If you’re looking for a fun way to spend St. Pat’s Day, consider touring the Grand Canyon. Book your tour now though because if you wait, it might be too late.

Grand Canyon air tours take off from Vegas or Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCA), in Arizona just outside the Park’s main South Rim entrance. The tours that take off from Vegas fly to the South Rim or the West Rim but the ones that depart from Tusayan, AZ only fly over the South Rim.

Currently, there aren’t any air tours that visit both rims. If you will already be in Arizona at a city like Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Sedona, you will be closer to the South Rim and can take one of the tours that fly out of the airport there.

Plane Tours Of The South Rim

The tours of the South Rim are very beautiful. The best tour is one that lasts nearly an hour and covers the South, North, and East Rims of the canyon. You can even upgrade the tour to include a fun smooth-water raft ride along the Colorado River. This portion of the river has very calm waters so the float is suitable for everyone fours years old and up.

West Rim Airplane Tours

The flight to the West Rim from Vegas takes around thirty minutes. The flight includes aerial views of Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, and once you get there, you get a bird’s eye view of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

The unique thing about the West Rim is you can choose between an air-only flight or one that lands at the canyon. If you don’t have much time and want a quick tour, the air-only flight is ideal. If you have the time though, you should definitely look into a landing tour of the West Rim.

You can buy a tour package that includes passes to the thrilling Grand Canyon Skywalk. You have to be pretty brave to walk out on this amazing feat of engineering. When you reach the Skywalk’s apex, your feet will be almost a mile over the canyon floor, 70 feet past the edge!

Next in popularity is the landing tour that includes an exciting chopper ride down to the bottom of the canyon. The West Rim is the only place helicopters are allowed to fly below the rim and it is a very exciting ride!

Most people take the version that includes a champagne picnic at the bottom. This tour comes with other fun options you can add on too such as Skywalk passes and a raft float along the peaceful Colorado River.

St. Patrick’s Day is an excellent excuse for visiting Vegas, and many of the people that go then will think about touring the Grand Canyon by plane. That is why you need to book your seats now, it is always best to shoot for booking about a week ahead of time. It is very risky to wait until the last minute to get your seats. Last minute seats usually cost more and the most popular tours sell out fast.

Internet Discounts

After you’ve picked your tour, make sure you book it online. That is always where you find the lowest prices for these tours. Just be sure to stay away from the big sites like TravelZoo, Priceline, and Orbitz. Those sites act as middlemen and push up the price.

I highly recommend booking direct with the tour companies-the best deals and discounts are always on their websites, and you know who you’re dealing with. Look for the Internet rate, and to qualify for it all you have to do is complete your purchase online.