The 4 stars are for the wonder that is Grand Canyon and the surrounding desert. Stars deducted for the way it has been monetised.
A few pointers:
Well worth visiting as one of the most beautiful and wonderful places on the planet.
We drove from Las Vegas and stopped off at Hoover Dam in the morning, which I also recommend, very impressive views and engineering. We arrived at Grand Canyon around 2pm Arizona time and stayed until sunset around 6pm. Truly mind blowing views!
Parking is free which is helpful.
The cost of entry is quite high (51$pp) but there are packages with various activities that offer a slight discount compared to booking them piecemeal. I recommend looking into these in advance depending on what activities you want to do (skywalk, zip line, meal etc). We discovered this the hard way as we booked general admission first without skywalk then changed our minds and it cost about 20$ more as an add on. I would recommend booking online as it is also cheaper.
The zip line was ok but a bit underwhelming to be honest. It was between two low hills and was quite slow so not very exciting. Views were ok but not breathtaking. Not bad for 30$pp but probably would give it a miss if youāre looking for an adrenaline rush.
Skywalk was also slightly disappointing. Views obviously are incredible but Guano viewpoint is more breathtaking and that is included in the entry fee. On the skywalk you are not allowed to take photos. Professional photographers take photos for you and sell them at extortionate prices (25$ for one photo, 50⬠for ten). To be honest people would probably be more likely to buy them if they made it a bit more affordable!
Overall it is a fantastic natural phenomenon to visit itās just a shame they have monetised it so much, it definitely seems excessive. In total we spent just over 200$ for two of us.
Staff are friendly and there are plenty of buses that take you to the viewpoints but the buses and the whole place is very tired looking and rundown. Given how much people are spending to visit they could definitely invest some of it back!
FYI If you are driving from Las Vegas I strongly recommend stopping by the Joshua Tree Forest trail - itās almost otherworldly never seen anything like it (and itās free!).