Memorial Holiday Grand Canyon Heli And Plane Rides

The Memorial Day holiday kicks off the summer travel season, so it's time to start planning a fun trip. Going to Vegas is always a fun idea, but you can make the trip even more memorable by taking a side trip to the Grand Canyon, but you need to buy your tour tickets soon.

Helicopter Tours

There are tours at the West Rim from Vegas, and the South Rim from the town of Tusayan in Arizona. South Rim tours are air-only, but landing tours are available at the West Rim, and you can choose a tour that lands on the bottom or top of the Canyon.

Beginning your tour in Vegas means you'll see a lot of interesting sights during your flight to the Canyon. The helicopter route will take you over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, both of which are spectacles that you really need to see from the air. For those who buy an all-air tour, the helicopter will go over all the key sites en route to the West Rim before heading back to Las Vegas. If you decide to go for a landing tour, you have the opportunity to add some extra side trips that will let you explore the canyon at ground level.

You should book a landing tour if you can if you intend to go to the West Rim. There is one popular landing tour that flies down to the Canyon floor where you are treated to a Champagne picnic. If you're feeling super adventurous, you can upgrade and take a Colorado River boat ride. At the top of the Canyon, you could take a number of hiking trails, or even step out on the impressive glass bottomed Skywalk, which is 4000ft above the bottom of the Canyon.

There are two helicopter tours to choose from at the South Rim. One offers up to 30 mins. of pure flight time to the North Rim before heading back to the South Rim. There is also a longer tour you can take that is highly recommended because it lasts for 50 minutes and flies all the way to the eastern edge of the National Park, so you see a lot more for a little increase in price. Both of these tours go through the Dragoon Corridor, which is a sprawling wide and deep section of the Canyon, and is the largest area of its kind within the National Park.

Canyon Airplane Tours

If you want to save some money, you can take an airplane tour instead. Although they fly higher than helicopters, they follow the same route to get to the National Park. To make the sightseeing more awesome, wings are mounted to the top of the plan so you can view the Canyon through extra large windows, but remember that plans cruise over the National Park rather than hover over it like a heli.

You can take a landing tour of the West Rim if you go by plane, but the airplanes all land on top of the rim where you can enjoy a variety of activities. You can do all the same things as you would with a helicopter tour including touring the Skywalk and taking a helicopter descent to the bottom of the Canyon.

The South Rim airplane tour follows the longer route that includes 75% of the National Park. This is the same tour you'd take with the 50-minute helicopter flight. Even though your airplane tour flies you at a higher altitude, your tickets will be cheaper, and because the planes carry more passengers per tour, the airplane tours are the best choice if you're traveling with a large group.

To Conclude

These air tours are very popular and they fill up fast, so you need to buy your tickets soon. While it's best to book your tour two weeks in advance, the last thing you want to do is buy your tour at the last minute or wait until the day you want to go. My suggestion is to buy your tour over the Internet because you get your reservations instantly, plus you'll also get the special Internet discount price.

There are lots of options available to you online so you are bound to find a flight that you like that also meets your budget. So reserve your seats now and you'll be set for your scenic and exhilarating Memorial Day tour of one of America's most loved National Parks.

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