as good as the tour guide/pilot. With all the turnover in Vegas, a company that gave an excellent tour last year might be the pits this year.

I would suggest calling your hotel's 800 number and checking with the concierge. They get up-to-date feedback from their guests who go out on the tours almost daily. If your hotel does not have a concierge, then call the Belliago's 800 number and talk ask their concierge which tour they would recomend for your group. Your chances of getting some really good and current information is much better that way.

Good luck! :)

[CeeJayRocker]

That is an ALL day trip . . . . . . My suggestion: shrimp cocktail and draft beer at the Golden Gate, and take a gander at the historic pictures of the building of the Las Vegas infrastructure on the walls . . . . Save the Canyon for a separate trip.

[shamrock77]

I tried to tell them that there were no machines in the GC - but they still want to go. I of course will not be joining them.

[Pops904]

Yea, one of the guys going with us in November wants to book a GC or Hoover Dam tour...our reply to this first timer was WHY? We're only going to be there for 5 days...hard enough just to take in the sights right there in Vegas in that much time! I think we've convinced him to wait and see if he has any spare time for side trips. We're betting that he doesn't even get to see all of the strip in those 5 days!

[sonntex]

I agree with other posts; you will not see it all on the first trip. We finally got to the Hoover Dam on our sixth trip to LV. There are some casinos downtown that we still haven't visited. We have not been out to the lake or many of the other sights outside the city. It takes a lot of time to see it all.

[chris5984]

We did a day trip to GC back in 2003. I worked out pretty well for us. We had a rental car and drove out of Vegas about 8 am. It's about a 3.5 to 4hr drive. We did the South Rim of the Canyon in about 5hrs and drove back to Vegas. We arrived back around 10 to 10:30 pm in time for a quick shower and a late dinner in the coffee shop. Then back to the tables for a few hrs.

If you don't want to do an all day thing try Red Rock or Hoover Dam. We have done both in 5 or 6 hrs.

We like to do at least one day or half day trip during a 5 day stay, it seems to help with my gambling budget and gives me a chance to sober up some.

Have a GREAT TRIP

[beckw925]

If you do not want to spend the time to do the GC thing, I suggest the Valley of Fire. IF you have heard of Moab, UT with Arches and Canyonlands, this is a mini version.

Lots of beautiful red rocks, nature, desert, arches. There are private tours, but we just do a rental car. Think it took us about 1.5 hours to get there. I am a photographer, so I was in heaven.

Red Rocks is pretty too, but more of a hiking destination.

GC deserves time.
I have always wanted to the helicopter thing there, but it is so not PC!

[batteryman]

The Grand Canyon is something everyone must experience at least once before they die. It is absolutely breathtaking (and I don't use that word loosely). If they have never seen it and this could be one of their last trips to the area, I would not talk them out of a trip to the GC. After all it is one of the wonders of the world.