During our five day trip to Sedona, AZ, we set aside one day to go visit the Grand Canyon since neither my husband nor I have ever been. And we’re both California natives, we just never had the chance to go with our families in our childhood. So it was on our bucket list as a must-see soon!
We found a perfect Grand Canyon Day Trip tour that was recommended to us by a friend.
I may have exaggerated about the Luxury part of this tour, there was no champagne and caviar, or private limos. But there was a semi-private small chartered plane, a helicopter ride, and a quick pontoon boat ride. That counts for something right? So if you have saved up a few extra dollars to splurge just a bit, I highly recommend it.
Tour Breakdown
We booked our excursion with Westwind Air Service. They had a combination tour that included the following:
– A 1.5 hour scenic flight from Sedona to the Grand Canyon West Rim.
– A quick 10-min helicopter ride down into the Colorado river of the West Rim, and land down below at the bottom.
– Then a 30-min covered pontoon boat ride on the Colorado river canals to view the canyon from below.
– A shuttle bus trip to the Skywalk at Eagle Point with the glass walkway over the Grand Canyon. Tickets included with this tour.
– A shuttle bus to Guano point and a ‘walkabout’ out to the high point with a beautiful Grand Canyon viewpoint.
– Included a very basic lunch at a Western themed ghost town.
– And lastly, the 1.5 hour flight back to Sedona afterwards.
Small BiPlane, Helicopter and Pontoon Ride
We started our tour meeting up at the Sedona airport at about 8am. The small plane we flew in seated about 8 passengers. The pilot was very friendly and the flight was smooth, with fantastic views out our window of Sedona and the Grand Canyon, plus some random dry desertscape. (I did take a dramamine just in case.)
The flight back after the tours was a bit more bumpy, but I just closed my eyes and pretended I was in a bumpy car ride and ended up falling asleep since it had been a long day. We didn’t end up back in Sedona until about 3pm.
End of the Grand Canyon West Rim Tour
This tour was great and you got to spend a lot of time at the West Rim, exploring on your own. It was definitely a great Grand Canyon Adventure. The only part that was slightly changed on our itinerary was the add-on Western Themed Ghost Town that was not originally listed for us. We were suppose to get lunch at the Skywalk, plus a visit to an Native American village, but we got shuttled to this ghost town instead. Which is probably only enjoyable for children. And the lunch provided was not vegetarian friendly and it was mediocre cafeteria food. So everything else up until the ghost town was great. And flying back to Sedona was also nice, relaxing and everyone took a nap!
If you want to learn about our Sedona trip and the hikes and tours we took there, check out my blog post about the Top 3 Hiking Trails for Beginners in Sedona, AZ.
The canyon from above is gorgeous!
It really is!
Your pictures look amazing, The Grand Canyon is still on my bucket list and your post grew my desire to visit even more! But viewing the Grand Canyon from the sky is definitely the ultimate experience!
Thank you. I hope you get to visit it one day soon!
Great Post! I went to the Grand Canyon almost 20 years ago! I love the ideas for when I can go back.
Thank you. I wonder how much has changed there after 20 years.
Wow! This really is a luxury day trip. Flying over the canyon would be such a special way to see the beautiful geological formations of the Grand Canyon. One of my favorite places in the world and this looks like a great way to see it.
It was definitely a great experience!
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you and you’re welcome! 🙂