What a Bryce Canyon day trip costs
The two Bryce and Zion day trips we recommend cost ~$219 and ~$229 per person, and the gap in price is smaller than the gap in what you get. One packs lunch into the fare, the other nearly doubles your hours in the parks. Then come the costs no listing totals for you, from the tip to the $100 per park that visitors from abroad now pay. This guide adds it all up, tour by tour.
Eight tours on one bill
The table shows the regular "from" price per adult for every tour on this site, taking the lower of the two booking sites. Look hardest at the two middle columns, because they show how much of a long day you spend inside the parks rather than in a van seat.
| Tour | From | Length | At Bryce | In Zion | Lunch | Group | Pickup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Park Express (our pick) | ~$219 | 13 h | About 1.5 h | About 40 min | Included | Up to 14 | 15 hotels, from about 4:40 am |
| MarVit Tours | ~$229 | 12–14 h | About 2 h | About 2 h | You buy it at a stop | 13 at most | 200+ hotels on the Strip and near Fremont Street |
| EXP Tours | ~$249 | Under 14 h | About 2 h | About 2 h | At your own cost | 13 at most | Las Vegas |
| National Park Express, private | ~$1,420 | Your pace | Your pace | Your pace | Water and granola bars | Your party only | Your hotel |
| Bryce Canyon Scenic Tours, 3-hour loop | ~$85 | 3 h | 3 h | None | Snacks | Up to 12 | Bryce Canyon City |
| Bryce Canyon Stargazing | ~$59 | 1.5 h | 1.5 h after dark | None | Hot drinks | Not listed | Optional shuttle near Bryce |
| Jupiter Legend, Zion only | ~$148 | 12 h | None | Most of the stop time | Deli lunch included | 13 at most | Las Vegas |
| Empire Vacations, 3 days | ~$590 | 3 days | A few hours | A few hours | Meals extra | Minibus | Meets at the Luxor |
Only the first two pair a full Bryce and Zion day from Las Vegas with a long review record, which is why they lead our side-by-side comparison. The other rows are there for scale, and several belong to a different kind of trip.
What our pick includes
National Park Express's boutique tour, from ~$219, is the most complete package of the lot. The fare covers a custom Mercedes Sprinter with leather seats and WiFi, plus a guide who doubles as your photographer. Water comes as two bottles. Lunch is a deli turkey sandwich box with a granola bar, eaten as a picnic above the hoodoos, and park entry is included for US residents. Pickups start around 4:40 am at 15 hotels, with a 5:15 am departure from Treasure Island and a 13-hour day ahead.
The catch sits in the itinerary. Bryce gets about 1.5 hours for a rim walk and a guided zigzag down the Navajo trail. Zion is briefer still, a pause of roughly ten minutes for photos of Checkerboard Mesa and half an hour around the visitor center, and reviewers grumble about the Zion time more than anything else. Add it up and you spend roughly 2 hours 10 minutes inside the parks.
Where MarVit puts the money
MarVit Tours' small-group day, from ~$229, costs a few dollars more on GetYourGuide and gives you about twice the park time, roughly 2 hours at Bryce followed by about 2 hours in Zion. The air-conditioned van takes 13 guests at most, and the bottled water is unlimited. US residents' park entry is included. Pickups cover 200+ hotels on the Strip and around Fremont Street, with starts around 6–6:30 am, though a pickup off the Strip costs extra.
Lunch is where MarVit saves. The van stops somewhere you can buy a meal, so budget for it. The tour also carries a handful of one-star reviews on Viator inside its 4.6 average from 157, while its fans praise guides such as Anthony.
Twice the park time for a little more
MarVit Tours gives Bryce and Zion roughly two hours apiece, in a van that never carries more than 13, from ~$229. Lunch is bought at a stop. Both sites refund in full up to 24 hours ahead.
Price per hour in the parks
Divide each fare by the time you actually spend inside Bryce or Zion and the order flips. National Park Express charges ~$219 for about 2 hours 10 minutes in the parks. MarVit charges ~$229 for about 4 hours, close to half the cost per park hour, before you pay for its lunch. A low ticket price does not guarantee good value, and a higher one does not guarantee more time in the parks.
The extras follow the same logic. Jupiter Legend's Zion tour, from ~$148, is the lowest fare on this page for a full day inside a national park. Over its 12 hours you walk the Canyon Overlook Trail and eat a deli lunch in Zion. Its catch is blunt, since it never goes to Bryce at all. EXP Tours' small group, from ~$249, copies MarVit's 2 hours in each park for 13 guests at most. Lunch is on you, though. With only 18 reviews, the listing also has a thin record beside the main two.
What the fare leaves out
- Tips. Neither main tour includes them, and US guides expect them. Some operators suggest a tip of 15 to 20 percent on top of the fare;
- The non-resident park fee. Travelers from abroad who are 16 or older now owe $100 each at every park, which makes $200 for the two parks together. One $250 non-resident annual pass covers up to four adults instead. Children 15 and under pay nothing. Park fees and the non-resident surcharge shows when each option wins;
- Lunch on MarVit. One meal at the stop, plus whatever you want to snack on in the van;
- Small spending. Drinks and souvenirs at the breaks add up over a 13-hour day.
A family of four, added up
Take two parents and two children aged 10 and 13, all US residents. On National Park Express they pay four times ~$219 plus tips, and the fare already covers lunch and park entry. On MarVit they pay at most four times ~$229 on GetYourGuide, less if Viator's child rates come in lower for the date, and then buy four lunches. MarVit takes no children under 4, per its GetYourGuide listing.
The same family visiting from abroad adds the park fee for the two parents only, since both children are under 16. Paying park by park, that comes to $400. One $250 non-resident annual pass covers both parents, so it saves $150 on this trip alone. Our family guide lists the age rules tour by tour, and a family that would rather have its own van can price one in our look at private vans.
A car against a tour
A rental can look cheaper on paper. You pay for the car and the gas for a round trip of roughly 550 miles (885 km), plus $35 per vehicle at each park, valid for seven days. That makes $70 in gate fees for Bryce and Zion together. For a group of four it usually undercuts any tour. For a solo traveler it often does not, and the driver spends 9–10 hours at the wheel. Our drive-or-tour comparison weighs the miles against the money.
Two booking sites, two prices
The same seat costs different money on GetYourGuide and Viator. When we compared them, National Park Express cost ~$219 on GetYourGuide against about $234 on Viator, and MarVit ~$229 against about $264. Viator does list discounted child rates for MarVit, so a family should price both sites for its date.
Either main tour can be canceled at no charge until 24 hours ahead, and either site will hold a seat now with payment later. That helps on a trip to a rim above 8,000 ft (2,400 m), where weather can flip the order of the parks. Viator says National Park Express is booked about 34 days ahead on average and MarVit about 41, so hold a seat early. Our month-by-month timing guide covers the seasons, and the Zion half of the day gets a page of its own.