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Dear Arizona Travel:
My children are ages 6, 14, 15 and 18. What tour(s) would be safe for all? What would you recommend? Thanks.
–Deborah H.
Dear Arizona Travel:
My children are ages 6, 14, 15 and 18. What tour(s) would be safe for all? What would you recommend? Thanks.
–Deborah H.
Dear Deborah,
Your kids are the perfect age for almost any tour. The only thing you probably wouldn’t be able to do is river rafting as I believe most companies require a child be at least 8 years old.
Where are you starting your trip from, Nevada or Arizona?
For your crew, I recommend the Grand Canyon Railway (www.thetrain.com) at the South Rim, any of the Grand Canyon helicopter tours or airplane tours (either from Las Vegas or the South Rim), a Jeep tour (there is a great one to the bottom of the Grand Canyon through Grand Canyon Jeeps Tours (www.grandcanyonjeeps.com) that also includes a stop at the fascinating Grand Canyon Caverns… it departs from the South Rim), or just some guided hiking at the South Rim. Try Canyon Dave’s (www.canyondave.com) for a really great educational tour that everyone will enjoy… it’s hiking and learning at the same time.
If you’re coming from Las Vegas, you might want to skip the South Rim and instead check out the West Rim (it’s a 3.5 hour drive versus a 5 hour drive) and take a walk out on the Grand Canyon Skywalk (www.grandcanyonskywalk.com). it’s the glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the canyon rim and looks straight down through the glass 4,000 feet to the canyon floor below.
I always recommend trying to fit in one or two of the guided National Park ranger talks, too. They run almost all day for about an hour each, meet in several different spots at the South Rim and cover a range of different topics from wildlife to geology to art and history to astronomy. All are great and they’re completely free. Check out the Spring 2010 edition of The Guide – the National Park’s newspaper – for detailed times, descriptions and meeting places.
Hope that helps, Deborah! Have a great trip!
Hi, I am planning to go from Las Vegas with my kids, age 4 and 9. What kind of tours that are suitable for them?Can I drive by myself from vegas or should I use the tour guide instead?
thx
Hi, Evie. Nearly any of the tours from Las Vegas are suitable for kids their ages or any age. Yes, you can certainly drive yourselves; the trip from Las Vegas to the South Rim is about 4 hours each way.
A quick note about which rim to visit: True, the West Rim is closer to Las Vegas by about 45 minutes. However, in my opinion, the West Rim isn’t exactly the way I would choose for my kids to experience THE Grand Canyon on a memory-making vacation like this one. I would want them to see the South Rim, the quintessential destination, the real National Park. It’s well worth the extra car time.
If you do choose to do a guided tour, a bus+air/helicopter tour combination comes to mind as a perfect way to see the Grand Canyon with young children.
You take a tour from Las Vegas to the South Rim by bus, then see the IMAX movie (great for kids) and then a 30-minute helicopter flight over the Canyon from the South Rim, starting around $80 per person which is very reasonable for the amount of excitement and value. It’s a full day – about 16 hours.
The other thing you can do is take an airplane flight from Las Vegas and get to the South Rim quicker, then hop on a tour bus to see the Grand Canyon from different viewpoints… kind of the opposite of the first option. This tour costs a little more, but makes for a shorter day (which can be good for young kids’ attention spans!) About $230 per person and it’s a 7 hour day.
Check out these two South Rim tours from AllLasVegasTours.com. All the details, including pickup and dropoff, total cost, what to wear and more are spelled out really nicely there.
Enjoy!
My childre are 15, 12, and 2 – quite a spread. I want to see the Grand Canyon with my children. They want to do mining and water parks. We are coming by motor home from South Louisiana for only 10 days. We were planning to go through Dallas and possibly home through Houston. Any idea?
My oldest son also loves to fish!
Hi, Wendy. My suggestion is to check out GrandCanyonJeeps.com (1-800-716-9389). They offer a great Inner Grand Canyon Jeep tour that takes you and your family all the way down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (the only way to drive to the bottom of the Canyon.) Along the way, you’ll make a stop at the Grand Canyon Caverns which, while not about mining per se, may appeal to your kids’ underground sensibilities! Then, back in the Jeep to continue making your way to the Canyon bottom, where everyone will have lunch (provided) and can splash and play in the Colorado River. Again, not a water park exactly, but a great way to cool down, get wet and make awesome memories. Just ask GrandCanyonJeeps.com about accommodating your youngest child’s car seat and water play safety needs, but this tour should be ideal for the whole family. Plus, the West Rim location of this tour puts you in a great position to journey on toward nearby Oatman, Arizona (south of Kingman) where you can check out Gold Road Mine tours (see http://oatmangoldroad.org/) and Las Vegas where you’ll find true water parks like Wet n’ Wild. Have a great trip!