Bus or Car for day trip to Grand Canyon from Las Vegas?

I can鈥檛 decide whether to visit the South Rim from Las Vegas for the day via a tour (bus) company or rental car. I鈥檝e priced the bus trip at about $180 for two people. Car rental is about $30, excluding gas.

My key criteria for selection is time at the Grand Canyon. I have no problem being picked up from my hotel at 8 a.m. and returning to it (in Las Vegas) at 9 p.m. But I鈥檝e heard you can get to the South Rim faster via car, and spend more time there, as opposed to frequent stops by the bus. The only thing that concerns me about rental car is entrance into the Grand Canyon 鈥?I鈥檓 assuming it鈥檚 not expensive to get into the park.

Any suggestions? Any route maps to the Grand Canyon via car.

Grand Canyon South Rim is a beautiful trip.

Pro's and cons:
In the bus, you will have limited time. Usually stopping for around 2 hours.
In a car, you will be able to stay as long or as little as you want.

In the bus, you have a bathroom for the long trip, but you are stuck with what comes aboard.
In a car, you can stop along the many other great locations.

In the bus, gas and entrance fees are included.
In a car, gas is over $3.00 a gallon and entrance to the park is $25.00.

I could go on and on.. but best if you just check out there site:
http://www.nps.gov
Loaded with all the information you need.

I just got back from Vegas on Sunday. Great time, Great weather. Was going to rent a car, but glad that I did not. The traffic was heavy, parking seemed tough. There is so much to see and I enjoyed riding the bus because I was able to look at everything and not have to worry about reading directions and watching the road. I paid the extra money and saved myself the aggravation of driving and I'm glad I did. Enjoy your trip!!

Yes you have more control of time when you drive but then you have to drive and not enjoy the scenery. And, watch the car rental because it will go up because of the mileage to Grand Canyon.

You drive through Boulder City to Kingman to Williams AZ to the Grand Canyon. If you leave your car at Williams you can take a train to the canyon and not worry about parking, etc.

At least in a bus, you don't have to drive and are tired at both ends of the trip, leaving energy for the evening in Vegas.

Visit the South Rim by car. Very beautiful. Parking is no problem.

The biggest issue with the rental car is that you have to pay to park and will be farther away from the Canyon than a bus. If it were my first time, I would take the bus trip.

RENT THE CAR
My dad and I took that trip last year. We rented a car and drove ourselves. I am glad we did this because we had the opportunity to venture out ans see what we wanted to see. Also you can spend as much time at one spot as you like. You can also stop when you want to see other things or to take pics.The drive was about 4 hrs. The only traffic we ran into was leaving Vegas ( about 20 minutes of traffic). We did miss out exit coming back to Vegas, so make sure you have good maps/directions.