VEGAS!

Hehe I know Fox its just the way you went about it :) no need to be so abbrasive!

Ive actually looked around and the cheapest I can find a Mustang Convertible for, in and around Vegas, is the price Ive got, collision damage waiver is $21.50/day and the Liability is $29.90/day, will work out at about $130 for the car for the day + more for extra milage, we are figuring roughly $300 for the day, including petrol costs.

$150 each for an amazing drive to the Grand Canyon and back isnt bad surely?

I still think it's going to suck, personally. I know how you feel because I was where you are until it sunk in quite how big a trek it was - it's a LOT of driving in one day and you'll want the roof up on the 'Stang for much of it because the Mustang sucks with the roof down at 80mph (You dont get a wind deflector).

Everyone seems to think the Grand Canyon is just down the road from Las Vegas. It's not. Not by a long shot.

Far better to fly there and then go somewhere else with your Mustang where you'll have more time to enjoy the car rather than pressing on to a destination hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

In my opinion, anyway.
 
Yeah Im not sold on the helicopter thing, Ive been in a chopper before and altho it was quite cool, I imagine flying close to the grand canyon in one would **** me right up :S

Ive been checking out differant car rental places, and looked on the netflights.com sight that was mentioned.

Seems we can hire the same car, with unlimted milage, full tank of fuel and gps, for £48 for the day :O

Only downside is it needs to be picked up/dropped off at the airport?

You can literally walk from the strip to the airport. It's not far. Well ok, maybe not walk, but it's not like the other side of town.
 
As said, the drive to the Canyon is ridiculous. We drove to Area 51 which is around 4 hours, and tbh even 30 mins of the desert in a Mustang is enough, never mind 7 hours!

Waste of half a day.
 
Yeah tbh Im not a big gambler!
Ill have a go but the majority of my money will be spent sampling the various eateries, going to the canyon and the shooting range ^^

by the way it's Spring Break in the USA at the moment. Which means it's totty galore time, if indeed you are not going with the other half.

It's the best time of the yr, to go to Vegas actually, as it is for Florida. Never really understood why the Brits choose summer to go to Vegas and Fl. Way too hot in both destinations and not as buzzing due to being out of season.
 
[TW]Fox;18826899 said:
Everyone seems to think the Grand Canyon is just down the road from Las Vegas. It's not. Not by a long shot.

.

Welcome to America. Nothing is close by. 4hrs is nothing after you live here for a while. That's probably why everyone say's its only up the road.
 
As said, the drive to the Canyon is ridiculous. We drove to Area 51 which is around 4 hours, and tbh even 30 mins of the desert in a Mustang is enough, never mind 7 hours!

Waste of half a day.

Totally.

I drove my Mustang Convertible to North Las Vegas Airport for about 11am. I got onto a plane. 40 minutes later I was at the Canyon. I was taken by bus to several great viewpoints by a guy who explained the history and all sorts of useful facts. I then got back onto the plane and was back in my car, driving towards the Stratosphere hotel, at 3.30pm. Actually I think I managed to do the Premium Outlets as well in the same day.

It was about £130 each for the entire package. There are loads of great road trips in the USA to do in a Mustang Convertible. Las Vegas to South Grand Canyon is not, IMHO, one of them.

One day trip I did do from Vegas in the Mustang was a quick pop over to the Dam, that was great.
 
Now, listen to me very carefully (in arnie voice).

I was in Vegas Monday through Friday gone, day trip to the canyon on Friday and am currently chilling in Santa Barbara.

Do not get a helicopter from Vegas to the west rim. As others have said it's a crap scam. Also don't drive, It's a massive drive and will take 2 days, knacker you out and you will lose a day in Vegas.

Get onto the papillon.com site and ring them up on the toll free number to book a day tour. Well worth it and I highly recommend them. The tour:

0755 pickup at hotel (varies for which hotel).
60min drive to boulder city airport.
0915 flight to south rim (over Hoover and grand canyon parts) lasting 50 mins.
Straight to helipad for flight in canyon (more expensive tour @$370).
Bus ride to south rim (packed lunch provided) for an hours wondering and photo.
Bus back to airport, flight back ti boulder and nice minibus back to hotel for 1700.


Total pp is about $230 excl helicopter and $370 pp with it. Do it properly and get the helicopter ride.
 
I'd go mental (and seriously in debt) spending 6 days in Vegas. I did a weekend and it was plenty. Temps were in the mid-high 30's celcius and I couldn't walk 10 yards down the Strip without being hounded by lowlifes with striper/escort leaflets.

Good times though :D

Doing the Grand Canyon properly means hiking right down into it, brilliant experience that I'l never forget.
 
0755 pickup at hotel (varies for which hotel).
60min drive to boulder city airport.
0915 flight to south rim (over Hoover and grand canyon parts) lasting 50 mins.

This is why I didnt bother with them - VisionAir is in Las Vegas not an hours drive away, and the flight is a bit shorter, and they are cheaper :)
 
[TW]Fox;18827123 said:
This is why I didnt bother with them - VisionAir is in Las Vegas not an hours drive away, and the flight is a bit shorter, and they are cheaper :)

Even better then!

Didnt know of them, but I was rushing to book a tour at the last minute and papillon seemed a lot more reasonable than maverick.
 
Also, but you may want to double check, they've now opened up the bypass on the Hoover Dam, so no more traffic to sit in, unless you want to see the dam obviously.

Actually comes to think of it, when i made the drive to the South Rim from Vegas, I was concerned about traffic, but because I left early, there was none. I remember saying to myself 'result' as I drove over the thing. Leave early and you'll be fine.
 
Also something worth mentioning is speed limits in Arizona are 75mph on the motorway, meaning you can comfortably do 80 without fear of a tug.

You can do the journey in 3 1/2 hrs non stop if you miss traffic on the hoover.
 
Going next year at some point. I have a friend living on the strip for the next two years or so, offered to put me up for however long I fancy. Planning on some skiing, LA and possibly Grand Canyon and possibly Yosemite National Park. But obviously these places take up a good amount of travelling time. Will be splitting fuel cost on a 10' Golf GTI.

I'm budgeting £750 for flights and around £1000 for spending. Planning on 7-10 nights.
 
Going next year at some point. I have a friend living on the strip for the next two years or so, offered to put me up for however long I fancy. Planning on some skiing, LA and possibly Grand Canyon and possibly Yosemite National Park. But obviously these places take up a good amount of travelling time. Will be splitting fuel cost on a 10' Golf GTI.

I'm budgeting £750 for flights and around £1000 for spending. Planning on 7-10 nights.

you may get flight for a bit less than 750 , a grand spending money will manage if you take things steady
 
Look forward to lots of Mexicans slapping Hooker cards on their wrists all the way up and down the strip...you get used to it after a while...

We collected a bunch of them on the last day there and stuffed them in my mates passport for when he got to the airport, was quite hilarious and embarassing at the same time as they all fell out as it was inspected :D


In general I'm gonna say 6 days is gonna be tough going since you'll feel as if you've done nothing! Just take the days as they come and just get involved in what you fancy doing at the time, easy to become overawed at times :)

I'm heading back with £3k for spending+gambling purposes, will be fun times come July :D
 
you may get flight for a bit less than 750 , a grand spending money will manage if you take things steady

Yeah that's what I'm hoping. £750 is what I was planning on spending at most, will have to keep an eye out when I have the money available. I'm not planning on going crazy, 2 or 3 nights out on the strip can soon add up I hear. $150 is a cheap night? Obviously skiing will cost a bit too, but I'll just have to have a cheap day or two here and there.
 
Yeah that's what I'm hoping. £750 is what I was planning on spending at most, will have to keep an eye out when I have the money available. I'm not planning on going crazy, 2 or 3 nights out on the strip can soon add up I hear. $150 is a cheap night? Obviously skiing will cost a bit too, but I'll just have to have a cheap day or two here and there.

£750 for flight will be easy, if that is for flight and hotel your choices will be very limited, spending money can vary massively, for example you can get a beer for $1-2 though $6-7 is average
 
£750 for flight will be easy, if that is for flight and hotel your choices will be very limited, spending money can vary massively, for example you can get a beer for $1-2 though $6-7 is average

Yeah solely flights. Will have a place to sleep covered. $6-7 doesn't sound too bad, about right for some pubs here. Would be tempted with a poker tourney, what sort of buy-ins are we talking? Or is it mainly cash tables?
 
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