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The Strip:
An
official National
Scenic Byway, the Las Vegas Strip welcomes more than 31 million world
travelers each year to experience its only-here blend of excitement, neon
lights, and lavishly landscaped theme
resorts—ranging from a medieval castle, Parisian sidewalk cafe, and a
faithfully-reproduced miniature New York City to a pyramid in ancient
Egypt, an extravagant Roman Forum, and a lakeside Italian
village. As you explore the Strip you'll be delightfully entertained—for
free—by plundering pirates, fiery volcanoes, tropical gardens, fountains
that dance to music, high-wire trapeze artists, and so much more. As great as
it is in the daytime, the Strip is even better at night when millions of
lights combine into a dazzling neon trail. Consider buying a pass on the
Las Vegas Strip Trolley
that travels up and down the Strip; you can get on and off wherever you
like.
»»Touring the Las Vegas Strip
Vegas at Night:
A large part of what makes this town so much fun is the stupendous
assortment of over-the-top clubs, high-concept restaurants, fabulous shows
headlined by superstars, and non-stop action; infuse it with a pervasive,
in-your-face aura of money and luxury, and it forms an exciting, real-life
fantasy in which you are the star. And since just about everybody else you
see is feeling the same way, the atmosphere can get very giddy. That
phrase about "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" really means that much
of what happens here can't happen anywhere else. There is simply no place
else on the planet like this sprawling, brash, wonderful town in the
middle of Nevada's desert. Don't believe it? Take a peek at some of the
nightclubs,
restaurants/famous chefs,
and other entertainments to be
found here.
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Golfing:
With more than 60 courses—many designed by legends like Palmer, Nicklaus,
Jones, Fazio, and Casper—Vegas has gone big-time golf. The city has
hosted stops on some of the world’s major tours, including the LPGA, PGA,
NCAA Championships, and the Seniors Tour. The course variety is stunning.
You can cry "fore!" right on the Strip at luxurious
Wynn Las Vegas (18 holes on contoured
fairways dotted with lush trees, streams, and many water features ) or
Bali Hai (towering palm trees, a great Polynesian feel). In nearby
Henderson, amidst amazing mountain and desert views, Lake Las Vegas is a
golfing cornucopia—two of its many excellent offerings are the Reflection
Bay Golf Club and The Falls at Lake Las Vegas. The long Wolf Course at
Paiute Resort is considered one of the most challenging courses anywhere.
The Royal Links Golf Club accurately recreates famous holes in the British
Islands, including St. Andrews' famous Road Hole (and the clubhouse here
looks like an English castle).
Fremont Street: In the early Vegas years, Fremont Street was
the center of action. In fact, back in 1946, the street's ever-popular Golden Nugget was
the city's first structure designed from the ground up as a casino and hotel.
As decades passed and the major action moved increasingly southwest along
The Strip, downtown fell into decline.
~ The area bounced back dramatically
in the 1990s with the birth of the
Fremont Street
Experience, a sure-fire (and free) extravaganza that wows the
crowds. Simply put, FSE is a 5-block long pedestrian mall covered by a
90-foot-high barrel vault canopy containing the world's biggest screen,
more than 12 million lights, and 550,000 watts of concert quality
sound—all to display the largest light & sound shows on the planet. The
shows, which require 10 computers to operate, begin at dusk and run every
hour.
~ On the surrounding streets you'll find legendary casinos (you have
got to gaze upon the big solid gold nugget at the Golden Nugget), 60+
restaurants, free concerts, special events, roaming street performers, and Vegas Vic, the famous neon cowboy who's watched over Fremont Street since
1951. A fun stop: the Neon Museum,
with its collection of classic neon signs dating back to the 1940s.
Poker:
Thanks to a TV show, The World Series of Poker, the card
game—especially the Texas
Hold 'Em version—has become wildly popular. Vegas figured in poker's
resurgence from the beginning. The World Series got its start at downtown
Binion's Horseshoe in 1970 (it's now filmed at the Rio). Other Vegas TV
tournaments have popped up, including the Celebrity Poker Challenge at the Palms, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace, and the
World Poker Tour (the final tournament is held at the Bellagio). In the
face of such unabashed poker mania, many casinos have re-opened their
poker rooms. Most offer lessons, and they're often free.
The Shopping
Scene: Oh, yeah! If there is one place on earth where that silly "shop
till you drop" phrase makes sense, it is here. Vegas offers so much
shopping—from discount to planet-class—that even the most die-hard
shopaholics can't cram it all in. If you want it, it's here. Period. If you're after the world's top designers, browse
jaw-dropping spots like The Forum at Caesar's Palace (lavish Roman decor);
the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes (a reproduction of Venice's Grand
Canal, including gondolas); and the you-won't-believe-it opulence of Via
Bellagio (Gucci, Hermčs, Armani, Chanel, etc.) or Wynn Esplanade
(Gaultier, de la Renta, Vuitton, and a Ferrari-Maserati dealership). The
most beautiful chocolates in the world can be found at the Bellagio's
Jean-Philippe Pâtisserie. For
bargains, check out the many outlet malls in or near town. And of course
the area contains many "ordinary" shopping malls and independent boutiques.
Museums2:
Like any other city, Vegas has museums. True, some are a bit more kitschy
than you’d find most places... Take the
Liberace Museum, for example;
where else would it be but here? This fascinating, fun place offers
insight into the legendary Mr. Showmanship via his dazzling diamond
jewelry, over-the-top-ornate capes & costumes, rare pianos, and custom
cars. ~
An LV branch of the
Nevada
State Museum offers up Vegas memorabilia (showgirl costumes, Al
Capone's watch) as well as more routine exhibits (Native American baskets,
dinosaur bones).~
The
Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum, housed in a modern gallery space at
the Venetian Resort, is a joint venture between Russia's Hermitage Museum
and New York's Guggenheim Museum; on display are masterworks from these
two great museums.
The
Bellagio Gallery
of Fine Art presents works of art drawn from major international
museums and private collections; past exhibits include Andy Warhol's
Celebrity Portraits, The Impressionist Landscape from Corot to van Gogh,
and Fabergé Treasures from the Kremlin.
~ The
Las Vegas Art Museum
(pictured)
features contemporary art with an international slant, as, for example, a
recent exhibit of paintings by Japanese-born Kaz Oshiro.
~ And then there's
the
King Tut Museum at the Luxor—a faithful reproduction of the
Egyptian king's tomb and outlying rooms when first discovered in Egypt (1922), including statues, vases, pottery, and the sarcophagus.
Measurements were precisely recreated, and the "treasures" were made in
Egypt by craftsmen using 3300-year-old methods.~
And don't overlook the fascinating
Atomic Testing Museum
(just off the Strip on E. Flamingo), with its multimedia overview of the
Cold War and a simulated look at a nuclear test explosion.
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Springs Preserve:
This 180-acre escape, a mere 3 miles from downtown's hustle-bustle, was
once the site of a natural oasis that gave Las Vegas—which means The
Meadows in Spanish—its name. In fact, this site is commonly recognized as
the city's birthplace, and is listed on the
National Register of
Historic Places. The springs no longer exist, but the land, owned
by the local water district, has been transformed into the impressive
Springs Preserve. This
splendid area includes a botanical garden filled with desert
plants, museum galleries, concert/event venues, a theater, and walking
trails that meander past springhouses, a cienega (wetlands), an ancient spring mound, and historic/pre-historic artifacts. The onsite
Café by
Wolfgang Puck offers a panoramic view of the Strip and the surrounding valley.
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Hoover
Dam & Lake Mead: One of the world's great engineering wonders,
Hoover Dam
was completed in 1935. The self-paced "Discovery Tour" can be as
quick/simple or long/complex as you like, with plenty of exhibits,
presentations, viewing platforms, and knowledgeable staffers located along
the tour route. Don't miss the Overlook, which offers a breathtaking
panoramic view of the Colorado River and Lake Mead—the largest man-made
lake in the US and a byproduct of the dam's creation.
~
The
Lake Mead National Recreation
Area actually contains two lakes (the second is Lake Mohave) and
offers endless opportunities for boating, swimming, water skiing,
kayaking or canoeing, sport fishing, paddleboat tours, and shoreline campsites in a beautiful
and rugged setting. The surrounding desert—filled with cactus and
surrounded by towering mountains and sheer-walled canyons—is popular with
hikers, road-trippers, and photographers. A visitor center offers info and
maps, ranger-led tours, exhibits, and a native plant garden. Both Hoover
Dam and the Lake Mead NRA are located about 30 miles southeast of Las
Vegas.
Valley of Fire State Park: Nevada's oldest and largest state park was
named for its jagged, ruggedly-beautiful red sandstone walls—when hit in
certain ways by the sun, the stone seems to dance and flicker like fire
(best times to view this phenom: just after sunset or sunrise). The paved
road at VF State Park
takes you past many geologic wonders such as Rainbow Vista, with its
vari-colored sandstone, and Atlatl Rock, whose excellent petroglyphs date
back centuries. Does it all look familiar? Maybe that's because you've
seen this territory in movies (Total Recall, Star Trek Generations,
and many others). Check at the visitor center for maps, hiking trails, and
related information.
~
A few miles from the Park is the
Lost City Museum of Archeology. This small but terrific museum was built in the 1930s by the National
Park Service to house artifacts excavated from an ancient pueblo before it
was covered by Lake Mead's formation.
You'll see
artifacts from the Anasazai, Paiute, and other civilizations;
historic/geologic exhibits; and an actual archeological site. The museum
building itself is made of sun-dried adobe brick in the pueblo style.
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