Take a tour of the mighty Hoover Dam, where you'll explore the inside of the dam, walk through a 250-foot-long tunnel and view the 650-foot-long Nevada wing of the power plant. You’ll also enjoy a 90-minute cruise, including lunch, aboard a paddle wheeler on Lake Mead.
Begin your Hoover Dam tour with pickup in a luxury motor coach from your Las Vegas hotel. At Hoover Dam, you’ll take the Discovery Tour and have time to explore the exhibits on your own.
While exploring on your own, head to the Theater Level, where there are murals, maps, photos and other displays that provide an introduction to the Hoover Dam. Watch a short presentation, "How the West was Won," that showcases the part that the Bureau of Reclamation played in taming the rivers, settling the West and growing the country’s food.
Next, you’ll visit the power plant generators on the guided Discovery Tour. To get there, you'll take the large elevators 500 feet down into the walls of the Black Canyon to walk through a 250-foot-long tunnel and view the 650-foot-long Nevada wing of the power plant and its eight huge generators. Stand on top of it at the Penstock Viewing Platform, where you can view one of the four 30-foot-diameter pipes that transport nearly 90,000 gallons of water each second from Lake Mead to the hydroelectric generators in the powerhouse.
After the Discovery Tour, visit the Exhibit Gallery, which highlights some of the natural history of the region and presents a picture of how the Hoover Dam was constructed and how it presently operates. From the Dam Overlook, you can soak in the beautiful panoramic view of the Dam, Lake Mead and the Colorado River.
Then it’s time to leave the heights of Hoover Dam and head down to the water’s level. At Lake Mead Marina, you’ll board the Desert Princess paddle-wheel steamboat for an approximate 90-minute cruise on Lake Mead. You’ll enjoy your deli-style lunch on board as you travel along Lake Mead and admire new views of Hoover Dam.
Depending on local traffic, a 10-15 minute stop will be made at the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign for photo opportunities.
Bonus Offer! All paying passengers will receive a voucher allowing admission to Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino for up to four (4) passengers. All tickets are subject to a $5 service fee payable at the time of redemption. Please note: Offer is subject to change.
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We had a great time the tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny he made the trip fun, the cruise was very relaxing with beautiful scenery.
Review by: Carol R, July 2018
The tour was very interesting. The cruise was very beautiful and informative. Unbelievable to view the dam up close and personal.
Review by: Jeritucson, July 2018
Had a great time. Hover Dam was very interesting. Really liked the bridge walk over the dam. Sorry it was so windy so we couldn’t do the boat ride on lake Meade.
Review by: cjoudry, July 2018
We booked this trip thru Grayline and from start to end, we had an amazing time.Our driver Mark was very, very knowledgeable about the entire area. Bus terminal was very organized and professional. The tour at Hoover Dam itself was wonderful. I highly recommend the tour with Grayline.
Review by: Tahlia O, June 2018
Hoover Dam was very interesting and the Lake Mead cruise was great.
Review by: Barbara P, June 2018
It was a really bad trip. Paid all this money, did not get to see the inside of the Hoover Dam, as was told. The _br/_ deli lunch on the boat was so bad, I had to buy my own meal. Bad, bad, bad all the way around. IT was a hurry up and wait to see what you could not see. What a joke! 99 per person 11 all total: rode the bus, made several stops. Got to Dam, looked around the visitor center, went to the bathroom, drank water, seen a short clip of the Dam, stood on the bridge then got back on bus to drive back to room. Horrible time especially for the grandkids. I could have rented a Van, drove to the Dam, walked around then drove to Lake Mead Marina, bought the tickets and saved over 400. Very disappointing trip all the way around.
Review by: Nicole R, May 2018
Amazing Tour!
Review by: Dee, April 2018
Terrible. Never again. We were confirmed for an 8:30 AM bus pick up. At 8:20 my friend realized she had left something in the room. She ran up to get her item. At 8:25 the bus pulls up and asked my name. I told him and also informed him that my friend would be down in 5 minutes. He yelled at me and said You better call her and tell her to come down now, I am late. I have to be at the Stratosphere at 8:25 AM. I said, she is coming. It is still not 8:30 yet at this point. He then said If I have to leave you here I will. I told him that was fine, as already my day started out terribly. My friend made it to the bus by 8:29, still a minute to spare from our 8:30 CONFIRMED pick up time. The tour itself was not that great. The Lake Cruise was nice, but we were served sandwiches. Nothing extraordinary. I was really looking forward to the Ethel M chocolate tour, which we could not go to because of mechanical bus issues. Overall, for the money spent and the length of the trip, it is not worth it. To me it was a waste of time and most of the day is spent on the bus picking people up and dropping them off.
Review by: barnsley07, April 2018
Very good tour. After collection we were taken to the companies booking office to register and be assigned coaches. At the site, after a painless journey we collected our tickets to go down into the dam itself. A short movie presentation started the trip, then we were taken down into the inside of the dam itself. After seeing the water pipes and generating room it was up top for photos and a walk across the dam. Next stop was Lake Mead and a cruise on the paddle steamer and lunch. Great views are afforded of the dam from the water and how much water level had lowered over the years. All to soon it was back to the coach and hotel. Comment must be made about our driver Ziggy who kept us entertained on the way.
Review by: Ron R, April 2018
My wife and I took this trip on 4/4/18. We were picked up at our hotel Golden Nugget about 20 minutes late, which was no big deal. We were then transported to Gray Lines hub from which all their Las Vegas tours originate after making several stops along the way for other guests. We heard other guests complain that they had been waiting for an hour. At the hub, we got on the bus for our tour and first stopped at the welcome to Las Vegas sign for a photo op and then went to Hoover Dam. It was extremely busy at the Dam that day and we only had 2 hours which was not enough as it took almost 1 hour to wait in lines to get through security and watch the movie, which apparently you have to see before going on the tour. We were disappointed with the Hoover Dam experience due to the lack of time we had to visit the dam. Gray line should have allowed for at least an additional hour to tour the Dam and could have done so by leaving the hub at 9:30am instead of 10:30am. We were then late getting to the Lake Mead Cruise but our driver called ahead and they waited for us. We enjoyed the Lake Mead Cruise and light lunch. Afterwards we stopped at a small chocolate factory and cactus garden. The chocolate factory was ok but we enjoyed the cactus garden more. If you want to have sufficient time to experience the Dam, I would not choose this tour. You are probably better off going on your own.
Review by: John T, April 2018
We were really looking forward to this trip but ended up quite disappointed. I rang Gray line to confirm our booking the day before and the lady on the phone was very friendly helpful and efficient. The coach arrived bang on time the following morning, clean and smart with a friendly humorous driver. We were then taken to their depot where we were given a briefing on our tour and directed to the coach for our tour. This was whe the tour took a downward turn. Firstly we were taken to the chocolate factory where we stopped for 30 minutes to see the production line through a glass screen and have the opportunity to visit their cactus garden. Neither were particularly interesting and used up time that could have been later on. After this we proceeded to Lake Mead for the cruise and the chance to view the dam from the lake. On arrival we were shepherded into a shop come cafe area which was packed with around 300 people and left to wait for 30 minutes in stifling heat. When we were let onto the boat there was insufficient seating for all the passengers. A pic nic lunch of ham or turkey club sandwich with a bag of crisps cold drink and a piece of fruit was included and this was excellent. However it was very difficult to eat when your standing on deck with the wind trying to blow the whole lot overboard. As advertised, we were meant to cruise onto the lake and up to the dam for pictures from the lake. All we did though was cruise across the lake and back with no sight of the dam. It appears that it was too windy to approach the dam but we were not informed this on the boat or given any apology for this omission. After being collected from the lake we were taken to the dam. On arrival we were given our tickets for the tour of the dam and told we had 1hour and 50 minutes. We joined the queue for the tour which was 30 minutes or so before the tour actually started. The tour itself was around 30 or so minutes so by the time we came out we had very little time to view the outside area and walk over the dam and take pictures. We got back on the bus at 3:50 and made our way back. The driver of the coach was very knowledgeable about the dam and other areas of the tour but he did not stop talking for the whole journey and we were being given the same information on the coach, boat, damand it really became quite tiring. Summing up, I think the tour could do without the chocolate factory, the stop at the Welcome to Vegas sign, which I forgot to mention, the lake tour if your not going to see the dam and use this time to visit the dam itself. Better still, hire a car and take yourself there, if there's two or more of you there is very little difference in cost.
Review by: Steve M, April 2018
We had a great time, the Hoover Dam was very busy due to Spring break, staff at the park said busiest day of the year. Spent most of our time waiting in line. The content of the tour was great. The cruise was wonderful great views all around. _br/_ The staff @ Grayline Bus company did an outstanding job, very well run. The driver was insightful and fun._br/_ We booked the day before the tour via the phone the staff was helpful and answer all our questions in a friendly manner. _br/_ I would book with them again.
Review by: Kenneth G, April 2018
I would really consider putting an age limit that no kids under 8 should be allowed on the trip. Little kids are loud on the bus and what are they really going to get out of the tour? Our bus driver Jerry was great! The tour at Hoover Dam was awesome._br/_ Also, I would consider dropping the Chocolate Factory at the end of the tour. After a long day it seems unnecessary and a waste of 45 minutes.
Review by: Elizabeth M, March 2018
The paddle boat cruise of Lake Mead and lunch was wonderful, very scenic and relaxing. Our bus driver Mike was great, funny and did his best to keep us on track. The tour of Hoover Dam was terrible. Most of the time we stood in line. I am not sure we ever saw the Dam as did not have time for the Observation deck. We much prefer a day trip with a live guide on board not a recording so we will check for that the next time
Review by: Rachael L, March 2018
Loved this tour. We had added extras which we werent expecting - we stopped at the Vegas sign on the way and Ethel ms chocolate factory with the wonderful cactus garden which we had previously been informed was temporarily closed. The driver was very entertaining. The hoover dam itself is wonderful, well worth visiting even if youve seen it from the sky. We couldnt do the works tour that day as the lifts werent working - but everything else made up for this. The boat trip was lovely and relaxing away from the bright lights of Vegas.
Review by: Lesley anne b, March 2018
Fantastic... Worth every penny
Review by: Cynthia L, March 2018
We found this tour very informative, interesting and beautiful! Our bus driver was excellent! Enjoyed both the dam and Lake Mead Cruise!
Review by: Denise S, February 2018
Guy Fieri, aka Mark, was an excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable and entertaining. Mark provided a lot of information about Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam but also the information about the area was really interesting and helped to make every moment of the trip informative and entertaining. The trip itself was great. The views at Lake Mead alone were worth the price of the ticket. Hoover Dam tour was interesting, probably more interesting for an engineer than it was for me. The size of everything is impressive.
Review by: Victoria F, January 2018
This tour was amazing!
Review by: kat, January 2018
a wonderful, relaxing trip, our tour guide Troy was a right laugh, and good looking too !!! , so he was kept occupied by girl groups wanting photos taking. The paddlesteamer was enjoyable and informative, lunch was ok, considering how hard it is to cater on this type of vessle, more a subway lunch, but puts you on, until you get back to Vegas, the Hoover Dam tour was amazing, and the guides could answer any questions which were fired at them, it was very hot though, so take plenty of water with you, usually provided on your tour buses
Review by: Francene J, December 2017
The Lake Mead portion was fantastic._br/_ The Hoover Dam portion was disappointing because the elevators were not working and I wasn't able to do the tour.
Review by: Linda G, December 2017
Hoover Dam is an amazing engineering marvel. The tour was very informative and the Lake Mead Cruise is very relaxing.
Review by: Elaine B, December 2017
The elevator at Hoover Dam was broken, so except for seeing the outside and walking on top we saw a slideshowcould have seen the same images on the internet, frankly. The people who run the place tried to make it seem like it was an unusual occurrence and it might be fixed at any time so check back before you leave, but other reviews I read of recent trips said they had the same problem. Some of those reviewers said the tour operator had offered a small refund but our driver just said, I told you before you got off the bus that the elevator was broken. And he didbut we were already at the dam. The time to tell us is before we got on the bus in the first place.
Review by: Craig S, November 2017
Very good tour very knowledgeable staff and friendly
Review by: Jud P, November 2017
The Hoover Dam tour was great and I am glad we went. The Lake Mead cruise was really nice and well worth the experience and views. We did have an issue with the bus air conditioning failing for the ride to the Hoover Dam. Gray Line, the bus company, did get us a different bus for the ride back to the Las Vegas Strip. Additionally, you do need to literally plan a full day for this tour. It does take time to get 54 tourists back to their individual hotels when the trip is over.
Review by: Jess, November 2017
This was an awesome tour! We were picked up on time in a coach bus and taken to the boarding station to get the passes for the tour and bused up to the Hoover Dam. Our tour guide was very personable and knowledgeable about the area and the Hoover Dam. You view a 10 minute movie in a theater about the Dam and are taken 500 feet below surface to view the inner-aspects of the Dam very cool! You are then free to explore the Dam, take pictures, visit knowledge center's, etc. The boating portion of our trip was canceled due to mechanical issues we were promptly refunded this portion by Viator so we were bused to a restaurant/casino for lunch which wasn't problematic at all. Not only do you get to site see at the Dam, but also the trip to and from. This is well organized by the company and I highly recommend this deal for anyone interested in a visit. Please do plan about 8 hours for this excursion-we were picked up at 9:00am and dropped off at about 4:30pm. Also, don't forget to tip!
Review by: Debra S, November 2017
The trip is very good but the lunch on the cruise is just a sandwich and packet of crisps and 2.00pm is too late to eat. The Dam tour was fabulous and there was plenty of time to walk across the Dam and take lots of pictures.
Review by: Crystal M, November 2017
Phenomenal I could not soak up all of God's beauty but I tried. Bus driver was really knowledgeable personable and comical. Tour was wonderful.
Review by: sutoz22, October 2017
We were very excited to go to Lake Meade and the Hoover Dam. In particular, my husband was looking forward to going down the elevator to the actual power plant, since he worked on ships in the Navy many yrs. ago. I was also looking forward to the Dessert Princess cruise. Both of these things were cancelled. This was a once in a lifetime trip for us, so we were very much disappointed. Our tour bus driver was very informative and nice, however we also did not go to the Welcome to Vegas sign for pictures.
Review by: donkey, October 2017
The Hoover Dam tour was a great experience, this is a great piece of engineering work that took about five years to construct. The newly bridge over the river spaning 1900 feet is another engineering marvel. The tour of Lake Mead was a pleasant experience. Any visit to Las Vegas should include this wonderful tour.
Review by: bb, October 2017
Hoover Dam part of the tour was wonderful! Our ocomplaint was the pickup was late. Long wait had to call twice to check on arrival. Trip was too long to Hoover Dam. Too many stops. A long day for a Hoover Dam tour. Lake Meade boat portion of tour was cancelled so we missed out on that.
Review by: Stephen R L, October 2017
The Hoover Dam is awesome, but would have liked more time there. The cruise was very nice, informative and about the right amount of time. The stop at the chocolate store seemed to be geared to the bus company making money rather then understanding the process for making chocolate. The pickup at the hotel was good, but the driver dropped many people including us, across the street from their hotels and told people to hurry up in getting off the bus.
Review by: Karen U, October 2017
Very helpful guide and variety of scenery. Damm is neat. We enjoyed the paddle boat cruise and lunch. Chocolate factory was very minimal...best part of that my stop was the adjacent cactus and botanical garden.
Review by: Ola M, October 2017
Great tour. Wear your walking shoes.
Review by: Anne B, October 2017
Excellent trip, pick up at hotel and we were off the strip on Duke Ellington Way. Don't advise just doing the Hoover Dam Tour only as the Lake Mead Cruise makes the day special. Full day including a delightful deli lunch which was excellent, ham or turkey sub with bag of crisps, piece of fruit and drink, awesome! The paddle steamer was brilliant and the cruise was sooooooooooooo relaxing also showed you the Hoover Dam from a different angle on the lake. Would have felt a bit let down if I had only done the Dam as this only takes about 2 hours to see it all and the cruise just made it extra special. Loved every minute. Thank you Viator, perfect.
Review by: Dottyb2009, October 2017
Hooverdam was amazing and enjoyed the cruise was well worth the day thanks Viator
Review by: Bethan G, October 2017
The Hoover Dam was a spectacular sight but the tour didn’t happen and was made out the elevator was down for the day when in actual fact it had been down for weeks! _br/_ The rest of the day was wasted as the boat wasn’t working, which again was told it was just the day, but untrue! Lies and wasted time!
Review by: Kathleen S, October 2017
We really enjoyed our trip to the Hoover Dam. We were a bit disappointed that the escalators were broken and that we couldnt get down to view the power room although we were given 5 refunds because of this. Also the weather was a bit windy and we didnt get into Black Canyon therefore didnt have the opportunity to see the dam from below. It was too dangerous and I can perfectly understand that but it was disappointing.
Review by: Jeff S, October 2017
The good - the bus driver was excellent! Kirklin, was his name I believe. Now the not-so-good. I should have paid more attention to all of the surveys that complained about the boat not working and the cruise being missed! Yup, that happened to us too. But we got a small credit back not felt to be adequate compensation. Then the elevators didnt work at the Hoover Dam, so no tours. This part was not the fault of the tour operator obviously. But very disappointing. Then we were given just 2 hours for exploring. Not sufficient on a busy day, which they admitted to knowing it would be. Then we got to go to lunch because we had an upgraded tour. We were given 1 1/2 hours to eat at a smoke-filled local casino. Not much of a lunch, and we couldnt wait to get out. Oh, but we were there for a long time, Good luck.
Review by: Maria M, October 2017
Daryl was our tour guide through GreyLine. This was a wonderful tour of the Hoover Dam but we were disappointed that the elevators were broke and we could not go down the Dam. The paddle boat ride on Lake Mead was very nice and the lunch was a typical deli sandwich.
Review by: Miles N, October 2017
The tour and Tony, our driver were both excellent. Although this was not the tour's fault, the elevator to the power house was broken and we could not visit that. For me, that was something I have wanted to see for many years and have been told how interesting it was. I think a partial refund should be issued since that part of the tour was unavailable. Other than that, a fun and interesting tour.
Review by: Mark L, October 2017
Our coach driver was entertaining and friendly. The dam was an incredible sight. Only thing that spoilt the tour was that the lifts on the dam were out of action that day so we couldn't do the plant room part of the tour but that was nothing to do with the organisers and couldn't be helped - we were promptly refunded part of cost of the tour because of this. Lake Mead cruise was good, on board packed lunch quite basic but plenty of it. Great views from the boat. Another good tour and worth the cost.
Review by: Susan G, October 2017
Firstly we were disappointed that the cruise was cancelled and then there was a problem with the elevators at the dam so we couldn't take the tour. Not the tour company's fault and we did receive refunds for those parts of the trip but it wasn't what we had been looking forward to. We did enjoy walking across the dam and exploring the visitor centre. Lunch at the Hoover Dam Lodge was fine but then we only had a total of 20 minutes at the chocolate factory and cactus garden which wasn't long enough. Daryl our driver was friendly and the pick up and drop off were fine. We wished afterwards that we had taken the express tour rather than the deluxe.
Review by: Carole B, October 2017
The Hoover Dam tour and Lake Mead Cruise were excellent, the time spent at the Dam was breathtaking, a thrill of a life time . The Lake Mead Cruise was very educational and well-organized however one hour would have been enough. The Ethel M. Chocolate factory tour was too late to see any production going thru the operations of making chocolate, the consolation is that we were giving a one-bite tasting. The Cactus garden was interesting but after seeing the Hoover Dam, not enjoyed as much. The ride back was very long and it had too many stops and in the middle of traffic hour it does not help the driver who was knowledgeable and more, his good humor was certainly a very big asset. Thank you.
Review by: cweatherford85, May 2017
Lake portion was cancelled because boat broke down. This was disappointing as we really hoped to get out on the lake, but they did refund some money. Got picked up at our hotel.Loved going to Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Then had to go to bus terminal to change bus/driver, stayed there too long-approx. 45min or so. need to add benches/stools to sit on while making people wait that long. Bus ride to dam was great, Terrence was an excellent guide and was funny, etc. Tour was wonderful but we felt a bit rushed, didn't have time to walk across dam or take many pictures as we had to get back on bus to go eat lunch. Lunch was good but had to wait to long at that location. Guess they wanted you to spend some money at the casino/shops. Then went to Ethel M chocolate factory and cactus garden. Great place and delicious chocolate._br/_ We must have picked up more passengers at the dam because there were alot more people on the bus then when we came and the drop off took FOREVER. Thought we'd be back by 4-4:30 and it was closer to 6-6:30, especially during rush hour so I wouldn't make any early evening plans.
Review by: Donald W, May 2017
Excellent, high quality tour. Tour guide was friendly and very informative. Bus was immaculate. Check in procedure could be improved.
Review by: Jerome C, May 2017
Great to see but lots of standing in line!
Review by: Jane J, May 2017
The tour of Hoover dam was ok, but not worth the hour and a half we spent calling at what seemed like every hotel in Las vegas before being taken to the checking in point at the tour office.After the trip it also took 90 mins to drop everyone off. The lake Mead Cruise was cancelled as there was a problem with the boat, so we ate an ok lunch in a hotel. We were looking forward to this trip, but felt dissappointed.
Review by: Patricia D, May 2017
On May 9, 2017 I called to confirm or trip to the Hoover Dam and I was told that the portion of the Lake Mead cruise was canceled. They did tell me that I would be upgraded to a different trip with a better lunch. I also was told that I would receive a partial refund. The next day we were pick up by the Gray Line tour bus and brought to their office to be put on the bus to the Hoover Dam. There we were told that the tour down in the inside of the Dam was closed and they gave us each 5.00 for the inconvenience. So we ended up with a self guided tour of the dam. After the tour we stopped for a small lunch. On the way back the driver told us that we were all from 17 different hotels and he would drop each one of us off at our own hotel. We were stop 15 out of 17. It took us almost two and a half hours to drop everyone off. Very long day. The Hoover dam was beautiful, but I feel as though we should have been told that the tour had completely changed long before I called to confirm. The boat had been out of commission for two weeks. Very disappointing.
Review by: Peter C, May 2017
Unfortunately they cancelled the Lake Mead portion of the trip, which I was disappointed about. This tour involves a big group and it took a while for the company to get everyone together at a central location before the tour started. However very professionally run and our bus driver was very good. The Hoover Dam was magnificent. It a magnificent piece of infrastructure on a grand scale. I especially enjoyed going inside the dam to see the generator room. I can recommend this part of the tour. _br/_ Instead of Lake Mead they substituted it with a lunch at some hotel and casino. Lunch was average and little choice. I suggest to any one that has the Lake Mead cruse cancelled on them, that they only do the tour that only does the Hoover Dam, which is really the highlight of the trip.
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