Saturday, July 12, 2014

Grand Canyon Helis - Get A Tour By Papillon Airways!

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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.

All Las Vegas helicopters head to the West Rim while all the choppers that leave from Tusayan go to the South 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 Rim: When 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. Both follow the same route to the Park, flying over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Colorado River, Grand Cliffs Wash and the canyon itself. The landing tours drop you off at the canyon, while the air-only tours stay in the air and circle back to Vegas. Landing tours are only allowed at the West Rim, so the only place you can get one is at Vegas.

You can pick a tour that lands at the top and lets you experience the West Rim's famous Glass Bridge (the Grand Canyon Skywalk), or you can land on the canyon floor and enjoy a picnic or a float trip down the Colorado River. The Skywalk is an amazing structure that is made from glass. It allows you to walk out to about 70 feet past the rim's edge, about 4,000 feet above the mighty Colorado. 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.

South Rim Helicopter Tours: The Papillon chopper tours of the South Rim are available in short 30-minute versions and longer 50-minute tours. The 30-minute tour flies from the South Rim to the North Rim and back. The 50-minute tour does that too, but it also flies all the way to the National Park's eastern border. The 50-minute flight is very comprehensive since it covers about 75 percent of the entire Park, so you have the chance to see many wonderful sights.

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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