Grand Canyon - guided tour or not for flying visit?

[muffinmonster]

Anyone got any experience of guided tours of the Grand Canyon?

We're touring California then going to Vegas and the Canyon, then on to Sedona (Arizona). We will arrive at the Grand Canyon in the evening, stay one night, then leave the next day (probably late afternoon) for Sedona.

As our time at the Canyon is so limited, would a guided hike be worth the money? I've been looking at at company called Wildland Trekking, who do 6-7 hour hikes for $139 per person. It's an awful lot of money (four of us), but I don't want to leave feeling that we didn't see very much because we didn't know where to go.

We will be staying in Grand Canyon Village.

I would do the tour.

We did, was fantastic.

Dh proposed to me in the Grand Canyon .

We were staying in Vegas though and took a helicopter tour over Hoover Dam, landed in the bottom of the Canyon, (dh proposed, although that was obv optional!) had a champagne picnic, hiked about a bit and then helicopter ride back at sunset. Our pilot flew us over the strip just as it got dark and the lights etc were amazing. A really stunning experience.

I think it was about £160 pp.

I don't have any experience of the tours although I'm sure they'd be great as the whole place is so well done. If you don't want to spend all that money though I think you will be able to see enough in the time you have. If you get there in the evening in time to see the sunset, then take the rim bus to the stops that are recommended for good views of it. I can't remember the details but it's really easy to find this info. It's an amazing time to view it, and it looks a lot different than during the day. Then the next day I would get up early and do the walk down into the canyon that starts near the village. You can go as far as you like, obviously you have to turn around and come back up again at some point so bear that in mind. Again you get a different perspective than just looking from the top

Thanks everyone. Waiting to hear from Wildland Trekking whether they can fit us in to the scheduled tour - otherwise we will have to pay through the nose for a custom tour, which I think will blow our budget.

fieldfare, your DH is obviously a man with a sense of occasion!

I don't think that you need to pay for a guided tour if you're spending the day there. The rangers do talks at various times at different points, and the buses between are frequent.

why do you need a tour? You have feet and eyes. There are also some great guidebooks for sale at the canyon, and a good bus service along the south rim.

www.nps.gov/grca for your advance research, and possibly a rough guide too.

don't overestimate your abilities for any walks down into the canyon.

We did the walk down the Bright Angel trail and that was fantastic.
Quite a trek getting back up but you get a much better idea of the scale from below than just peeking over the edge. It also gets quieter as you go further down which makes the trip a bit more personal.
The first couple of miles down you are in a long line of people and stepping out of the way of Donkey ride tours etc so its a worthwhile effort going that little bit further. Saw some amazing lizards there too!

Forgot to mention that there are some great white water rafting trips you can do on the colorado river if you really wanted to get adventurous.
We did a small free guided tour around the rim of the canyon with a ranger but did the exploring on our own with a guide book.

We just walked a little way down, and admire it from the top. Was absolutely amazing. I think that much walking is a LOT. You may prefer the viewing platform and just a short hike on your own (no guide) around the lip and down a bit

Been 3 times, never done a tour but have flown over. I'd do your money on that TBH. For the rest as a PP said, frankly you'll only need your eyes.

It is possibly one of a handful of sights that just can't disappoint.

Bet you $10 your first words are "fuck me, it's HUGE"

I wouldn't bother with the tour TBH, more flexible to take your own time.

How long are you in Sedona?