Touring the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas makes a lot of sense, because the Grand Canyon National Park area is relatively isolated and is going to require several hours of driving to reach from the nearest cities.If you live in the southwestern portion of the United States, you are probably able to calculate driving distances from your home that may be under a day’s drive or so, but if you live elsewhere in the country there is a good chance that it is far more beneficial to fly into the closest cities then arrange transportation to the Grand Canyon from there. The closest cities that are going to support major airline traffic are going to be Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, Las Vegas being most people’s choice simply because it is a tourist attraction of it’s own. You can fly into Las Vegas and create a dual vacation, spending the time that you want to at the Grand Canyon and also a few extra days in Las Vegas itself during the same trip. Because Las Vegas is well set up for tourism, you will generally find that the flights will be better prices than travel to Salt Lake City, and there will be more affordable hotel rooms as well. When you use Las Vegas as your starting point for your trip to the Grand Canyon, it might be a good idea to leave the driving to a professional company like ours that provides Grand Canyon tours, due to the fact that driving an unfamiliar rental car across the desert can be a bit of a harrowing experience. The drive to the Grand Canyon National Park is about 4.5 hours, and if you go during the summer the temperatures can easily be over 110 degrees. There are extremely large sections of the drive where there will be not development, and you might not even see another car for lengthy periods.
When you land at the airport in Las Vegas, you will probably notice advertisements for Grand Canyon tours on billboards as you are exiting. These will generally promote the Grand Canyon tours being able to be reached in only two hours, and featuring the Grand Canyon Skywalk which is a suspended glass bridge. The area that is being promoted is actually the WEST RIM of the Grand Canyon, and is not part of the national parks department. National Parks passes do not apply to this area because it is actually controlled by The Hualapai Tribe, and not the US Parks Department. The West Rim was recently developed to attract Las Vegas tourists due to it’s close proximity, however a quick scan of reviews will generally illustrate the dissatisfaction with many of these tours. The West Rim is not as lush and scenic as the South Rim, where the Grand Canyon National Park is located. The area is far less green and has nearly nothing to do except the Skywalk, which many view as disappointing. The pictures that you have seen of the Grand Canyon are nearly always from the South Rim, and we have found that it is worth the extra few hours drive to get to experience the area that you have seen and heard about. Bindlestiff Tours does not offer tours to the West Rim, as we find that our “adventure” guests would rather experience an area that is more conducive to natural exploration, hiking and photography. Always check to see if your Grand Canyon tour is going to the West Rim or the South Rim, to avoid confusion and disappointment.