Oct – Nov
The best window
Still air, mild days, and canyon walls at their reddest in low autumn sun. Sunset comes early enough that a night Strip flight is an evening rather than a late night. If you can choose your dates, choose these.
Timing
Best time of day for a helicopter tour in Las Vegas
The answer is different for the two kinds of flight on this page, and both answers are unambiguous. Over the Strip: after dark, and almost everybody already knows it. Over the canyon: early morning, and almost nobody does — which is why afternoon canyon flights get the reviews mentioning turbulence.
Quick answer
Fly the Strip after dark and the Grand Canyon in the early morning. The Strip exists as a lit object and daylight reduces it to a row of beige buildings; three of the four Strip flights here are sold as night flights for that reason. The canyon is the opposite: desert thermals build through the day from June to September, and a morning flight is noticeably smoother than the same route at three in the afternoon. In autumn and winter the late canyon slots are worth taking for the red light on the walls.
Timing a Las Vegas flight, at a glance
- Strip: best slot
- After darkthe neon is the entire product
- Strip: best compromise
- Last lightthe Strip lit and colour still in the sky
- Canyon: best slot
- First of the morningcalmest air, and the coolest apron
- Canyon: second best
- Late afternoon in autumnred walls in low sun
- Worst for the canyon
- Summer afternoonsthermals build from late morning
- Sunset in December
- About 16:30a night Strip flight is an early evening
- Sunset in June
- About 20:00the same flight is a late one
- Clearest months
- Oct – Aprless haze, cooler air, stiller mornings
- Monsoon season
- Jul – Augafternoon storms cancel slots at short notice
- Free cancellation
- All twelve flightsup to 24 hours before
The Strip after dark
Why three of the four Strip flights are night flights
Night for the neon, dusk for both, daylight for the window seat.
Las Vegas is lit for a living, and from eight hundred feet at ten in the evening the Strip is one continuous ribbon of light with black desert on both sides. At two in the afternoon it is a row of large pale buildings next to a road, and the desert is simply brown.
The review numbers make the point better than any description: the night listings on this page carry 4,216 ratings between them; the daytime one has 452.
The one argument for daylight is the shape of it — the mountains, the empty basin the city sits in, how abruptly the built area stops. And the daytime listing at $98 is the only flight here with a guaranteed window seat, which for a photographer is worth a lot.
The best compromise is the last slot before full dark. The Strip has begun to light up, there is still colour in the sky, and you get both versions of the city in eleven minutes. Same price, and it goes first.
The canyon in the morning
Why afternoon canyon flights are bumpier, and what to do about it
Morning in summer for the air; late afternoon in autumn for the colour.
Desert thermals. Bare rock and sand heat through the morning, the air above them rises in columns, and a light helicopter flying through those columns moves. It is not dangerous and it is not comfortable, and it builds through the day: from about late morning in summer, and barely at all in December.
So book the first departure. Between June and September that single decision does more for the quality of a canyon trip than the choice of operator. It also means standing on an apron at seven rather than at two, which in a Nevada July is its own reward.
Autumn and winter reverse the advice. From October the thermals are mild and the late-afternoon light on the canyon walls is the best of the day — the sandstone goes genuinely red rather than brown. A late slot in November also means the Strip is lighting up as you fly home, which is a second flight for nothing.
Month by month
When to fly over Las Vegas and the canyon
Flights run all year. What the month decides is the air, the heat on the apron and how far ahead you need to book.
Mar – May
Nearly as good
Clear and comfortable before the heat. March is the windiest of the three; May is close to ideal for both kinds of flight.
Dec – Feb
Cold, clear, quiet
The sharpest visibility of the year and the easiest availability. Snow is possible on the canyon rim. Dress for an apron at seven in the morning, because it is genuinely cold.
Jun – Sep
Hot, and bumpier
Over forty degrees on the apron and thermals through the middle of the day. July and August bring monsoon storms that cancel slots at short notice. Book the first flight of the morning and keep a spare day.
The Strip flights and the canyon flights are two different days. Here is the full comparison.
All twelve flights ranked→Common questions
Timing, answered
What is the best time of day for a Las Vegas helicopter tour?
Over the Strip, after dark — the neon is the product. Over the Grand Canyon, the first flight of the morning between June and September, because desert thermals build through the day and make afternoon flights bumpier.
Are helicopter tours bumpy?
Over the Strip, rarely. Over the canyon in a summer afternoon, often — rising air over hot rock is what does it. The same route at seven in the morning is noticeably smoother.
When is the best month to fly?
October and November: still air, mild days, and the canyon walls at their reddest in low sun. March to May is close behind.
What time does the sun set in Las Vegas?
About half past four in December and about eight in June. It decides whether a night Strip flight is an early evening or a late one.
Do flights get cancelled by weather?
Mostly in July and August, when monsoon storms build in the afternoon. Every flight here is free to cancel up to 24 hours before, and operators usually offer a new slot rather than a refund.
Is the last flight before sunset worth booking?
Over the Strip, yes — you get the city lit and colour still in the sky. Over the canyon in autumn, yes, for the red light on the walls and the Strip coming on as you fly home.
Go deeper
More on flying from Las Vegas
The canyon
The Grand Canyon flight
Three hours from the Strip to the canyon floor, from $470.
Which rimWest Rim or South Rim
Where the Vegas helicopters actually go, and what you give up.
CostWhat it costs
From $93 to $1,271, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The StripFlying the Strip
Eleven to fifteen minutes over the neon, from $93.
After darkFlying at night
Why almost every Strip flight sells the night version.
SkywalkThe Skywalk by air
Eagle Point, the glass bridge, and whether it is worth it.
