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Independence Day is a favored holiday in the United States. So why not celebrate it by taking a Grand Canon tour? Choices include helicopter and airplane flights, bus tours, and smooth-water rafting trips. All tours are great fun and will be operating on the regular schedule on the Fourth of July holiday. These tours depart from the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, or GCN, in Tusayan, AZ and from Las Vegas in Nevada. If you will be in Arizona, in Phoenix or nearby, you will take your tour out of the airport in Tusayan and if you will be in Vegas, you will start your tour from there. Since the Fourth of July is a busy travel time at the Grand Canyon, you should book your tour early, at least a week or two in advance. Touring The South Rim There are two types of helicopter tours that depart from the airport in Tusayan, one of them is a quick half-hour tour and the other one lasts fifty minutes. Both versions give you fantastic views of the National Park as you fly to the North Rim and back, but the longer tour also takes you to the East Rim, so you see so much more. By the time this tour is finished you'll see up to 3/4 of the entire Park! Airplane tours are popular here too. They follow the same route as the upgraded helicopter tour and last 50 minutes. Rating tours are on offer at the South Rim too, and these take you on a 15 mile trip along the smooth waters of the Colorado River. It starts at Glen Canyon Dam and ends at historic Lee's Ferry. Tours Leaving From Vegas When you start from Vegas, you have the choice of touring the West Rim or South Rim. Prices tend to be a little lower than the canyon tours leaving from Tusayan. The flight to the West Rim from Las Vegas takes about 45 minutes on a helicopter. You get to see Lake Mead and Hoover Dam from the air, plus you get to choose an air-only or a landing tour of the dam. One of these landing tours comes with a lot of fun things to do such as a helicopter descent to the canyon floor, a champagne picnic, a boat ride on the Colorado River, and VIP access to the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a fantastic glass bridge where you can walk out 70 feet past the edge of the canyon and look down 4000 feet below you! Bus tours to both rims are popular too, and they are quite affordable. The basic West Rim version is perfect for people with limited time or budgets, but an optional extension adds the exciting chopper flight to the bottom. The bus tours to the South Rim can be upgraded with chopper flights too, but instead of flying to the canyon floor, they fly to the North Rim and back. Plane tours from Vegas do either rim too. The choices for the West Rim are similar to the choices for helicopter tours - except for the price (airplane tours are cheaper). A popular South Rim airplane tour to consider is one that includes a 2 1/2 hour bus tour of the inside of the National Park. Book Early! Keep in mind, the July 4th holiday weekend is going to be busy at the Grand Canyon. I urge you to book your tour as soon as you can. That way you'll have more choices and be able to get the best prices. Also, go directly to the tour operator's website to book your tour. Skip the big travel brokers like Expedia, Orbitz and Viator - they'll charge you more. Buying your seats on the company's website is the only way to get the lowest internet rate available. Summing Up July 4th is a great time to tour the Grand Canyon and you can depart from Tusayan in Arizona or Vegas in Nevada. All the tours are fun, so you can't make a bad choice. Helicopter, bus, rafting and airplane tours are available. Book as soon as you decide, and do it on the tour company's website so you get the great Internet rate. Tips from the Author The writer is a pro on Grand Canyon trips. She suggests starting here with regards to choosing the adventure perfect for you and your family: http://grandcanyoncheap.com/
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