Who has done one? Did you do a bus tour, plane/helicopter tour, or just rent a car and diy? Was it worth it? If you did a tour, was it one with a meal included?

We're going this weekend, and are debating doing this and what would be the best option. TIA!

10/11/2010 10:53:23 AM

oooo sounds fun LK
you guys have fun

i have never been to the GC but always wanted to go. VACA???

10/11/2010 11:02:34 AM

Indeed! We were originally going for a wedding, but the couple ran in to finance troubles so they cancelled and eloped last weekend. We had already booked our flight... Luckily we wanted to go anyway and were making a vacay out of it with another couple so it wasn't a financial loss for us either

10/11/2010 11:45:49 AM

Oh, so it's some kind of swinger vacation? I can recommend some places.

10/11/2010 11:50:46 AM

On our first road trip EVER, part of the route Z and I took was GC to LV.

I strongly recommend renting a car and doing it yourselves. The flexibility to visit the things that catch YOUR eye should not be discounted.

Having worked at a tourist trap out west this summer, I have to say: foreign tourists (from across an ocean) are the only ones who have an excuse to take guided tours in the American west - especially when national parks/monuments/lands are involved.

10/11/2010 11:51:06 AM

Good to know...and we would prefer to rent a car unless some rave tour reviews would sway us.

Would a charger comfortably sit 5 people? (cause this ain't just a swinger vacay*--we got a gay compadre coming with as well...scandalous!)



*we are not actually swingers...not that there's anything wrong with that.

10/11/2010 12:03:07 PM

Also, the guided Hoover Dam tours (like $25 or $30) are TOTALLY worth it.

Dangit, I'm wanting to go back to Vegas again now

10/11/2010 12:08:50 PM

Unless the 5 are small, it's probably going to be cramped. I would watch priceline/hotwire, as you can probably get a SUV/bigger car for only a little more. Last time I was there, I got a convertible for like $25.

If you're going to do it, you'll want to take your time though. Check what's left of lake mead/hoover (traffic can be pretty backed up through there), and you really should see many different views of the GC.

If you have time, you also might consider touring Red Rock Canyon (~30min. west of LV).

10/11/2010 12:20:13 PM

Yeah we did Hoover dam last time. The only thing that's tempting me to go back is they are opening the new bridge soon.

10/11/2010 12:21:44 PM

of course we'll pass it any way to the GC, but I mean getting out and actually taking a dam tour

(heh...dam tour...still cracks me up )

I think we are going to rent a car/suv and to the west end where the skyline bridge is. may do a bit more, but we'll see how the trip goes. and it may just be hubs and I that goes on the GC thing...we'll see!

10/11/2010 6:54:41 PM

LK, how many days are you going to be in LV? I've done the drive from LV to the GC and would highly recommend it. It's a fun drive and the scenery is amazing. However if you're just going for a long weekend you might not want to take the time.

I drove from LV to the North end of the GC. That's the closest part to LV. It took five hours-not sure how long it'd take to other parts. (That time included a little fun romping around at over 120mph )

10/11/2010 7:17:08 PM

We'll be there from late Friday til Tuesday afternoon. This is our 2nd Vegas trip though, so Justin and I aren't as worried about doing Vegas up like crazy. We def did that the first trip, and there WILL be some this trip...but it's not as pressing.

But we're going to the west end where the skyline bridge is and according to maps that's a 3 hour trek, so 6 roundtrip.

but good to know it's a fun drive...we're leaning more and more to that through these responses and others we've talked to that have done it.

[Edited on October 11, 2010 at 7:27 PM. Reason : ]

10/11/2010 7:26:55 PM

I'm not familiar with the Grand Canyon, but google maps shows it as being further than that. I could be wrong but ya might wanna recheck?

10/11/2010 10:53:21 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAe3EhZ60QI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

10/12/2010 4:07:06 AM

Justin does all that...this is the route he found to where we're headed. It's at an Indian Reservation http://www.grandcanyonwest.com/ and not the typical North and South rim that most go to. just under four hours--I don't think I read the minutes part when I looked at it earlier.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Rue+De+Monte+Carlo&daddr=Buck+and+Doe+Rd%2FCo+Rd+7&hl=en&geocode=FYzmJgIdtJQi-Q%3BFZE-JQIdI1c3-Q&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=11&sll=35.900731,-114.034653&sspn=0.461093,0.891953&ie=UTF8&ll=35.875698,-114.489899&spn=0.926921,1.783905&t=p&z=10

10/12/2010 7:09:08 AM

For some reason I thought you said you were going to the part of the Canyon that had the glass bottomed ledge, which is 280 miles from Vegas.

But then rereading the thread i see no mention of that

10/12/2010 12:45:36 PM

i did it elkay, took a bus.


it won't be as bad for you but i did it in july and that was the first time i felt 120 degree heat. It's bad dude don't even listen to those people that are like 'its a dry heat', its f'in hot.


i did bus tour, it was pretty reasonable and there was AC and plenty of stops to stretch and get a drink

i'd think a helicopter tour would be the shizznit

10/12/2010 12:51:01 PM

The only time I've been to Vegas was July, and the heat didn't seem that bad at the time.

10/12/2010 12:57:12 PM

vegas heat wasn't so bad


grand canyon heat is bad

10/12/2010 1:00:17 PM

That I can't comment on. Didn't arrive there till sunset. Stayed for dinner enjoying a beautiful view (and a hot waitress if I recall...even if it was 9 yrs ago) and then drove back to Vegas, lol.

10/12/2010 1:04:00 PM

rent a car, go to Zion National Park too.

10/12/2010 1:39:55 PM

I did one of those small planes with ~10 people on it and it was really cool.

Ive heard the bus tours are really long and kinda dull so I'd definitely rent a car over that option.

The plane was really cool though they took us to the grand canyon and hoover dam and the whole thing only lasted ~90 minutes in the air probably which is important to me since I don't go to Vegas to sit in a bus all day with strangers.

10/12/2010 6:27:13 PM

skyline bridge =

Quote :

"For some reason I thought you said you were going to the part of the Canyon that had the glass bottomed ledge, which is 280 miles from Vegas. But then rereading the thread i see no mention of that"

Which can be accessed from the park justin's mapped directions to I didn't marry no dummy! I married a guy that loves a damn map and route/plan

It will prolly just be us now, so we may do the north or southern rim where it is what you typically think of with GC

^that's what I want to do. My parents did one, and the plane landed so they were able to walk and see the GC from the rim edge too. If I could do that, I would...but it is more expensive
I would need a spreadsheet showing that driving a car would end up being more $$ to make my case

[Edited on October 12, 2010 at 7:07 PM. Reason : Plane]

10/12/2010 7:03:46 PM

i dont think the plane was all that expensive I think we found a buy one get one free deal so instead of $189 it was like $95 each i believe.

10/12/2010 7:09:26 PM

We rented a car and drove out, stopping at the Hoover Dam. We really spend very little time at the canyon because I was worried about getting the car back. That was the biggest mistake, not giving ourselves more time there. I regret that... so whatever you do, give yourself some time to do more than just look. Give yourself time to explore.

10/12/2010 10:15:55 PM

^^what part of the canyon did you see? west rim or the north/south rim?

10/12/2010 10:24:39 PM

i cant recall this was about 8 years ago and it was the day of my fantasy football league championship so that was on my mind a lot

10/13/2010 11:25:21 PM

i cant recall this was about 8 years ago and it was the day of my fantasy football league championship so that was on my mind a lot

10/13/2010 11:25:21 PM

My wife and I took a small 8 person plane last year. I remember it being about a 45 minute flight. Landed at the reservation and lunch and the skywalk were included. They have a bunch of tour buses that take you from the various points at the reservation and then back to the small airport.

This summer my parents went and they drove. They got to see some things that we didn't (some sort of cactus forest, animals, etc) but they also were in the car for about 6 hours that day. Ours had a bus pick us up at the hotel everything was taken care of. It also turned an all day trip into a half a day trip (were at the West Rim for 4-5 hours).

10/14/2010 8:33:00 PM