Places to see in Las Vegas

Click to see larger pictures The Strip AKA Las Vegas Boulevard One of the two "centers" of the city "The Strip" is a 3.5 miles (6 km) section of Las Vegas Boulevard. Here is where the cluster of "themed" hotels lies, including Luxor, New York New York, Treasure Island, Venetian, Paris and Bellagio. The views are best at night when the lights are on.

Click to see larger pictures New York - Las Vegas style New York New York is one of the most charming casinos in Las Vegas (that is, if you can apply "charming" to a hotel casino). Especially if you have a thing for the real New York (which I do). It's facade recreates the Manhattan skyline, with skyscrapers, an 150-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty and a replica of Brooklyn Bridge. The inside is small (compared with other casinos on the Strip) but that is part of its charm. The casino is dressed as Central Park. If you get hungry you have the Village nearby complete with Bleeker Street and Broadway. And if you like roller coasters "Manhattan Express" comes highly recommended.

Click to see larger pictures Paris - Las Vegas Paris hotel casino adds another landmark to the Las Vegas Strip: a half-scale Eiffel Tower. Everything is mirrored to the smallest details. You can take the elevator to an observation deck at the top and have a view of the entire Strip. The facade also has replicas of Arc de Triomphe, Paris Opera House and the Louvre. At the base of the Eiffel Tower sits the casino, complete with a Pont Alexander III, cobblestone "streets" and cast-iron street lamps. Plenty of French restaurants and stores with French goods complete the picture.

Click to see larger pictures Las Vegas version of Ancient Egypt Luxor hotel/casino is very easy to spot from the Strip because of its unusual pyramid shape (quite a neat building I have to say). It's also very easy to spot at night from miles away because of a beam of light projecting from the pyramid's apex. Inside the hotel, the atrium is impressive because of its sheer size; architectural features are modeled after Ancient Egypt displaying a mix of temples, statues, hieroglyphs etc. At one of the entrances, near the walkway to Excalibur there are two talking camels, so cheesy that they'll make you laugh for half a day.

Click to see larger pictures All things Italian in Las Vegas I didn't get to visit Bellagio until my 4th time in Vegas but I have to say that it's the classiest thing in Vegas. It deserves to be visited on a first trip to Vegas. The fountain shows (free every night at regular intervals) are beautiful and once I've seen one show I wanted more; and since they change the music, the movements of the fountains and the light effects from show to show it's hard to get bored. I think I've seen three or four different ones. Bellagio's interior is also very beautiful; the main lobby ceiling is made of glass flowers of many colors; the nearby conservatory is definitely worth a stop. There's also a Gallery of Fine Art with fine paintings by Manet, Picasso and others.

Click to see larger pictures The Auto Collection at the Imperial Palace We went to the Imperial Palace to see the Auto Collection which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The collection is located on the fifth floor of the parking garage. There is a counter set up at the Strip entrance that offers vouchers for seeing the collection so you can get in for free. You can also find coupons on the web or in various free brochures, but I believe that you still have to visit the above mentioned counter to get the entrance pass. I'm not an auto enthusiast but I liked the collection. There were over 200 classic cars on display. I remember seeing many Ford, Mercedes, Cadillacs and Chevrolets models. They have a room dedicated to the British invasion which includes rare classics from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Cooper, Aston Martin, all dating from the 1930s through the 1960s. The collection has been there a long time, but from what I understood the cars rotate in an out. A number of the cars had a "for sale" tag. I remember seeing a convertible car that used to belong to Marilyn Monroe. This one was also on sale (together with her nightgown!)

Click to see larger pictures Circus Circus Circus Circus is a family themed resort located at the north end of the Strip. Besides the large casino you can enjoy free circus acts performed every half hour throughout the entire day and all kind of amusements, most of them designed towards family fun. Above the main casion there is a game room dedicated to children (the prizes consist of lots of stuffed animals). This room is where you can see the circus acts. Circus Circus also has an indoor amusement park located in the pink dome behind the main building. Most of the rides are geared towards children. The hotel has resonably priced rooms, restaurants and buffets.

Click to see larger pictures The Venetian This hotel/casino recreates the city of Venice complete with copies of the Doge's Palace, the Campanile and the Rialto Bridge. Gondolas can take you inside the building and on the way you can be serenated for a lot less than in real Venice :-) The canals lead you to - where else - the Grand Canal (upscale and expensive) Shoppes. Inside the complex cobblestone streets and bridges lie under a blue painted sky like the one in Renaissance paintings. Throughout the building you'll find reproductions of famous paitings by Venetian masters like a copy of Veronese's painting "The Apotheosis of Venice". They even kept the same prices as in Venice as the restaurants and shops are all expensive :-) But I liked their casino which is big and well air-conditioned. If you are in Vegas, don't miss the Venetian.

Click to see larger pictures Excalibur Excalibur Hotel/Casino recreates the medieval world of King Arthur. The exterior of the hotel with its towers, turrets, a drawbridge and Merlin sitting in a balcony makes you believe you are in fact at Disneyland. Inside the hotel the theme continues with suits of armor that line the entrance and with everything that looks medieval being in a way or another part of the spectacle. It's actually so silly that it becames fun to look at all the details.

Click to see larger pictures Stratosphere Stratosphere is located at the northern end of the Strip, away from the main attractions, but a visit here is well worth it. The resort has one of the Las Vegas landmarks, the Stratosphere Tower which is 1149 ft (350 m) tall. From the top of the tower you get great views of the city. The views from Eiffel Tower offer more detail but here you can get a feeling of how big Las Vegas is; the mountains in the distance make for a great background. Also at the top two rides are offered, a rollercoaster and a free-falling thingy called The Big Shot. I didn't try any of them but I can tell that they look scary. Apart from the tower you'll find everything of what is offered in a Strip resort: the casino which is located on the ground level; shops, restaurants and a 1500 rooms hotel. We stayed here once and we enjoyed the room and their all you can eat buffet.

Click to see larger pictures Fremont Street Experience The Fremont Street Experience opened in 1995 as an attempt to revive the area of Downtown Las Vegas. One can say that touristic Vegas is made of light shows (so much as I was able to take pictures at night without using the flash or a tripod); but the most impressive light show is the one that can be seen every night on the hour on Fremont Street, starting with 6.00 PM. Above this section of the street (which is opened only to pedestrians) is a big canopy made of 2 million lightbulbs. The canopy is like a giant screen on which different images are created and, of course, everything is set on music. Their sound installation seems to be state of the art as well. I imagine their electricity bill runs pretty high ;) There are multiple shows that are being shown, so if you liked it, you can stick around and see if the one the follows is better.

Click to see larger pictures Treasure Island Las Vegas Located on central Strip next to its sister resort, the Mirage, Treasure Island is best known for the show that takes place here a few times every night. They used to have an entertaining pirate show which we saw in 2001 but since this is Vegas they had to make it cheesier and so they changed it into a sirens show. The sirens show is very similar in fact to the pirates show, just that now they have some scantily clad women who dance to music. The show is running three or four times daily and you have to come early if you wish to get a good spot. Traffic pretty much stops in this area when the show is on. Treasure Island hotel and casion is themed on Robery Louis Stevenson's novel of the same name, although lately the management seems eager to downplay it. They had a logo with a skull and bones which they replaced it with a very sleek looking new logo (with no skull and no bones). The entrance features a Carribbean lagoon (this is where the sirens show takes place). Inside there are isolated pirate touches like ship figureheads on the walls. The hotel is also home to the popular contemporary circus Cirque du Soleil with their show "Mystere" performed in a specially customized showroom.

Click to see larger pictures The Star Trek Museum At this point in writing my Las Vegas page I have to admit that I am a geek. I've watched every Star Trek episode there is, many of them multiple times (I've probably been one of the five people who watched Voyager from beginning to end). So who better than me to enjoy this attraction? The Star Trek Experience at Hilton hotel... Sounded promising. And indeed it was lots of fun (and I have to confess to going there three times by now in about 7 visits to Las Vegas). Anyway. At first this is a "museum" where you'll find a very serious Star Trek timeline and a few displays with costumes and all sorts of devices used in the series. But the fun is about to begin. They have two interactive shows, with real actors playing the part of the crew. In "The Klingon Encounter" you're beamed aboard Enterprise and have to escape the mightly Klingon warriors which involves a bumpy shuttle ride. In the new show "Borg Invasion 4D" you'll be in danger to be assimilated by the Borg. The cost of the attraction is a little high in my opinion but this is Vegas after all where few things come cheap. After exiting both attraction you'll end up in the gift shop, where they try to take advantage of you and sell you more stuff you don't need. There are actors dressed as different species walking around and you can take pictures with them if you wish. The Star Trek theme area also includes a "Deep Space Nine" promenade featuring Quark's Bar and Restaurant (you don't need to buy a ticket to wander off here).

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