Las Vegas - dream of gamblers and party animals. Featured in so many movies, such an iconic city. But not for me. I have been to Las Vegas around 4 times and never felt the love for this city. And this is my personal opinion. I find city too fake. Of course, the famous Strip is interesting to see - from Paris, Venice to Egypt and New York. With famous hotels such as Bellagio, Caesar and MGM that each feature a casino inside. A day or two for me is enough in Vegas. I would only want to come back now to see one of the famous shows that Vegas has to offer.
Why Las Vegas and Grand Canyon? Las Vegas for those that love to party and gamble. I am not fan of neither but I still found it interesting to explore this iconic city featured in many movies. Grand Canyon for those on a hunt of natural wonders of the world.
Top Things to see - Grand Canyon (West or South Rim from las Vegas), Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. In Las Vegas - popular 'Vegas' sign, the strip with themed hotels.
Best time to visit - Spring or Autumn as it is pretty chilly in the winder and extremely hot in the summer.
Safety - I found it extremely safe.
Costs - Expensive.
I have been to Las Vegas with work around 4 times. Twice I have ventured out of Vegas to Grand Canyon. That is something that I can add hand on heart on my top 10 natural wonders of the world list. Maybe even top 5. First time I saw Canyon from a helicopter and it was absolutely worth it. I have not taken helicopter anywhere else in the world, but I felt like Canyon will be worth seeing from birds eye. And it absolutely was. The second time a group of us hired a car and drove to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and West Rim.
Car hire & gas for the day cost us around $120. As we started our journey, we passed by famous Las Vegas sign which is located right next to LAS airport. Journey to Hoover Dam took us around 50min and to West Rim around 2.5 hours. We stopped by in the Boulder City and enjoyed American style breakfast which is definitely a portion size of 2 full meals. Then we headed off to West Rim and ended up driving through a dust storm which was something I have never experienced before - visibility was no more than 50-100m and it felty like we are in a Zombie land. Finally we arrived at West Rim. The entrance fee was around $55 (or $75 with Sky Walk option). Everyone had to leave a car in the parking lot and hop on the dedicated park buses. West Rim is the least visited area of the Canyon and is managed by the native Americans. As I am scared of heights, I skipped the Sky Walk, which is the first stop on the bus. I felt slightly disappointed by the views as the were nowhere nearly as impressive as they were from the helicopter. The second stop was the Eagle Point. Wow! The views are so much more magnificent than from the first stop. Now it felt like worth the journey.
So to sum up the Grand Canyon experience - I definitely recommend a helicopter tour, however they are very pricey (around $300), however totally worth it! The Eagle Point is also absolutely stunning and you will feel similar to what you can enjoy from the birds eye. Would I return to Canyon? Absolutely! Next time I would love to explore the South Rim and do some hikes!
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