Grand Canyon Skywalk: which ticket includes it, and which one only sounds like it does
Updated October 1, 2026 · 7 min read
The cheapest admission to Grand Canyon West does not include the Skywalk, and neither does a day tour whose title says “Skywalk option”. That single word is the most expensive misunderstanding in the Las Vegas excursion market. If you want to be certain you will stand on the glass, the small-group Skywalk and Hoover Dam day tour from €176.55 is the one that names the bridge in its own title, rated 4.8 stars on 503 reviews. If the Skywalk is optional for you and the canyon is the point, the ten-hour bus day is less than half that. Below: the three gate passes, the five ways to get there, and the rule that catches people at the turnstile.
See dates and prices for the small-group Skywalk tour
The Skywalk is the horseshoe of glass that projects from the rim at Grand Canyon West, about a two-hour drive from Las Vegas. The operator describes stepping “onto a glass bridge suspended 4,000 feet above the canyon floor”.
The three passes, and the one that leaves the Skywalk out
Grand Canyon West sells admission in tiers. From the operator’s own tickets page:
| Pass | Price | Skywalk |
|---|---|---|
| General Admission | $67 | “Does not include Skywalk” |
| Sunset Pass | $59 | included, entry after 3:00 PM |
| All-Access Pass | $99 | included |
Read that table twice. The $59 Sunset Pass is cheaper than the $67 General Admission and includes the Skywalk, because it only lets you in from three in the afternoon. The $67 ticket is the expensive way to arrive at the bridge and be told it costs more.
The All-Access Pass adds the zipline, Hualapai guided tours, performances, the arcade, a $10 meal discount and a $10 merchandise discount alongside the walking trails, the shuttle and the three viewpoints. The Sunset Pass covers the Skywalk, Eagle Point, Guano Point and shuttle transport, with sunset as the point of the timing.
Five ways to reach the glass, compared
| Tour | Length | From | Stars / reviews | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon West afternoon entry + Skywalk | admission only | €57.11 | 4.5 / 49 | drivers with their own hire car who want the late light |
| Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Skywalk Option and two meals | 10 hours | €85.26 | 4.8 / 3,827 | first-timers without a car, for whom the Skywalk is optional |
| Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam tour with Skywalk option | 9 hours | €171.38 | 4.3 / 16 | travellers who want a shorter day and do not mind a young listing |
| Small-group Skywalk and Hoover Dam tour | 12 hours | €176.55 | 4.8 / 503 | couples and solo travellers who want the bridge and a small group |
| Helicopter, boat and Skywalk combination | 7 hours | €713.96 | 4.5 / 80 | people making one big splurge on this trip |
“Skywalk option” on a day tour means you pay again
The most-reviewed Grand Canyon day trip from Las Vegas on GetYourGuide is titled “Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Skywalk Option, & Two Meals” and starts at €85.26 for ten hours, with 4.8 stars from 3,827 reviews. The word carrying the weight is option. The bus, the two meals and the park entry are in the price; the glass bridge is a surcharge chosen at booking or on the day. The same applies to a nine-hour version at €171.38. Our full write-up of the ten-hour day is the Grand Canyon West and Hoover Dam bus tour.
Check availability for the ten-hour day trip
Where the Skywalk is genuinely inside the price, the title tends to say so without the word option: the small-group tour at €176.55 names the Skywalk in the title and runs twelve hours with a picnic lunch, Guano and Eagle Points and Hoover Dam. At the top end, a helicopter, boat and Skywalk combination reaches €713.96 for seven hours.
Before booking any of them, ask one question in writing: is Skywalk admission in the price I am paying now, yes or no. A listing that answers “available” has answered no.
If you are driving yourself
The afternoon version is sold on its own as an entry ticket from €57.11, valid “for entry at 3:00 PM or later only”, with the hop-on hop-off shuttle to three viewpoints. It carries 4.5 stars from 49 reviews. It is admission only: getting to Grand Canyon West is your problem, and that is a four-hour round trip behind the wheel.
See prices for the afternoon entry ticket with Skywalk
Your camera stays in a locker
This is the rule that surprises people at the turnstile. According to the operator’s FAQ, “personal items such as cameras, purses, backpacks, and similar belongings are not allowed” on the Glass Bridge, and complimentary lockers are provided. Phones are treated differently: “Cell phones are permitted on the Skywalk,” with the visitor responsible for damage or loss.
So you can photograph the canyon from the bridge with a phone. You cannot bring a camera body, and you cannot bring a bag. If you wanted a picture of yourself standing on the glass taken on your own equipment, plan for someone in your group to shoot it with a phone, or ask at the entrance what the on-site photographers charge before you assume.
Timing, and how long to allow
Doors open at 8:00 AM. The last entry ticket is sold at 4:30 PM and doors close at 6:00 PM, extended in summer to 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Grand Canyon West is “open every day of the year, including all major holidays”. The operator recommends “at least three hours to fully experience Grand Canyon West”, adding that it “can be done in two hours” if you are short of time.
Add the drive. Two hours out and two hours back from Las Vegas around a three-hour visit is a nine-hour day whether a coach does the driving or you do. That is why most Skywalk visits are sold as day tours rather than as tickets.
One more practical rule from the same FAQ: “Bringing outside food and beverages to Grand Canyon West is not permitted.” If you are used to packing a lunch for a desert day, budget for buying one instead, or choose a tour that includes a meal.
With children
Children aged 4 and under enter free. There is also a promotion — “Buy 1 Adult, FULL PRICE, All-Access Pass, get up to 2 Kids, ages 5-12, FREE” — which the operator states must be redeemed in person and is not available online. If you have two children in that age band, that single condition can decide whether you book a bus tour in advance or drive out and buy at the gate.
Whether a particular child should be on a glass floor 4,000 feet up is a separate question from whether the ticket allows it. Some children find it thrilling; some find the view through their own feet genuinely distressing, and there is no graceful way to leave the middle of a bridge. Talk about it beforehand, and treat “we’ll see how they feel” as a real plan rather than a fallback. Grand Canyon with kids covers the age bands across the different tour formats, and Hoover Dam with kids covers the other half of most combined days.
When to skip the Skywalk entirely
Skip it if the canyon itself is what you came for. Eagle Point and Guano Point are included in every pass and cost nothing extra to walk, and the free hop-on hop-off shuttle connects them with Hualapai Point. Several visitors find the unglazed rim more moving than the bridge, and it photographs better because you can hold a camera.
Skip it, too, if you are choosing between the West Rim and the national park on the strength of the Skywalk alone — the West Rim or South Rim comparison puts that decision on firmer ground. And if you want the canyon from the air instead, the helicopter with or without a landing piece explains what the aerial versions leave out.
Our recommendation
For most people who actually want the Skywalk: the small-group Skywalk and Hoover Dam tour, from €176.55, twelve hours, 4.8 stars from 503 reviews. It is the only coach day tour here that names the bridge in its title without the word option, and the group is small. Even so, ask in writing whether Skywalk admission is in the price before you pay — that question costs nothing and is the whole subject of this page.
See dates and prices for the small-group Skywalk tour
On a smaller budget, or if the bridge is a nice-to-have: the ten-hour day with Hoover Dam and two meals, from €85.26, 4.8 stars from 3,827 reviews — less than half the price and the most-reviewed Grand Canyon day trip from Las Vegas on GetYourGuide. Treat the Skywalk as a surcharge you decide on separately, not as part of what you booked.
With a hire car: the afternoon entry ticket from €57.11. Cheaper than general admission at the gate, Skywalk included, and the light after three in the afternoon is the best of the day. It buys you nothing but entry, so only take it if you are happy to drive four hours.
For one big splurge: the helicopter, boat and Skywalk combination at €713.96. Seven hours, the air, the Colorado River and the bridge in one day. It is not for anyone counting the cost of the trip, and it is not for travellers uneasy in small aircraft.
Not worth it for anyone whose real wish is the classic postcard canyon — that is the South Rim, a different place and a different day.
The wider line-up sits under Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas and Hoover Dam and Lake Mead tours.
