Drive your car or rent one for the least expensive option for traveling to the Grand Canyon. The trip will take about four and a half hours one way. Take U.S. Route 93 southeast toward Hoover Dam and Kingman, Ariz. Take Interstate 40 east to Williams, Ariz., and take Route 64 north to the Grand Canyon. This trip takes you over the Hoover Dam and will cost less than $200 for a rental car, gas and meals, making it the most affordable option for more than one person.
Take a bus tour and leave the driving to a professional. Bus tours take about 12 hours round trip and include stops such as a Hoover Dam photo stop and a stop at the Grand Canyon Skywalk, where visitors can walk on a glass bridge that is suspended about 4,000 feet above the canyon floor. Bus tours may include on-board breakfast and a stop for lunch at places such as the Hualapai Indian reservation. Tours run about $150 to $175 per person.
Choose a helicopter tour if time is limited but your budget isn't. Helicopter tours cost about $350 to $500 per person but only take between three and five hours. A sunrise tour of the Grand Canyon leaves Las Vegas at 7 a.m. and flies over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and an extinct volcano. Champagne, other beverages and continental breakfast are served 300 feet above the Colorado River.
Book a small airplane. Chose a tour in a Beechcraft 1900D aircraft and fly to the Grand Canyon's west rim in about 40 minutes, landing at Eagle Point. Listen to a talk on the legends and culture of the Hualapai Indians. Enjoy a box lunch at Guano Point with breathtaking views of the canyon. Air tours with landings take four to five hours round trip and cost about $300 to $450.
Check for add-on options for helicopter, bus and airplane tours, such as special meals, rafting trips, photo stops, hiking opportunities and Skywalk excursions.
