Trips & tickets
A deluxe coach from the Las Vegas Strip to the national park's South Rim, about 5 hours each way over the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, with about three hours at Mather Point and along the rim by Bright Angel Lodge. Lunch and Wi-Fi on board; the nonresident park fee is extra.
A coach with Wi-Fi and a guide from Las Vegas hotels through the Mojave's Joshua tree forests to Grand Canyon West, with about 3.5 hours at Eagle Point and Guano Point. The Skywalk (with a free zipline ticket), a hot lunch and a helicopter and pontoon ride are options.
A 45-minute flight from Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan over the Kaibab National Forest, upriver past views of the Painted Desert and the Desert View Watchtower to Marble Canyon and Point Imperial, then south through the Dragon Corridor. Taxes and fees included; no hotel pickup.
The full Viator listing for Grand Canyon National Park — helicopter and airplane flights, Hummer and jeep tours of the South Rim viewpoints and guided day tours, with live prices.
The Grand Canyon is not one trip but several, sold by different operators and run on different land. The South Rim is inside Grand Canyon National Park, open all year and reached from Flagstaff, Williams or Phoenix, or on a long day by bus from Las Vegas. The West Rim, with the Skywalk, is on Hualapai tribal land outside the national park, closer to Las Vegas and sold on its own tickets. Helicopter flights leave from Las Vegas, from the West Rim and from Tusayan, just outside the South Entrance, and the Grand Canyon Railway runs from Williams to the South Rim.
Which one is right depends on where you are staying, how long you have, and whether you want the national park itself or the closest canyon views to Las Vegas. These pages compare them plainly.
Plan it properly
Driving, train, bus or tour to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Williams and Phoenix: which rim each route reaches, the distances, and how to get around once you arrive.
What it costs to enter Grand Canyon National Park in 2026, the $100 nonresident fee, annual and America the Beautiful passes, opening seasons, and the separate tickets for the West Rim, the Skywalk and the railway.
Grand Canyon helicopter flights from Tusayan, from Las Vegas and at the West Rim compared: what each one flies over, which ones land, the flight rules, and how a flight stacks up against the bus or the train.
The canyon
Photographs licensed from Shutterstock.
A standard pass for Grand Canyon National Park costs $20 to $35 and is valid for 7 days; on foot or by bike it is $20 per person, and children under 16 go free. Non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 each unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass. The park takes cards only; our tickets and prices guide has every pass.
Not to get in: there is no reservation or timed entry at the national park. Lodging and campgrounds are another matter, and the park strongly recommends booking them in spring, summer and fall. At busy times, reach the entrance before 10 a.m. or after 2 p.m. to cut the wait.
The South Rim, in the national park, is 278 miles away via Kingman and Williams, so most people stay a night or take a tour. Grand Canyon West, with the Skywalk, is 122 miles from the center of Las Vegas, about 2 hours and 15 minutes by road, but it is on Hualapai land outside the park. Our guide to getting there compares both.
81 miles to the South Rim by the park's distance table, about 90 minutes to the South Entrance. Without a car, Amtrak serves Flagstaff with a connecting bus, and the Grand Canyon Railway runs daily from Williams, 30 minutes west, leaving at 9:30 a.m. most of the year; see our guide to getting there.