Las Vegas - Sightseeing

Las Vegas is a town where anything’s possible. Visit Paris, the Pyramids or Venice...without even leaving The Strip. Take in Broadway shows, enjoy thrill rides on a par with Florida or enjoy sizzling shopping and entrancing entertainment.

Shopping

Most of the action takes place on 'The Strip' - that glittering procession of malls, casinos, hotels and restaurants. Las Vegas, as you'd expect, is home to some of the most staggering shopping malls in America - almost all located on Las Vegas Boulevard. At over 40,000 square feet, the Bonanza Gift Shop bills itself as the world's largest. We're not sure about that - but it's certainly huge; all manner of Las Vegas paraphernalia can be purchased here.

For gifts of an altogether classier nature, The Shoppes (at the elegant Palazzo Hotel) is a procession of big-name brands and national department stores such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Barneys New York and Jimmy Choo. The Grand Canal Shoppes is another upscale collection of designer names, inside the Venetian hotel, and is beautifully linked together by a convincing Venetian canal network.

The Appian Way shops at Caesars Palace offer a glitzy roll-call of jewellers, apparel stores, gift shops and art galleries - and this being Vegas, baby, a life size replica of Michelangelo's David - while the Castle Walk shops, at Excalibur, have live medieval jousting to entertain the shoppers!

The Wynn Esplanade’s Encore Esplanade is jam-packed with ultra-swish, cutting edge fashions and classic labels such as Chanel.

For the ultimate fashion experience, Fashion Mall stages daily catwalk fashion shows on a runway plunging through the heart of the shopping avenues.

Venetian shopping, at the Venetian Hotel's faithful recreation of Venice, complete with canals, the Bridge of Sighs and gondolas, is delightful - and nowhere near as expensive as in the Italian tourist hotspot.

Miracle Mile is a 1.2 mile retail/entertainment complex right at the centre of the action. It’s home to all your favourite brands, from French Connection to H&M, and great American brands such as the cosmetics giant Sephora and Bloomingdales.

Sights and Attractions

The Bellagio hotel is home to a graceful dancing fountains display which gets the crowd ooh-ing and ahh-ing every night, while inside there’s a stunning art gallery, Mediterranean-inspired pool and shopping mall.

Gameworks is an interactive game zone featuring the very latest computer-games technology and 3D-immersive ‘shoot ‘em ups’. An ideal break from the slots - and great for kids. (3785 Las Vegas Boulevard).

The intriguingly-named Lake of Dreams is a secluded three-acre lake surrounded by tropical plantations and steamy rain-forest. The lake is home to a lovely water and light show complete with plenty of bars and restaurants scattered around it to enjoy it all from.

The Eiffel Tower Experience at Paris Las Vegas Hotel features a breathtaking panoramic view of the Las Vegas Strip from 460 feet above ground. There’s a restaurant, mall and, of course, casino hidden within the tower’s base.

The Lion Habitat at the MGM grand is home to African lions and cubs, and offers great vantage points, thanks to its 35 foot high glass viewing galleries. For underwater thrills, the Shark Reef at Mandalay is a 1.6million gallon undersea ocean of sharks, tropical fish, sting rays and weird and wonderful creatures from the deep.

Plenty of hotels offer day passes to their pools and ‘beach clubs’ - perfect for a change of scenery and a relaxing afternoon in the sun. One of the best is the 11 acre Mandalay Bay Beach which offers swimming pools, 2,700 tonnes of real sand, a lazy river and a beachside casino (naturally!). Another good spot, and perhaps more fun, is the MGM Grand’s water park complete with slides and chutes galore.

The NASCAR Entertainment Center, at the Sahara Hotel, is home to the biggest and best roller coasters in town and being NASCAR, plenty of virtual racing car simulators.

But for real-life thrills, head to the top of The Stratosphere Tower. At over 900 feet high, the tower is home to four extreme thrill rides: The SkyJump, The Big Shot, The X Scream and Insanity. The X Scream offers a roller coaster ride stopping 29 feet over the edge of the tower and 866 feet from the ground below. Not for the faint-hearted, we think!

The Volcano at The Mirage hotel erupts, like clockwork, every hour: from 6pm - 11pm, launching a fiery smoke and flame crescendo 100 feet into the air.

The Star Trek Experience (due to open Downtown in 2011) is a multi-million dollar interactive exhibit and visitor ‘experience’ featuring a Klingon Encounter, a simulator ride and the BORG Invasion 4D special-effects show.

Freemont Street is a covered arcade with a lightshow arcing overhead, displaying state-of-the-art projections and dazzling illuminations, for free, all day and on one of the largest screens anywhere in the world. The street is lined with some of the city’s best-known casinos, hotels and restaurants too.

The Venetian is another opulent hotel with more than its fair share of thrills and visitor attractions. Take a ride along the Grand Canal in a Venetian gondola and in true Vegas style the gondola is motorised, passing under bridges, cobbled lanes and shopping arcades – with the option of being serenaded while you travel!

From sports to spas, there's a lot more to Vegas than The Strip and the slots. Expect a packed calendar of American football, baseball, golf, boxing and wrestling events throughout the year. There are in fact 55 golf courses in the area and spas (such as the luxurious Spa at Red Wood) are sensational. The latest addition, The Bathhouse at Mandalay Bay Hotel, is an ultra-modern retreat with a wide array of pampering treatments available. Take a trip out to the Nevada desert though if you really want to feel rejuvenated and alive - it's surprisingly close at hand. Plus the view back to Las Vegas, coming alive at dusk, will stay with you forever.