Did you know that Christmas is one of the best times of year to visit the Grand Canyon? The season is festive and the landscape is beautiful. With airplane and helicopter tours available, there's no reason not to enjoy the perfect Christmas getaway. Tours operate every day of the year, although helicopter operators take a break on Christmas Day. You can take flights from Las Vegas, or from Arizona. From Vegas you will visit the West Rim, while the town of Tusayan in Arizona, is at the South Rim. Airplane Tours Airplanes and helicopters take the same route to the Canyon. If you leave from Vegas, you will fly over the impressive Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, before reaching the canyon in roughly half an hour. This is slightly quicker than helicopter tours. Vegas Planes can land at the top of the Canyon, where you can check out the sights and viewing platforms. You could also purchase add-on tickets to take a helicopter ride down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or you could boost your experience with a Skywalk ticket. The Skywalk viewing platform is a magnificent glass transparent platform that extends 70ft over the edge of the Canyon. South Rim airplane tours are great too. The tour will go from the South Rim, to the North Rim of the park, and even out to the eastern edge, meaning that you can see a huge area of the National Park. Even though airplane tours follow the same routes as those used by helicopters, they fly much higher. The sightseeing experience is still phenomenal, and the planes are designed with oversized windows and top mounted wings. Helicopter Tours If you're looking for the best ticket possible, it will be for a helicopter ride. When you tour from Las Vegas you can choose air-only or landing options. Air-only tours perform a canyon flyover, while landing tours can go to the bottom or the top of the Canyon, or you can choose both. Just like with the landing Airplane tour, you could take a walk on the Skywalk. 4000 ft. above the river below, standing on the Skywalk is almost as breathtaking as the helicopter ride. When you land inside the Canyon, you could experience a Champagne picnic at the bottom. After the descent, you could even take a Colorado River boat ride. If you combine all of the options, you will experience everything that the Canyon has to offer, making for a trip that you will remember for the rest of your life. Landing tours are the way to go, but there's another way that you can make your experience unforgettable. Choose deluxe tours. Deluxe tours are an improvement over basic tours, because they leave directly from the Las Vegas strip and fly in newer helicopters. They also include a limousine shuttle service. The helicopters used are EcoStar 130 models. Designed for sightseeing, there's no other helicopter in the world that can rival the visibility or comfort offered by this model. Seats are large and arranged in a stadium layout, so even if you're in the second row, your view won't be compromised. Speaking of that view, you can take it in from a huge 180-degree windshield. If you can make the upgrade to Deluxe, definitely don't pass up the opportunity. Tusayan Helicopters Arizona helicopters follow the same route as the airplane tours, from South Rim, to North Rim, and out to the eastern boundary. There's a shorter tour which skips the eastern area of the park, but honestly, the longer tour is far better, showing you up to 75% of the total park area. Conclusion Turn this Christmas into one that you'll never forget. With Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas or Arizona, you have plenty of options to suit any budget and schedule. Book early though, because this is going to be one of the busiest seasons of the year. Book online, and use your credit card, this way you will get the best rates, and guarantee your seats are reserved for the day that you want to fly. See you there! Tips from the Author Ready to fly Grand Canyon? The author recommends readers go here for the best airplane tours and here for the top helicopter rides: http://www.grandcanyondaytrips.com/helicopters/
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