Las Vegas, Nevada — Where to Go
Las Vegas Sightseeing Overview
While most cities have particular entertainment districts for tourists to visit among other attractions, Las Vegas is one giant entertainment district. Las Vegas Boulevard (the central attraction for this 24-hour city) runs through the heart of Downtown, in the north of the city, and turns into the Strip, in the south.
The city is divided into two halves - Downtown and the Strip. Downtown (known as ‘Glitter Gulch' for the bright neon signs and millions of flashing lights) is the living embodiment of old Las Vegas. Here, the vintage-style hotels, casinos, stage shows and strip joints are joined by the new Fremont Street Experience Mall.
Further south, the Strip is home to the latest, biggest and most ambitious casinos, many of which verge on being mini theme parks.
Las Vegas Tourist Information
Las Vegas Visitor Information Center
3150 Paradise Road
Tel: (702) 892 0711 or 1 877 847 4858.
Website: www.lvcva.com
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1700.
Key Attractions in Las Vegas, Nevada
Wynn Las Vegas
Erected on the spot where once stood the legendary Desert Inn, one of Las Vegas' newest landmarks is the glamorous Wynn Las Vegas. The latest property developed by Vegas casino kingpin Steve Wynn opened its doors in 2005. Sheathed in coppery bronze reflecting the desert sun, this 42-story, 78-hectare (192-acre), US$2.7 billion megaresort boasts a 10,000-sq-m (110,000-sq-ft) casino, an 18-hole professionally designed golf course and a fine art gallery. The centerpiece of the resort is a 46m- (150ft-) high mountain with a five-story waterfall cascading into a man-made lake.
3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 770 7000 or 1 877 321 9966.
Website: www.wynnlasvegas.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Bellagio
Cashing in on the recent trend towards Euro-opulence, the Bellagio sits on its own four-hectare (10-acre) ‘oasis', featuring a mock northern Italian village on the shore, behind which looms the bulking mass of the large hotel. The hotel offers 3,200 rooms and suites, 17 restaurants, six lounges, botanical gardens and six Mediterranean pool settings. Its 9,000-sq-m (100,000-sq-ft) casino features over 2,000 slot machines and electronic games and over 100 table games. The Bellagio also has a fine art gallery, as well as a 9,000-sq-m (100,000-sq-ft) glass-encased shopping mall.
3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 693 7111 or 1 888 987 6667.
Website: www.bellagio.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Fremont Street and The Fremont Street Experience
Located Downtown, near the Plaza Hotel, Fremont Street is a favorite flocking ground for the city's tourists. Ten casinos, over 60 restaurants and countless bars and lounges offer Old Las Vegas style enticement. Peddlers sell silver jewelry and crafts from their pushcart stalls by day and night, when Fremont Street comes alive with The Fremont Street Experience. Perched nearly 30m (90ft) above Fremont Street is a hi-tech overhead light and sound show stretching for five blocks over 425m (1,400ft) composed of one of the world's largest and longest LED screens. Fremont Street is open 24 hours with shows starting at 2030, running hourly between 2100 and 2400.
425 Fremont Street
Website: www.vegasexperience.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
MGM Grand
Since its completion in 1993, the MGM Grand has held the title of largest hotel in the world, with over 5,005 rooms. Its Grand Garden Arena has also become one of the key venues for boxing matches in the USA. The casino area alone is 15,300 sq m (170,000 sq ft). Other features include 15 restaurants, a coffee shop, a food court with five lounges, two showrooms, two wedding chapels, five pools including a flowing river pool, a lion habitat, a dance club and shopping complex. The MGM Grand is also a main terminal station for the Las Vegas Monorail.
3799 Las Vegas Blvd S
Tel: (702)891 7777 or 1 800 929 1111.
Website: www.mgmgrand.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours (hotel and casino); daily 1100-2200 (lion habitat).
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Caesars Palace
An old denizen of the Strip, Caesars Palace possesses more Las Vegas character than many of its newer neighbors. It sits in a lavish Roman setting, perhaps the historical theme best suited to this city of excess, with Roman columns, grand staircases, manicured shrubbery, imported marble statuary and luxuriant fountains. Its two main casinos, measuring a total of 12,050 sq m (129,750 sq ft), feature all the regular games, as well as an ‘empire' of slot machines. Recent additions to the property include the Colosseum, a high-limit slot salon The Palace Court Slot Casino and the all-suites Augustus Tower.
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 731 7110 or 1 866 227 5938.
Website: www.caesarspalace.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Mirage
Of all the mega-casinos that line the Strip, the Mirage provides the biggest outdoor spectacle. The evening sees queues of people taking in the artificial volcano that erupts every 15 minutes from 19.00-24.00. The setting is completed by a lagoon with 54 waterfalls that flow down the side of the volcano. As visitors go inside, they enter an indoor tropical rainforest, a dolphin habitat and a saltwater tropical aquarium. The hotel also boasts a pool and spa, eight restaurants, four lounge bar areas, a white tiger habitat, Shadow Creek golf course and the casino, which features over 2,000 slot machines.
3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 791 7111.
Website: www.mirage.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino
This US$2 billion addition to Las Vegas is yet another complex to cash in on a European theme. To some, it was a tragedy to see the demolition of the historic Sands Hotel and Casino to make way for this hotel, but no effort was spared in creating the Venetian. Much of the complex features canals, on which gondolas carry visitors up and down. The 10,800-sq-m (120,000-sq-ft) casino, featuring 2,500 slot machines and 122 table games, sits behind a replica of the Doge's Palace. The complex has 18 restaurants, four pools and a fitness center.
3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 414 1000.
Website: www.venetian.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
Las Vegas Natural History Museum
The Las Vegas Natural History Museum brings the natural world of local Nevada wildlife to life, as well as dinosaurs, marine life and more, through exhibits, displays and live exhibitions. The museum's dinosaur exhibit features mechanical dinosaurs, including a 10m (35ft) long Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as exhibits detailing the evolution of life. The Wild Nevada Room explores the diversity of life from the state's own Mojave Desert. Replicas include rattlesnake, bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and burrowing rodents. The museum also has live animals on display, such as a gopher snake, a tarantula, a boa constrictor and scorpions.
900 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Downtown
Tel: (702) 384 3466.
Website: www.lvnhm.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1600.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Further Distractions
Liberace Museum
The Liberace Museum, considered one of the best museums in Las Vegas, offers a view of the city's cultural history by focusing on one of its most infamous entertainers. Liberace became an extremely prominent musician in America and nowhere were his dazzling costumes and stage sets more at home than in Las Vegas. The museum is divided into two galleries. The first houses 18 of his 39 pianos (including his own Rhinestone-covered Baldwin piano and a rare, early English grand piano from 1788) as well as his car collection. The second houses costumes, props and candelabra.
1775 East Tropicana Avenue
Tel: (702) 798 5595.
Website: www.liberace.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1600.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park
This low-key attraction lends a sense of what Las Vegas was like before gambling took over. Located north of Downtown, Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park is the site of the original adobe fort used by the first Mormon settlers. Built by missionaries from Salt Lake City in 1885, the fort was abandoned a year later, due to the harsh conditions. A shed is the only remaining original building but the rest of the site has been reconstructed. Rangers are on hand to provide interpretation and information. The museum is closed from mid October to mid May.
500 East Washington Avenue
Tel: (702) 486 3511.
Website: www.parks.nv.gov/olvmf.htm
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1630.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Aboretum
Situated on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, the university's Xeric garden includes examples of unique plants from arid regions from around the world. Although springtime is the best time to experience the delicate beauty of the desert, many of the species in the garden bloom at different times of the year.
Arboretum Office, 4505 Maryland Parkway
Tel: (702) 895 3392.
Website: www.unlv.edu/facilities/landscape/visit
Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
Offers a glimpse of more than 225 species of birds, as well as being an oasis in which to stroll or have a picnic. There are trails with observation areas and benches from which to observe the desert wildlife. The preserve is open daily 0600-1500 (last entry at 1445) and entrance is free. Visitors are asked to punch in a code (listed at the gate), and security will open the door.
350 E.Galleria Drive, Henderson
Tel: (702) 267 4180.
Website: www.cityofhenderson.com
Opening hours: Daily 0600-1400 (March-May); daily 0600-noon (June-Aug); daily 0600-1400 (Sept-Nov); daily 0700-1400 (Dec-Feb).
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
