Best Grand Canyon Tours

Going on a tour of the Grand Canyon and experiencing it is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Honestly, to get the most out of your time here, going on one or even a few Grand Canyon tours is definitely the way to go. Grand Canyon tours are offered by air, ground, and river. Grand Canyon helicopter and air tours will provide you with a breath-taking bird's eye view of the vast expansiveness, while Colorado river rafting trips offer an intimate, first-hand experience that brings you right into the heart of the canyon. Plane and helicopter tours can be booked at any time (even last minute), while river trips need to be booked nearly a year in advance. There is no one better way to experience the Grand Canyon over another; they're just different and equally spectacular in their own ways. Many visitors prefer their tour of the Grand Canyon to be the free hop-on, hop-off shuttles along the South Rim, but going on a guided tour by van or coach bus allows for comfortable transportation with a knowledgable guide. Jeep and Hummer tours are another classic and popular way to tour Grand Canyon National Park. Often times guided vans, bus, and jeep tours provide other services like meals, hotel pickup, or stops to other popular monuments in the great Southwest like Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona. Grand Canyon tours are offered year-round at the South Rim (accessed through Arizona) and the West Rim of the Grand Canyon (home of the Skywalk and accessed through Nevada).

Self-Guided vs. Professionally Guided Tours of Grand Canyon

Many outdoor experiences can be appreciated without a tour guide. But please don't let your visit to Grand Canyon be just "a giant hole in the ground" or even "a great place to just take a selfie". Most visitors will forego the Grand Canyon tour and just visit the park on their own. If this is the only time you will be here, do yourself the favor and go on a guided tour if you can. Grand Canyon's immense history, geological diversity, and scope is truly too difficult to comprehend even for those who spend decades researching, studying, and exploring it. It would be impossible to appreciate how incredible it really is in one visit, but going on a guided tour is a good start. Whether you're coming from Phoenix, Flagstaff, Sedona or Las Vegas, there is a tour company to get you there safely and conveniently. Any Grand Canyon tour is worth putting in that bucket of Life Experiences.

Usually, visitors headed for the South Rim - the most popular area of Grand Canyon National Park - frequently embark on tours from Williams, Flagstaff, Sedona, or Phoenix aboard a comfort-ride van or coach, particularly when the tour is taken in place of transportation. Popular South Rim tours also include the Grand Canyon Railway, which departs Williams for Grand Canyon Village daily, and 30 to 45-minute helicopter tours, flying from the Grand Canyon Airport near Tusayan over the South and North Rims and back. Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas are typically destined for Grand Canyon West, an area of Hualapai Nation located outside the National Park and home to the glass Skywalk attraction. The South Rim is a less common destination for visitors from Las Vegas. Tours from Las Vegas commonly include transportation by van, coach, helicopter, airplane and Jeep (or a combination therein) and range in price from under $100 per person to over $600 per person. It really just depends on the tours you choose.

South Rim
Grand Canyon tours to the South Rim most commonly depart from Flagstaff, Williams/Tusayan, Sedona, Phoenix and sometimes Las Vegas. Popular South Rim tours also include the Grand Canyon Railway, which departs Williams for Grand Canyon Village daily, and 30 to 45-minute helicopter tours, flying from the Grand Canyon Airport near Tusayan over the South and North Rims and back. South Rim tours tend to be more traditional with fewer gimmicks than tours offered from Las Vegas. Going to the South Rim of Grand Canyon allows for more exploration and natural beauty.

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West Rim
Usually, tours to Grand Canyon West, an area of Hualapai Nation located outside the National Park and home to the glass Skywalk attraction, originate from Las Vegas. Grand Canyon tours to the West Rim commonly include transportation by van, coach, helicopter, airplane and Jeep (or a combination therein) and range in price from under $100 per person to over $600 per person. Tours to Grand Canyon West revolve around the Skywalk with optional side trips to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. In a vacation comprised of Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and the Skywalk, it's pretty cool to see what Mother Nature can create as well. There's no competition between man-made feats versus one of the Seven Wonders of the World. That becomes very obvious when you look into the Grand Canyon for the first time.

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North Rim

The North Rim is a very remote destination; there are no single-day commercial tours to the North Rim at this time (although many whitewater and smooth water rafting trips begin north of the North Rim at Lees Ferry.) Instead, book a multi-day "Grand Circle" trip that includes the North Rim, a river rafting trip, or a custom tour. With a handsome travel allowance, many tour operators can create a custom tour for you with a combination of van, coach or air travel.

For a one or two day trip, we highly recommend you drive yourself to the North Rim. You could take a shuttle, but there are very few companies that provide Grand Canyon shuttles to the North Rim, but those that do depart from Flagstaff and offer services at prices ranging from $158 - $200 per person (although custom options are available for additional rates.)

Although not a tour to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, there is a 30-minute air tour from Las Vegas to Bar-10 Ranch, a decidedly remote 'off-the-grid' vacation lodge and ranch located on the Arizona Strip outside the National Park but only 9 miles from a portion of the North Rim, located 80 unpaved miles from St. George, UT. You'll find this and the aforementioned tours right here on theCanyon.com.

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TOURS OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Advantage Grand Canyon

As a central reservation service for all 16 Grand Canyon Rafting Outfitters, we can help you find your ideal adventure, at no additional cost! Our Trip Finder let's you browse all of the trips offered and compare them apples to apples! Not sure what questions to ask or where to start? No Problem! Contact us and our educated team will provide you with detailed information on river trips that fit within your travel preferences. Our goal is to create an enjoyable, free and unbiased experience for you while navigating the many options of traveling through one of America's most prized possessions. Take the Advantage!

Best Grand Canyon Tours

Self-Guided vs. Professionally Guided Tours of Grand Canyon

TOURS OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

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