Booking Grand Canyon helicopter tours from Las Vegas is a popular day trip for visitors. The chopper flight has all the excitement and adrenalin rush for which Sin City is famous, topped off with the grandeur of seeing one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World up close and from the air. If that's not enough, there are plenty more awesome sights and experiences in store for passengers on this aerial plus ground tour.

The way it works is that the tour operator picks up passengers from their hotel and transports them to the airport in either a shuttle or a limo. Passengers clamber into the chopper and enjoy a 45-minute flight to the West Rim, with a narrated audio tour on the way. This is important because the chopper flies low over some of the biggest tourist attractions in the area like the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, which can be seen and photographed with a bird's eye view.

Upon reaching Grand Canyon West, passengers will get the first aerial view of the U-shaped glass Skywalk that juts out into empty space with a steep drop below. But even that is not preparation enough for the experience to follow, which is hard to describe. The chopper descends down 4,000 feet vertically straight down to the bottom in an 8-minute flight that seems like an action scene straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Passengers are allowed to disembark at the bottom, and enjoy sweeping views of the legendary Colorado River. There is a package tour option here that includes pontoon boat rides up the river, which is an unforgettable experience all by itself. After the boat ride, passengers get back on board the helicopter to enjoy another vertical ride up the Canyon's face back to the top.

The next stage is by road and passengers join the bus excursions heading into Grand Canyon West, which is owned by the Hualapai Nation. The tribe requires an entry fee from visitors. But those who book the Grand Canyon helicopter tours won't have to purchase the entrance tickets or a Skywalk Pass. The hop-on, hop-off shuttles take visitors to Guano Point, where passengers can have their lunch while enjoying the view on the rim.

The excursion then moves to the famous Skywalk, where visitors will walk on thin air with nothing but glass between them and the bottom 4000 ft below. The view is just as good from Eagle Point. Tour members will then be given some free time to explore other attractions in the area, like the Native American village.

After that, it's time to head back to Las Vegas. But there's still one final sight left to see on the way back to the airport landing. The aerial view of the Vegas Strip with its massive and exotic casino resorts and neon lights is again an unforgettable experience. The return trip from the airport to the hotel is in a limo arranged by the tour operator.

The total time required for Grand Canyon helicopter tours from Las Vegas may vary. But set aside at least half a day for it, at the very minimum. In case anyone's worried about it, the helicopters are state-of-the-art and the ride is perfectly safe and routine.