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| - While in Vegas for Valentine's Day, my fiancee and I decided to book a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon at the last minute. I was impresses that Papillon had seats available only a few hours later that morning.
We decided to choose the Celebration tour which includes flying by helicopter into the Grand Canyon and landing at the bottom with a champagne lunch. The price was around $350 per person.
They picked us up at our hotel on time in a nice motorcoach. We had to pick up several more passengers, but soon we were on our way to Boulder, the company's helicopter airport.
Once there, you watch a safety video and then shortly take off with 5 or 6 passengers plus the pilot. Our pilot was great. He told us about everything we were seeing and even cracked a few jokes along the way. I was impressed that everyone seemed to have a good view since the back seats were a little raised like stadium seating.
On the flight, we circled Hoover Dam, flew over Lake Mead, and saw several non-active volcanoes. However, nothing you see in the beginning of the trip compares to the sight of the Grand Canyon. It was truly an amazing experience to get so close to the Canyon first in the helicopter, and then on foot once we landed.
I only had a few negatives that caused the 4 stars...
1. The champagne lunch was pretty weak considering how much we all paid per person. I was expecting a little more than a very small turkey sandwich and a bag of chips.
2. I was not expecting the West Rim of the Grand Canyon to be so different from the South Rim. Apparently you can't do this type of flight into the South Rim, but I think the South Rim is a much more majestic sight because the cliffs are so steep and much further apart. The West Rim is much more subdued. Still incredible, but not what I was expecting.
Overall, it was a beautiful and memorable way to spend the day while visiting Las Vegas. Definitely worth the time and the money. :)
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