Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tours and Las Vegas Hotel

Welcome to Scenic.com

your online vacation planning resource for Las Vegas, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Arizona and beyond!  All the information you need to coordinate a memorable and rewarding Las Vegas vacation is right here: how to book flights, rental cars, hotels, shows, Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tours and more. 

Let Scenic.com be your guide to Las Vegas and help you plan your Las Vegas vacation.

• Visit our maps page to orient yourself to the many Las Vegas hotels and casinos on the Strip, Downtown, and the outlying communities of Henderson, Boulder City, Summerlin and North Las Vegas. 
• Get answers to your questions about how to get around Las Vegas, how to get to Grand Canyon National Park and other scenic attractions nearby, how to get tickets to the top Las Vegas shows and revues, and how to find family-friendly activities in Las Vegas. 
• Shop for great deals at Las Vegas hotels and motels, including discount Las Vegas hotels, downtown Las Vegas hotels and North Las Vegas hotels. 
• Reserve your seats on Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas or the South Rim

Destinations

Exploring Las Vegas

It makes sense that luck had a hand in the evolution of present-day Las Vegas from a dry, hostile wasteland to a vacationer’s paradise.  In the early 19th century, a band of Mexican traders veered off-course from the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route established decades earlier by Franciscan missionaries and Native Americans.  The men would almost certainly have perished in the blistering heat that typified the area’s climate, if not for the fortunate discovery of an artesian spring and lush wetlands nearby, for which the city would eventually be named (“las vegas” means “the meadows” in Spanish). 

The discovery of the spring led to the acceleration of the settlement of the American West.  The coming of the railroad and the construction of the Hoover Dam accelerated Las Vegas’ rise to prominence in the West; the establishment of legalized gambling made it nothing less than an icon. 

Las Vegas hotels, casinos and other attractions are concentrated in two primary areas: Las Vegas Boulevard, commonly known as the “Strip” and Downtown, also known as “Fremont Street.”  Travelers from around the world visit Las Vegas by the millions every year.  As a result, traffic is congested 24 hours a day.  Try to drive as little as possible once you get to your hotel. 

The Las Vegas Strip is a fun place to walk.  The interiors of the different hotels and casinos on the Strip will transport you from Paris to New York to Egypt to Monte Carlo to medieval England all in the space of a few miles.  It’s even more spectacular at night when all that neon lights up.  Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience was also designed to be pedestrian-friendly, with hotels, casinos, shops and restaurants all enclosed by an overhead canopy that projects videos at night.

Public transportation is easily obtained in Las Vegas.  Taxis can be called from most hotels (if they’re not waiting out front already).  Many hotels also offer shuttle service, especially those situated off-strip.  The CAT (Citizens’ Area Transit) bus line covers the Las Vegas Metro area, with the double decker “Deuce” Bus serving the route from the Strip to Downtown.  $2.00 per ride; day use passes are available for $5.00 each. 

The Las Vegas Monorail is another quick and efficient way to get to many Strip attractions.  Beginning at the MGM Grand, the Monorail goes to Bally’s, the Flamingo, Harrah’s, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Sahara.  $5.00 for one ride, day passes $15.00, 3-day passes are $40.00.

Of course there’s more to Las Vegas than just Las Vegas.  Outside of the city limits, it’s another world entirely.  Scenic attractions like Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston, and Eldorado Canyon, just might make you forget that you’re in the other city that never sleeps! 

Those with the time to spare should also take advantage of the opportunity to visit the many National Parks surrounding Las Vegas.  Death Valley, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, the Grand Staircase, and more are all located mere hours from the lights of the city.  And if you’ve come as far as Las Vegas, you’ve come too far not to see the grandest one of them all – the Grand Canyon. 

Exploring the Grand Canyon – West Rim

Upon seeing the Grand Canyon, most are naturally compelled to want to get to the bottom.  Conventional wisdom used to hold that one could not get there and back in one day.  One had the choice of a two-day mule ride, a two-day hike, or a four day raft trip, all of which are massively popular trips requiring reservations a year or more in advance (not to mention a strong back). 

Almost smack dead center between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon’s South Rim lies a place where “conventional wisdom” no longer holds true; a place where one CAN get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back in half a day - “the other Grand Canyon” - Grand Canyon West. 

In development since the late 1980’s, Grand Canyon West is situated on Hualapai Indian Tribal Lands.  Here, visitors can experience the Grand Canyon in a number of exciting ways that are not available anywhere else: explore an Indian Village and learn about the many native tribes that call the Grand Canyon home; take a ride along the canyon rim by Hummer or horseback; you can even hop on a helicopter and fly all the way down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and take a gentle scenic float trip on the Colorado River! 

Grand Canyon West is approximately 125 miles East of Las Vegas, which is approximately a 3 hour drive via I-93 to Dolan Springs/Pearce Ferry/Meadview City; from there take the Pearce Ferry road to the Diamond Bar Road exit, then follow the Diamond Bar Road approximately 21 miles to Grand Canyon West. 

Grand Canyon West’s visitor services complex is a work in progress.  There is a small airport with a café, gift shop and tour desk.  At the tour desk is where you can purchase tickets for one of several Grand Canyon West tour packages.  Grand Canyon West is the Grand Canyon’s “wilder side.”  The main Grand Canyon viewpoints, Eagle Point and Guano Point, are typified by sheer cliffs and in-your-face views of the Colorado River.  Grand Canyon West is almost devoid of guardrails, too, prompting many visitors to crawl to the edge on their hands and knees! 

Grand Canyon West is also the future home of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, an incredible attraction slated for opening in 2007 at Eagle Point.  This architectural showpiece will feature a cantilevered horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that will project 70 feet past the rim of the canyon, giving the visitor the dreamlike sensation of floating 4,000 feet in the air above the Colorado River! 

A word of caution: the Diamond Bar Road to Grand CanyonWest is unpaved, which means you probably wouldn’t want to drive there yourself without a properly equipped vehicle (4WD).  Rental car companies may discourage you from making this drive as well.  At the Grand Canyon West Welcome Center in Meadview City, you can park your vehicle and utilize the “park and ride” service for a nominal fee. 

Or – let Scenic Airlines get you there in safety, convenience and comfort!  On the Las Vegas Grand Voyager Tour, you’ll do it all – a scenic airplane flight over spectacular Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, landing at Grand Canyon West; helicopter descent to the canyon floor for a cruise up the Colorado on a pontoon boat; hop on a deluxe motorcoach for a canyon rim tour, lunch on the very rim of the gorge and return flight to North Las Vegas airport. 

Content to take in the view from the rim?  Choose Scenic Airlines Las Vegas Indian Adventure.  Enjoy the same scenic flight as you would on the Grand Voyager, then explore the Hualapai Indian Lands by deluxe motorcoach, after lunch, return to Las Vegas by air. 

Don’t have time for all that?  Enjoy an hour-long scenic airplane flight over Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and Grand Canyon West. 

Exploring the Grand Canyon – South Rim

"The Grand Canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience.  Its beauty and size humbles us; its timelessness provokes a comparison to our short existence; in its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives.”

Grand Canyon National Park – the jewel of the American Southwest.  Grand Canyon South Rim is open year-round, and regarded by many as “the true Grand Canyon.”  With panoramic, sweeping vistas rimmed by majestic forests, most of the photographs and film footage of the Grand Canyon that people see throughout their lives is from the South Rim.  Grand Canyon South Rim is the most developed area of the park, with 6 hotels within its borders, and 5 hotels just outside the park in the small community of Tusayan.  Numerous restaurants, gift shops and visitor information centers can be found in the immediate area of Grand Canyon South Rim. 

Grand Canyon South Rim is approximately 280 miles from Las Vegas.  Average drive time is about 5 hours via I-93 from Las Vegas to Kingman, Arizona, I-40 from Kingman to Williams, Arizona and AZ64 from Williams to Grand Canyon South Rim.  Along the way, take time to stop at Hoover Dam (in Boulder City, about 40 miles outside of town).   Those with more time to spend might also consider making the detour on Historic Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman, which will add another hour or so to the drive.  

Once inside the park at Grand Canyon South Rim, the “must-see” spots include Mather Point, Yavapai Point and Observation Station, and Grand Canyon Village, where visitors can see examples of architecture dating back to the early 20th century at places like the El Tovar Hotel, Hopi House, Verkamp’s, Bright Angel Lodge, Kolb Studio and Lookout Studio.  An easy, paved trail connects these landmarks and extends along the very rim of the canyon.  During the busy spring, summer and fall months, it is highly recommended that you park your vehicle and use the free in-park shuttle service to get around to these areas.  Busses come around to several stops in the village every 10 minutes from sunrise to sunset.

There are also many beautiful Grand Canyon views along the 8-mile West Rim drive (not to be confused with “Grand Canyon West” or the “West Rim”) to Hermit’s Rest.  During spring, summer and fall, this road is closed to private vehicles and is only accessible by free shuttle or commercial tour bus.  Some of the more famous viewpoints seen in this area of the park are Hopi Point, Maricopa Point and Pima Point.  At the end of the line is Hermit’s Rest, another of the park’s historic landmarks, where you can purchase souvenirs and mementos of your trip.  The West Rim bus line also runs every 10 minutes and begins at the West Rim Interchange located near Bright Angel Lodge. 

The 26-mile East Rim Drive of the Grand Canyon is open to private vehicle traffic.  Here you’ll find more incredible canyon views, each one different than the other.  Desert View Point is the final stop on the drive, the highest point on the South Rim, site of the Desert View Watchtower, a 1930’s era replica of an Ancestral Puebloan tower.  Those willing to climb the four flights of stairs to the tower’s top floor are rewarded with a 360˚ view of the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the San Francisco Peaks, the Painted Desert, Navajo Mountain and the North Rim.  Once the East Rim drive “circuit” has been completed, one can then double back to Grand Canyon Village, or continue East to Cameron, Arizona and the Navajo Indian Reservation. 

For those who prefer to walk, there is a paved trail along the canyon rim, as well as two maintained trails into the inner canyon: the South Kaibab Trail (located at Yaki Point and only accessible by shuttle during peak travel season) and the Bright Angel Trail, located near Bright Angel Lodge.  The inner canyon trails are strenuous and should only be attempted by those in good health. 

Of course, if driving there yourself is not an option, consider one of Scenic Airlines many Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tours to the South Rim.  Our popular Grand Canyon Deluxe Day Tour is the longest running Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tour that includes a beautiful scenic airplane flight from Las Vegas to the South Rim, that also flies over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  Upon landing at the South Rim, you’d then enjoy a four-hour deluxe motorcoach tour of the park, including lunch, and return air transportation to Las Vegas. 

For those on a budget Scenic Airlines offers the Las Vegas Grand Canyon Motorcoach Deluxe Tour, an all-day excursion to Hoover Dam, historic Williams, Arizona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.      

Overnight tours are also available that would allow you to spend one or even two nights inside Grand Canyon National Park.