Looking for things to do in Las Vegas, beyond the convention center? From major attractions to some of the best shows and restaurants in the world, Sin City is full of amazing, make-your-mouth-drop happenings. So, be sure to make some time to explore this year’s host city:
Place your bets. With one foot in the past and one in the future, the 50-year-old Caesars Palace remains an icon of classic Vegas decadence. Caesars is one of the last old-school properties remaining, and few Las Vegas casinos can match it for atmosphere. However, before you hit the table games, poker room or baccarat pit, bone up on the subject; the Gamblers General Store in Downtown Vegas has a library of how- to gaming books, as well as gifts. If poker’s your game, head to the Bellagio, where you might see some of the world’s top players in action, or to Downtown’s legendary Golden Nugget where you can match your skills with anonymous, grizzled veterans who look like they haven’t left their seat at the table in decades. If you’d rather stick to slots or video poker, head to the Palms or the off-Strip Gold Coast or Circus Circus, both of which offer great people-watching opportunities and glimpses of Vegas’ vintage past.
See the world. Many of the more preposterously themed hotels in Vegas pay homage to notable locales around the world that would seem tacky anywhere else than here. You want Paris and the Eiffel Tower? Try Paris Las Vegas. Venice? There are gondolas and a St. Mark’s Square at the Venetian. Head to Bellagio for a replica of Italy’s Lake Como. The Big Apple? New York New York has the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park and more.
Get into the ‘spirits’ of Sin City. The most striking thing that sets the Strip’s bars apart from most watering holes elsewhere is the sheer number of bottles. Cocktail connoisseurs should head to the Downtown Cocktail Room, where specialty drinks are rated on a level of 1 (“very approachable” ) to 5 (“advanced palate” ). Wine drinkers should set their sights on Aureole, where the bottles are housed in a four-story wine tower that requires harnessed “wine angels” to retrieve them. Speaking of angels, if you like to imbibe while taking in a view from the heavens, visit the Level 107 Lounge on the 107th floor of the Stratosphere, with a smattering of signature cocktails, top-shelf liquors, and beer and wine. On the other end of the heaven-hell spectrum (and conveniently located just a few blocks down the Strip) is the Peppermill Fireside Lounge, with its cozy fire pit and world-famous 64-ounce libation, the Scorpion, which is said to pack quite a sting.
Visit an offbeat museum. The one-of-a-kind, often terrifying Atomic Testing Museum pulls back the curtain on the Nevada Test Site and the state’s history as a nuclear-weapons guinea pig. Downtown, organized-crime buffs will love the Mob Museum, which details the mafia’s involvement with Sin City’s rise. If you want a visual tour through Vegas history, head to the Neon Museum on the north end of the Strip, where signs, lights and other Sin City architectural artifacts are preserved. Aficionados of old-school arcade games should visit the peculiarly beautiful Pinball Hall of Fame, where you can admire – and play – more than 150 operational pinball machines.
Dine mountainside on the Strip at Steve Wynn’s man-made wonder. From the outside, the Wynn Lake of Dreams looks like a small, tree-covered hill, but inside the resort, maverick mogul Steve Wynn has created an Alpine-like getaway, complete with a 150-foot mountain, 40-foot waterfall and old foliage repurposed from the site’s original Desert Inn golf course. Enjoy an evening meal on the terraces at SW Steakhouse or Lakeside, or a cocktail at Parasol Down, and watch as the lake comes alive in brilliant hues, with the aid of more than four thousand lights, holographic images and music for a diverting multimedia experience.
Tour the Strip for less than $10. Ride one of the city’s pimped-out double-decker buses that troll the Strip all the way to Downtown and back. Known as the Deuce, these buses come cheap at $6 for a two-hour ride or $8 to hop on and off all day. Twenty bucks will get you a three-day pass.
Rise above the Stratosphere. There are two reasons to follow Las Vegas Boulevard as far north as Sahara Avenue. One is Bonanza Gifts, which claims to be the “world’s largest gift store,” and offers a pleasantly kitschy ride back in time to the Route 66 era. A very different ride is in store if you head north along the boulevard to the tower where all the shrieks are coming from. Stratosphere, the tallest building in Nevada, has at its summit a quartet of thrill rides: Big Shot, X-Scream, Insanity: The Ride and SkyJump – all as terrifying as they sound.
Have an adventure. If betting your life’s savings on “red” on the roulette table isn’t heart-pounding enough for you, go to where the real thrill-seekers hang. A trip to Vegas no longer automatically means an indoor vacation in smoky, windowless buildings. The desert surrounding the city offers ample opportunity to get away from the hotel-casino action and create some white-knuckle adventures of your own. Want your own Top Gun experience? Visit Sky Combat Ace where you have a chance to fly your own two-passenger plane. If actual “hands-on-the-controls” sounds a little too interactive for you, the stomach-churning drops on the zip-lines at Flightlinez Bootleg Canyon might serve you better – you only need strap yourself in and ride. Other adventures abound, whether you prefer simulated combat experience, like the sort provided at Battlefield Vegas, or tearing through the desert basin on an ATV.
Take in a water-based show. The most eye-catching attraction at the Bellagio, a supersize, all-American Italian villa, is the signature dancing fountains. The geysers – more than 1,200 in all – are nestled in the eight-and-a-half acre lake in front of Bellagio on the Strip. They erupt every half-hour beginning at 3:00 p.m. and every 15 minutes from 8:00 p.m. until midnight. Consider the fountains a free appetizer for Bellagio’s main attraction: Cirque du Soleil’s most sophisticated show, O, comprises more than 70 swimmers, divers, aerialists, contortionists and clowns performing acrobatic feats around a pool/stage containing 1.5 million gallons of water.
Go on a bar crawl. There’s no shortage of deeply off-kilter places to raise a glass in Las Vegas, but the Mermaid Bar & Lounge at Silverton is the most extraordinary. Sip cocktails in the company of silver-finned fish-women – the Mermaid Lounge features a bar that faces an underwater tank populated by its aquatic namesake. If mermaids (and a few drinks) don’t put you in a Las Vegas state of mind, nothing says “Sin City” like a Polynesian hallucinations and a headful of rum. You’re likely to find both at Frankie’s Tiki Room toward the northern end of the Strip, a colorful, local dive that will open a whole new Vegas dimension for you. If going off-Strip is too outré for you, enjoy your weirdness in safer but endlessly fascinating watering holes like the Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.
See a show. There is no easier way to let the fun flow over you than taking in a show while in town. With eight Cirque du Soleil shows and dozens of other options around the area, hitting up one of the city’s production shows is one of the most popular activities for Vegas visitors. There are plenty of excellent choices, including Blue Man Group’s rhythmic take on alienation at the Luxor, or Penn & Teller’s magic secrets revealed at Rio. Or catch the smash-hit Four Seasons musical, Jersey Boys – one of the city’s most enduring Broadway shows – at Paris Las Vegas.
Take a break from the Strip. Suffering from sensory overload? Rancho Drive, northwest of town, offers a different side of old Vegas. Take the bus as far as U.S. 95 to the historic Las Vegas Springs Preserve, a huge site given over to botanical gardens, nature trails and museum exhibits. It takes a while to adjust the eyes to the unwonted green. If you’d like to push farther into the wild, head out to Mt. Charleston, just 30 miles northwest of the city. The summer months afford brilliant hiking trails in a climate much cooler in Las Vegas.
Hang with the Downtown crowd. Fremont Street, east of the Strip, is Vegas’ new and evolving hip, urbane neighborhood. What was once a blighted and dangerous stretch of road has become home to gobs of trendy bars, restaurants, shops and even independent bookstores as Downtown is reinvigorated. Swill cocktails at the Beauty Bar or the nearby indie-rock joint Griffin. The recently reopened Atomic Liquors – which used to host viewing parties on its roof for atomic-bomb test-detonations – is ground zero for where old Vegas meets new.
Lounge around. Lounge acts have been a staple of Las Vegas entertainment since the original paint was drying on the Flamingo. No doubt the pinnacle of Vegas lounges has long since passed, but there are still many “lounging” options around the city. That means you’ll want to edify yourself at one of these local institutions. At Harrah’s, head to the Piano Bar for Peter Vallee’s not-to-be-missed Fat Elvis impersonation, or, for the more upscale-minded among you, the vibe at Lily Bar & Lounge at Bellagio is like a low-key nightclub. The part-Elton-John-owned lounge Fizz, right off the casino floor in Caesars Palace, feels intimate but not crowded, and is an excellent spot to view some amazing artwork – displayed on every visible wall inside – while grabbing a cocktail.
Don’t go hungry. Las Vegas’ days of cheap, uninspired buffets and shrimp cocktail are long gone. (For the most part. You can still get an excellent shrimp cocktail at Du-Par’s in the Golden Gate.) Dining options here rival the finest culinary cities in the world, due in large part to the influx of celebrity-chef-helmed restaurants over the last two decades, beginning with Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in 1992. In the years since, Joël Robuchon, Nobu Matsuhisa, Daniel Boulud and many other top-kitchen contenders have opened one or more restaurants here, including L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Nobu, and DB Brasserie. Menus range from high-end steak-and-seafood to unparalleled Asian dishes to pitch-perfect Italian, French or Indian offerings – and everything else besides. The rising culinary tide has lifted diners’ boats across the Vegas Valley, as the increased competition has stepped up the food game in all corners of the city, with even the lowliest strip mall housing a potentially amazing restaurant. If you want to get away from the larger, more crowded establishments, you can’t go wrong at Thai heaven Lotus of Siam or Downtown’s breakfast and lunch joint, Eat.
