Michael

My wife and I are going to a 4-day trip Las Vegas (Luxor) in September, and we wanted to dedicate a whole day to a trip to the Grand Canyon. Since neither of us ever been to Las Vegas, should we rent a car to drive there or should we purchase a bus tour? How much time does it take to get to the Grand Canyon by car/bus? How much does such bus trip approximately cost? If we do choose to buy a bus tour, is it sold at the casino-hotels?
Thanks to all who respond.
Mike.

J T Kirk

I'm not familiar with bus tours, although I'm sure they exist. We drove from LV to Zion and stayed a few nights, then drove from Zion to Bryce and stayed a few nights. We made a (long) daytrip to the North Rim from Bryce via car. We stopped in Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park and Kanab, and spent the balance of the day at the North Rim. It was a LONG day.

herself

I would not recommend the Canyon for a day trip to anyone. If you do a day trip, you will just see a big hole in the ground. You need time to see the different shades that dawn and dusk bring. You need time just to sit by it and let the greatness of it sink in. The Canyon is more of a spiritual thing. It is like seeing the ocean. Would you want your experience of the ocean to be just a drive by?that just a big hole. You could go to Bryce for a day.

Dave

From LV to the Grand Canyon South Rim by car is about 5.5 hours one way (similar to North Rim). So it can be done in a day; however, the canyon is best seen early or late in the day - there is a VAST difference from midday, when the colors are washed out and haze may blur the distant views.

Perhaps you could leave LV in the afternoon and spend one night at the Canyon, returning the next morning?

J T Kirk

I agree with herself. One day doesn't do it justice. we had been there before, so didn't feel as though we needed to spend a lot of time at the Grand this past time. Instead, we focused on Zion and Bryce. Zion would be easily do-able in one day. Bryce is a little further down the road.

Linda

If you still want to take a day-trip to the canyon, I highly recommend a tour. It isn't that great, but at least you get there and back without being exhausted. I just took the Greyline tour a couple of weeks ago. It cost $149. Left about 7 a.m., though they will pick you up at your hotel if you want about 6:30, depending on the hotel. We got a boxed breakfast and a box lunch on board (though they promimsed a catered picnic lunch). For boxed meals they were decent and filling. We made a pit stop in Kingman and another in Williams at a Route 66 stop, kind of interesting. Later we got in another bus for the short ride to the canyon. We went directly to Grand Canyon Village (I believe that's the name), where we had about one hour for viewing and shopping. There we met another guide who took us to a couple of more stops. He was very good and knowledgeable. On the way back we made another stop at Kingman. Arrived back in LV about 9 p.m. It was a long day.

However, I'd still advise the tour if you only have one day. Yes, the tour at sunset and sunrise are spectacular. Yes, an overnight with maybe a mule ride down into the canyon is the ultimate way to experience the GC. But if you only have one day I recommend the tour. It takes you to the prime viewing sights. You don't have to worry about getting lost. And, if you haven't been to the canyon yet, it will leave enough of an impression on you that the tour will be worth it.

You should have no problem finding a brochure for Greyline at your hotel; they are all over. And all you have to do is call Greyline and they'll handle the rest. I'm not pushing Greyline, believe me. There may be other, better, cheaper tours out there. But this is the one I have recent experience with. Do you homework and choose the best tour for you.

bplatham

My husband & I, and another couple, did just that two years ago. Flew to Las Vegas for three days and then rented a car to the Grand Canyon for three days (then we drove back to Las Vegas and flew home). You can't get to the Canyon and back to Vegas in a day. You can go to Hoover Dam in a day, but not to the Grand Canyon. If my memory is correct, from Vegas you will be on the North Rim side of the Grand Canyon. It took us about 4-5 hours to drive to the North Rim, and we stayed at the only lodge located there. Make reservations at the Grand Canyon lodge at the North Rim now, if you can. The cabins are reasonably priced, rustic, and the food at the lodge is excellent. I would highly recommend going from Vegas to the Canyon. Vegas is fun, but for me, going from the noise & glitter of Las Vegas to the quiet grandeur of the Canyon made the transition seem almost like a religious experience - very relaxing. Have a great trip!

Jill

From Las Vegas you are about 5 hours from either the south or north rim of the grand canyon. If this is your first trip to the Grand Canyon I think I'd opt for the south rim. I think you get a much better view of the canyon on the south rim. There the road sorta runs parallel to the canyon whereas on the north rim it doesn't. YOu can drive to 3 points (counting where the lodge is) that look out over the rim.

While Zion is much closer to Vegas (it took me exactly 3 hours in June to do this), I think the Grand Canyon is much more spectacular. And although they both have canyon in their names, it's quite a difference between the two.

alison

When you get to your hotel you should see lots of brochures advertising tours to the Grand Canyon. In our hotel room there was a magazine on the dresser which had two for one coupons - $139. The tour was excellent - about 5 hours ride each way and breakfast and lunch were included. A spectacular view!

Synthi

Okay, lets review what we've got here. You have 4 days in Las Vegas and want to take one day to see the Grand Canyon. What does "dedicate a whole day to the Grand Canyon" mean to you? What are you hoping to see or expecting to discover in your day? Reflect carefully, do you just want to be able to "check off" the Grand Canyon on your been there seen that list?
Respectfully,
Synthi

Michael

Well, as far as I understood, 1 day trip is definitely not enough. Maybe we won't visit GC this time and spend all our time in Vegas. Grand Canyon will either be a separate trip or still a supplement to Vegas when we have more vacation days at our disposal.
Thank you all for expressing your opinions and helping us make our mind.

M.

tori

I've driven and done the Greyline tour. I recommend the bus, unless you will be continuing on elsewhere, which is what we did the second time. The drive is not very scenic, so twice in one day would really be boring. You are better off sleeping or listening to the guide on the bus. We enjoyed our
one-day trip. Sure, we didn't see it at its spirtual best, but it was still incredible, and better than not seeing it! The next time we drove from Las Vegas then spent the night in Williams. We got up early the next day, and guess what...It was drizzly (in July!) and so crowded. We left after about a hour or two anyway! We stopped for lunch in Tuba and had a fascinating time there with some locals we met at the diner. Such is travel!

cheryl

Mike, check out www.lvol.com and then click on tours. You will get a long list of small and large tour operators. Many of them offer tours in 4 wheel drive vehicles that seat 6-7 people. We went with ACTION TOURS (they're on the above listed site) 2 years ago. We were picked up at our hotel in a Dodge Durango. No on else booked the trip that day so my husband and I had our own personal driver/guide. We took tour #9 - Grand Canyon West. GC west is on the Huluapai Indian reservation. This part of the Grand Canyon is not as far east from Vegas as the south rim, which is within the Grand Canyon Nat'l Park). The west rim is just as high and just as spectacular; however, very few people know about it and there are NO guard rails. There is a road within the Huluapai reservation that goes down to the Colorado River. It is the only road within the Grand Canyon. This tour takes you down to the river, and it is amazing to be at the bottom of the canyon looking up (and you didn't have to hike down there). Then you drive back up and across some fantastic terrain to view the canyon from the top. It was almost a religious experience. To view the Grand Canyon from the bottom up and the top down in one day is a wonderful experience. We were the only people there - no busloads of tourists and vacationers. There are a couple of tour companies listed on the site I mentioned that offer this tour now, but I highly recommend action tours! P.S. It was a long day, but we were still back in time to shower, eat, and have some fun in the casin.

Jen

Mike, I would definitely suggest taking a flight to the Grand Canyon instead of driving. Driving or taking a bus trip will waste your whole day on the drive there & back (it's like a 6-hour drive), you'll have no time to spend in the Canyon itself, and you'll be completely exhausted when you get back to your hotel.

There are several tour companies that do it, and it's not too expensive (less than $200 a person). They pick you up at your hotel, take you to the airport (10 minutes away), fly you in a sightseeing plane over the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon itself, and other pretty stuff, than land at the Canyon, where they then take you on a ground tour. Then they fly you back and drop you off your hotel. No wasted time -- it's all spent sightseeing. I was just in LV in June, and we did a day trip by plane that was a whole lot of fun, and still had time to take in a show at the hotel that night. There are lots of air tours available -- look on a Vegas site like vegas.com, lasvegas.com, or citysearch's vegas site. I would suggest booking in advance, though -- the tours can fill up.

Tobey

Michael,

I am going to Vegas in October and am planning to go to the Grand Caynon also. I have looked into a tour group called www.looktours.com. They have many different air tours some include a helicopter ride to the bottom then a pontoon boat trip down the river then the helicopter back up. Then you take a bus trip on the rim after having dinner with the indians (can't remember which tribe). But it sounds great to me and there are a lot of trips to choose from. I called the tour company and spoke to an agent who was very nice and knowledgeable. Have a great trip.