Since their first sightseeing tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon in 1967, Scenic Airlines’ popularity and tour offerings have increased exponentially. Today, Scenic flies over 300,000 people to the Grand Canyon every year for sightseeing alone! In addition, they offer 26 different tours varying in length, location, view points, price, and add-ons (including walking, helicopter rides, horseback adventures, rafting, and more).
Scenic Airlines is the right tour company for you if you want to experience the vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon without grueling physical effort: for the most part, you get to sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. For these reasons, most tours are suitable for children, elderly people, and people with disabilities (though watch out for extremely long tours if traveling with small children, or tours with walking/rafting/etc. add-ons for more limited sightseers). Scenic Airlines tours are a perfect day-trip escape from a Las Vegas vacation, since the airline offers free coach pickups from any Las Vegas hotel and proceeds from Vegas to the Scenic Airlines Boulder City Terminal, where your aerial tour adventure begins.
Features and Amenities (included in all tours):
- Complimentary pick-up and drop-off at Las Vegas hotel of choice
- Airplane and coach include air conditioning and oversized windows
- Spectacular views of Grand Canyon sites and locales
- Narrated tour available in 16 languages
- Open and operational 364 days a year (though note that helicopter add-ons might not be available Christmas Day)
- All flights, planes, and pilots are officially licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); safety is a top priority on every flight
Reminders and Problems:
- If you want an athletic, thrill-seeking adventure, this is not the tour for you!
- Some particularly long tours (e.g., 9.5 hours) might be worth reconsidering if traveling with children.
- Overall driving time to and from Las Vegas from the Boulder City terminal averages around 3 hours round trip; in many cases, your actual airplane tour is much shorter than this.
- Note, however, that it is possible to get to Scenic Airlines’ Boulder City terminal yourself and embark on the tour from there; however, it’s still a significant distance from Las Vegas and you lose the free chartered shuttle ride.
- For airplane tours, any pregnant women in their third trimester must have a signed doctor’s note within 72 hours of departure.
- Please note that all passengers must carry government ID.
Sample of Popular Tours
Grand Canyon Connoisseur:
Scenic Airlines’ most popular tour allows for a little bit of almost everything: first, flying from Scenic’s Boulder Terminal above the enormous Hoover Dam and Lake Mead; next, a narrated coach tour to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim with lunch and glorious photo-ops at two of the South Rim’s most picturesque locations.
The perfect tour for those who want to see all the sights the Canyon has to offer in a limited amount of time. Not a lot of extras, but all the views you could hope for—including Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River, and (of course) the Grand Canyon itself.
Indian Country Adventure:
See some of the Grand Canyon’s features up-close and personal while walking on a self-guided tour (lunch included) through the tribal lands of the Hualapai Nation. Witness the natural beauty of the Canyon’s West Rim from Eagle Point to Guano Point, and visit a sightseer’s cultural Indian Village.
West Rim Airplane Landing Tour—Indian Country Express:
Fly over the Colorado River to the Grand Canyon’s West Rim, descending at Hualapai Nation tribal lands. Take a shuttle to scenic points along the West Rim, including Eagle Point (a famous rock formation that’s unmistakably eagle-shaped) and Guano Point, featuring spectacular Canyon West views.
Comments, Questions, Corrections?