Simon

Hi I'm from England and I am travelling to California in July/August. I have already booked a hotel in Las Vegas for 3 nights and would like to visit the Grand Canyon for a day trip, I've seen so many different Websites offering flights and helicopter rides etc etc. Is it worth booking before I travel or when I get to vegas, and what is the best way to see it. Money isn't a great problem, but value for money is.

L

We drove there and must say it was the most incredible place I have ever scene. The helicopter ride is a luxury and you're removed from it. You can see a video. I would spend the money on some good hiking shoes and spend the day hiking down into the canyon. Have a great time! Take your time to enjoy the surroundings while you are there. Photographs will never capture the real image.

Cheryl

There is a tour company in Vegas called Action Tours (www.actiontours.com). I've toured with them twice. One of our tours was to Grand Canyon west. It's a section of the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, which is west of the GC Nat'l Park border. This section of the Grand Canyon is not as wide as it is in the nat'l park section, but it is just as deep, and it is spectacular. The tour we took is called "Grand Canyon West/Colorado River." There is only one road in the Grand Canyon that leads down to the Colorado River, and it is on this reservation. The tour takes you down to the river. I can't begin to describe what it's like to stand next the the Colorado River and look up at the canyon walls. The only other way to do this is to hike or take a mule ride in the nat'l park. Then, you drive back up and across some wild, desolate desert terrain to the rim of the canyon. There are no railings. When we were there, there were no other people. We lucked out that day...no one else had booked that tour so we had our own private driver, who was extremely knowledgeable. We was able to answer any question we had about the canyon, desert, or the Hualapai. Their vehicles were large SUV's and very clean. We toured with them again last year on a day trip to Valley of Fire and, again, our experience with them was excellent. It was awesome to see the Grand Cayon from both directions and still get back to Vegas in time for a shower, dinner, and a night out.

I'm sorry for carrying on, but my enthusiasm gets the better of me when I think of that wonderful day. P.S. They also offer helicopter and plane rides to the canyon. Have a great time.

Mary Sebranek

My husband and I stayed at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim. It will be an short drive from Vegas. From the Lodge, you can take a mule ride to the bottom of the canyon if you desire. I believe reservations are necessary. We viewed the canyon from the lodge deck and surrounding lookout locations.

k

one bit of advice that I would give regarding the grand canyon is NOT to stay at one of the lodges in one of the rims--either NOrth or South rim-- I would stay right outside of the park. The lodges inside are run by the gov't-- national park service - and ours was not clean and there was a mouse in the room- It was gross and we paid a pretty good amount for it. I would stay in a holiday inn or chain hotel several miles away on the highway that is right outside of the park gates!

OliveOyl

I was so startled at Kitty's remark I just wanted to post our experiences staying both inside and outside the park.

First, the hotels within the parks, all of them, are run by Xanterra, a hotel company, and not the government. It originally was Fred Harvey Hotels, then bought by Amfac, and now by Xanterra--all hotel companies operating National Park hotels.

We've been to the GC twice. For our first visit, we stayed in Tusayan in a nice modern motel, clean, and well furnished but BLAH and characterless. We had a short drive into the park, but a drive none-the-less, and a line passing the gate. Our breakfasts and dinners were in the restaurants in Tusayan within an easy drive of the motel. Never having experienced the park any other way, it seemed perfectly fine to us.

Our second visit the next year (2 years ago) we stayed at Bright Angel in a cabin near the rim. We had no view of the canyon, though some do, but it was no more than a 3 minute walk away. The cabin was not as modernly furnished as the motel we had at Tusayan, nor did it have the mauve and blue color scheme with matching mauve and blue pictures over the beds, happily! It was very clean--furnishings and color schemes were rustic, fitting the surroundings and providing the atmosphere I would expect from lodging at the GC. Had the room we had at Tusayan been magically transported to Bright Angel, it would not have "fit". You are there for the nature, and the rustic feel of the cabins added to the experience. Conversely, you couldn't take a GC cabin and magically transport that room to Naples, FL and have it work either. For the canyon though, it was perfect.

Simply being within the park at night with the crowds gone, walking out to the rim and looking at the moonlit canyon, or walking back from dinner and having herds of deer walking along the same path with you, barely caring that you are right there, is an experience not to be missed. If you have the option to stay within the park, I wouldn't do it any other way. Don't expect 4* accommodations, but then, would you really want that in the Grand Canyon? (My husband runs a 4* hotel by the way...so it isn't really even a matter of what one is comfortable with.)

I couldn't encourage you enough to hike into the Canyon as well, even if you only have a few hours to do it. Go as far down as you have time for...your perspective changes entirely and the experience is even more awesome as you look up at the canyon walls towering over you.

Having just been to Las Vegas for the first time last Thanksgiving...flying into LV to drive to Bryce and Zion Canyons, I have to chuckle when I think of Simon's "value for money". For me.. value for money would be 3 nights at the GC or Bryce or Zion, and a helicopter ride one day to see LV. gt; But that's me...it's just not my kind of town.