Grand Canyon Helicopters - Do A Tour By Papillon Airways!

By Francis Sarmenta


When you plan your tour of the Grand Canyon National Park, you'll see many different tour options to choose from, but one of the best tour operators in the region is Papillon. Papillon tours are available from Las Vegas, Nevada and Tusayan, Arizona, and this company is the largest one to offer Grand Canyon tours.

All Grand Canyon helicopters leaving from Tusayan visit the South Rim, and all the Las Vegas flights do the West. The South Rim is 277 miles away from Las Vegas and that is too far for helicopters to make the trip, plus there are no flights from the West Rim to the South Rim. If you're going to be in Vegas and really want to take a chopper tour of the South Rim, you can, but you have to fly to the South Rim by plane first. The plane ride from Vegas to the South Rim goes quickly and you'll see some amazing sights along the way.

Las Vegas Helicopter Tours To The West Rim: When you take a helicopter tour out of Vegas, you have to decide if you want to take an air-only tour or one that lands at the canyon. Both follow the same route to the Park, flying over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Colorado River, Grand Cliffs Wash and the canyon itself. The landing tours drop you off at the canyon, while the air-only tours stay in the air and circle back to Vegas. Landing tours are only allowed at the West Rim, so the only place you can get one is at Vegas.

You can pick a tour that lands at the top and lets you experience the West Rim's famous Glass Bridge (the Grand Canyon Skywalk), or you can land on the canyon floor and enjoy a picnic or a float trip down the Colorado River. The Skywalk is an amazing structure that is made from glass. You can walk on it 70 feet beyond the edge of the rim and stand 4000 feet above the canyon floor. You should definitely work it into your Grand Canyon tour if at all possible.

Helicopter Tours That Depart From The Las Vegas Strip: The Papillon tours have two departure sites in the Vegas metro area, one is from Boulder City and the other is from the Strip. All the tours come with complimentary shuttle service, but the tours that leave from the Strip treat you to a limo ride, while the ones that take off from Boulder City provide transportation on a shuttle bus. The tours that take off from the Strip are certainly more convenient and they also provide you with an aerial view of the Strip. They do cost more than the tours that leave from Boulder City , but that's because they offer better perks. If your budget allows it, choose a flight that takes off from the Strip.

South Rim Helicopter Tours: The Papillon chopper tours of the South Rim are available in short 30-minute versions and longer 50-minute tours. The 30-minute tour flies from the South Rim to the North Rim and back. The 50-minute tour does that too, but it also flies all the way to the National Park's eastern border. The 50-minute flight is very comprehensive since it covers about 75 percent of the entire Park, so you have the chance to see many wonderful sights.

To Summarize: Whether you go to the South Rim or the West Rim, you can find a tour with Papillon, the largest tour provider for the Grand Canyon National Park. If you choose a Las Vegas tour, you can fly over the canyon and return, or you can land at the canyon on top of the rim or at the bottom near the river. There are no landing tours at the South Rim. You begin the South Rim chopper tours in Tusayan, which is near the gates of the South Rim, and you must choose between a 30 or 50-minute tour. Papillon has many tours on offer, and they are all fantastic, so no matter which tour you choose, you will see beautiful scenery and have a lot of fun.




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