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The Grand Canyon's South Rim is spread out over a massive area of more than one million acres. It would be impossible to take it all in on a typical land tour. That's why a helicopter tour is the best way to see the Grand Canyon, especially considering you can see up to three quarters of the National Park in less than an hour. In order to see the same landmarks from the ground, you'd have to spend weeks or months hiking through the rugged terrain. Plus, seeing the canyon from the air gives you a better appreciation of the immensity and grandeur of this national treasure. A helicopter allows for the best views of the Canyon, and there's simply no experience like a South Rim flight. Touring The South Rim Since there are different tours available, you can find one that sounds like fun and fits your budget too. The basic 30-minute tour is the least expensive and it flies you over the North and South Rims. This tour will even take you down into the Dragoon Corridor, a spectacularly beautiful part of the Canyon that is also its widest point. If you want to spend a little more money, you can add on a Jeep tour to your flight. So along with the exciting aerial tour, you'll get to take a fun ground tour to famous spots such as Mather Point, Yavapai Point, and Yaki Point, as well as Grand Canyon Village. The roads in the Grand Canyon are often quite busy during the peak summer tourist months. A Jeep tour allows you to see more from the ground because you won't be traveling on the beaten path. If you want to see all that the canyon has to offer from the air then the 50 minute helicopter ride would be your best option. This one covers the same ground as the thirty minute flight as well as the same ground covered on the Jeep tour. Some major landmarks you'll see include the pyramid-shaped rock formation called the Temple of Ra, the Colorado River Confluence, the isolated sections of the North Rim, and Imperial Point. This is a very comprehensive tour that takes you to see almost all of the land in the Grand Canyon National Park. (There is an airplane tour which follows an identical route to the 50 minute helicopter tour. Still, the helicopter tours are much better, because the views are better. The airplanes need to fly at a higher level, and their windows are much smaller, so the sights are farther away and more difficult to see.) Deluxe Tour Option Both versions of the South Rim helicopter tours are available in basic or deluxe options. The difference is the type of helicopter utilized during the tour. The deluxe tours fly on state-of-the-art EcoStar 130 sightseeing helicopters, while the basic tours fly on Bell Rangers or Eurocopter AStars. The EcoStar has more comfortable seating, and a wraparound window design that offers the best views from the air. The EcoStar is also much quieter from inside the cabin, allowing for the most pleasant flight. I recommend paying extra for a deluxe tour if you can, but that's not to say that a basic tour won't provide you with an unforgettable experience. The Grand Canyon, and the South Rim in particular, are very busy tourist destinations, and many people who visit there opt for the helicopter tours. That means the tours can sell out fast. For that reason, you should buy your tour well in advance, you may even want to do it as soon as you book your hotel reservations. Booking late can mean that tickets are more expensive, and you even risk being disappointed if flights are booked out. No trip to the Grand Canyon is complete without taking a helicopter tour. It's the perfect way to see and appreciate the spectacular beauty of nature's handiwork. Tips from the Author
The writer is a pro on Grand Canyon trips and recommends this page on helicopter reviews and this page for chopper deals: http://www.grandcanyoncheap.com/helicopter-deals.html
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