Friday, July 18, 2014

Grand Canyon Helicopters - Do Papillon Airways Flight!

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, which operates out of Tusayan, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, is the largest of all the Grand Canyon tour companies.

The tours that depart from Tusayan go to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and the ones that leave from Las Vegas go to the West Rim. The South Rim is too far from Las Vegas at 277 miles away, for choppers to make the flight, also the choppers do not fly 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. As an added bonus, you get to see some amazing scenery during the airplane flight.

Las Vegas Helicopter Tours: To The West RimWhen 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. All the tours follow the same air route so you get to see the Grand Canyon from the air as well as the Colorado River, Grand Cliffs Wash, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The landing tours drop you off at the canyon, while the air-only tours stay in the air and circle back to Vegas. The Las Vegas helicopters are the only ones allowed to land at the Grand Canyon, since flying below the rim is prohibited elsewhere in the National Park.

The landing tours can drop you off on the canyon floor where you can enjoy a picnic and raft ride, or they can land on top of the rim so you can visit the Grand Canyon Skywalk or Glass Bridge. The Skywalk is an amazing structure that is made from glass. You can walk across the glass floor for 70 feet past the edge of the canyon and be standing 4000 feet above the floor of the canyon and the Colorado River. It's an experience you don't want to miss if you go to the Grand Canyon.

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 helicopters that depart from the Strip are much more convenient, plus they give you an amazing view of the Strip from the air, and don't forget, they come with a fun limo ride. These tours cost more than the Boulder City versions, but the price is worth it for the extra perks. If you can, opt for a tour that takes off from the Las Vegas Strip.

Chopper Flights Of The South Rim: The South Rim Papillon tours are thirty or fifty minutes in length. The shorter tour gives you a fantastic aerial view of the scenery between the South and North rims. The long tour covers the South Rim, North Rim, and eastern border of the National Park. On the 50-minute flight, you will see many beautiful scenic views because the tour covers about 3/4 of the entire National Park.

Wrapping Up: 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. All South Rim flights are air-only. The South Rim tours begin at the airport in Tusayan, Arizona just outside the Park's main gates and they last thirty or fifty minutes. With Papillon, you're sure to have a great time no matter which tour you decide to take!




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