Sights in Las Vegas
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Excalibur
Faux drawbridges and Arthurian legends aside, the medieval caricature castle known as Excalibur epitomizes gaudy Vegas. Down on the Fantasy Faire Midway are buried ye- olde carnival games, with joystick joys and motion-simulator ridefilms hiding in the Wizard's Arcade. The dinner show, Tournament of Kings, is more of a demolition derby with more hooves than a flashy Vegas production.
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Contemporary Arts Collective
One of the most established art galleries at the Arts Factory is the nonprofit Contemporary Arts Collective, which boasts high-quality, engagingly curated exhibits of works by emerging city artists. Trifecta Gallery hosts a variety of national and international artists. S₂ Art Center & Atelier produces limited-edition, fine-art lithographs using antique presses.
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MGM Grand Lion Habitat
Inside the casino, this glass-walled habitat showcases up to six magnificent felines daily, all descendants of the movie company's original mascot. The kid-friendly, tropical-themed Rainforest Cafe is nearby.
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Clark County Museum
On the valley outskirts, this humble but jam-packed museum merits a stop en route to Hoover Dam. Inside you’ll find exhibits on the history of Las Vegas as an ancient sea, Native American camp and Western frontier town. Step outside the museum onto Heritage St and walk through beautifully restored historic houses.
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Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign
Straddling Las Vegas Blvd, south of the Strip proper, is the city’s most iconic sign, which announces in vintage style, ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada.’ Of course, when Betty Willis designed it in the late 1950s, it wasn’t retro – it was cutting-edge Googie style, with an atomic-modern starburst at the top and, on the back, a friendly reminder to ‘Drive Carefully’ and ‘Come Back Soon.’ The sign was placed on the highway to LA. The Strip still hasn’t managed to spread its fingers quite this far south yet. Now a tourist attraction in its own right, the famous sign had fallen into disrepair by the ’70s. The city’s centennial in 2005 was a rare chance for Las Vegans to…
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Lake Las Vegas
A lake in the middle of the southern Nevada desert? Hard to believe, but yes, it’s true. After the damning of the Las Vegas Wash in 1991, this small artificial lake near Lake Mead was created. Nowadays it’s a hoity-toity resort with a country-club atmosphere, and it feels a world away from the Strip. A refreshing oasis in summer, the focus of the resort, to which public access is unrestricted, is its palatial residential homes and grand hotels like the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort, complete with championship golf courses including Reflection Bay. Kayaks, jet skis and sailboats can be rented from MonteLago Village Marina, where one-hour…
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Guardian Angel Cathedral
If you get the urge to save your soul Sunday morning after letting it all go to hell Saturday night, you won’t have to venture far off the Strip. Adorned with stained glass murals and mosaics, this small Catholic church, which resembles a ski chalet, looks rather alien on the Strip. Even more strangely, it was built with mob money from Moe Dalitz, who donated funds expressly so that graveyard shift workers at casino hotels would have someplace to worship. The iconic 1960s structure was designed by SoCal modernist Paul Revere Williams, the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects, who also collaborated on the landmark Googie-style Theme…
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Lion Habitat
Out front of the MGM Grand, it’s hard to miss the USA’s largest bronze statue, a 100,000lb lion that’s 45ft tall, perched atop a pedestal and ringed by lush landscaping, spritzing fountains and Atlas-themed statues. Inside you’ll find the MGM’s real-life lion habitat. MGM owns these magnificent felines, all descendants of the movie company’s original mascot. Only two animals are shown off inside this multimillion-dollar enclosure at any one time. The big cats tend to sprawl and sleep atop the see-through walkway tunnel, separated from their admirers only by a sheet of protective glass and a couple of feet of thin air. Caretaker Keith Evans has been working with…
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Clark County Wetlands Park
When you’re standing inside a smoky casino dominated by the ding-ding-ding of slot machines, it’s difficult to fathom that a beautiful desert environment cradles the modern edifices of the Strip. It’s worth a visit to this work-in-progress county park just to breathe deeply of the fresh air and to focus your eyes on the Frenchman Mountains arching over this desert basin. The focus of the small wetlands preserve is a sandy and marshy wash environment, rich in seasonal bird life, where gravel trails lead to wildlife-viewing blinds. Drop by the volunteer-staffed information center for interpretive displays about native ecology and the county’s environmental restoration work.…
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Main Street Station
This surprisingly elegant neo- Victorian casino hotel is adorned throughout with notable objets d'histoire under its pressed tin ceilings and elegant ceiling fans. Pick up a free Guide to Artifacts, Antiques & Artworks pamphlet from the hotel registration desk, then look for the art-nouveau chandelier from a Parisian opera house and a graffiti-covered chunk of the Berlin Wall.
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Venetian
In a city filled with spectacles, the Venetian is surely one of the most spectacular. This facsimile of a doge's palace, inspired by the splendor of Italy's most romantic city, features roaming mimes and minstrels in period costume, hand-painted ceiling frescoes and full-scale reproductions of the Italian port's famous landmarks. Flowing canals, vibrant piazzas and stone walkways attempt to capture the spirit of La Serenissima Repubblica, reputedly the home of the world's first casino. Take a gondola ride outdoors or stroll through the atmospheric Grand Canal Shoppes.
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UNLV Special Collections
Lots of memorabilia gets cast off in this ahistorical town. Thankfully, some of it ends up here, where it’s closely guarded and housed by the university. The Lied Library holds a pit boss’ ransom of books, photos, maps, posters, manuscripts and much more from the city’s early, hurly-burly days. The best way to pay a visit, though, is from the comfort of your own hotel room: online exhibits are free. While you’re online, also visit the virtual museum of the UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research for a photographic survey of neon on the Strip, a World Series of Poker retrospective, Rat Pack memorabilia and more.
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Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park
The remains of this historic fort are unspectacular, but they mark the spot where Las Vegas was first settled by non–Native Americans back in 1855. A modest adobe quadrangle provided a refuge for travelers along the Mormon Trail between Salt Lake City and San Bernardino. Some of the original walls still stand, while the visitor center showcases artifacts and photos from the early days. Outside are replicas of the first crops grown here by the Las Vegas Ranch, which revived the settlement almost a decade after the Mormons abandoned it. Today it’s a dusty place, and engaging only for historians.
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Neonopolis
Plaques tell the story of each sign at these al-fresco galleries of restored vintage neon signs. Look for the flashy 40ft-tall chap on horseback, along with sparkling genie lamps, glowing martini glasses, 1940s motel marquees and more. For now, the biggest assemblages are found at the Neonopolis, on the 3rd St cul-de-sac just north of Fremont St and at the old fort. The permanent museum (www.neonmuseum.org) is a work in progress, although tours of its neon-sign boneyard, usually at noon and 2pm Tuesday through Friday, are available by advance reservation.
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Golden Gate
This old-fashioned gambling hall and hotel has stood on the corner of Fremont and Main Sts since 1906, one year after this whistle-stop railway town was founded. The casino transformed into the Golden Gate in the 1950s, when a troupe of Italian-Americans from San Francisco decamped at what was once known as the ‘Sal Sagev’ (the city’s name spelled backward, doncha know). Today the Golden Gate’s hypnotic mechanical sign is almost as irresistible as its famous $1.99 shrimp cocktails. The snug casino boasts lively craps tables and double-deck blackjack.
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Las Vegas Natural History Museum
If you’ve ever been to a really good natural-history museum in a big city, you certainly won’t be wowed by this one, but youngsters still might. A couple dozen or so stuffed exotic animals are rather weakly displayed, including in the Wild Nevada au naturel room. The junior scientist club is an interactive weekend activity workshop that’s popular with kids, as is the ginormous dinosaur gallery. Check online for upcoming events schedules and possibly two-for-one discount admission coupons for adults.
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Paris-Las Vegas
Adorned with fake Francophone signs like 'Le Buffet,' Paris-Las Vegas is a Gallic caricature that strives – with admirable effort – to capture the essence of the grande dame by re-creating her landmarks. Cut-rate likenesses of the Hotel de Ville, Opéra, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées and even the River Seine frame the property. Check out the new Chateau Beer Gardens, where a mediocre beer list is redeemed by gorgeous views from the terrace.
Of course, the signature attraction is the Eiffel Tower Experience. Ascend in a glass elevator to the observation deck for panoramic views of the Strip, notably the Bellagio's dancing fountains.
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College of Southern Nevada Planetarium
Young scientists will love the multimedia shows and 'skywatch' astronomy programs at this small planetarium. Show up early to get a seat (no latecomers allowed). Weather permitting, the observatory telescopes open for public viewing after the late show.
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Nevada State Museum
Unless you’ve got a hankering to see a stuffed Columbian mammoth or the Nevada state fossil (psst, it’s an ichthyosaur), you can skip this small historical museum. It does have one intriguing room dedicated to the modern history of Las Vegas, replete with casino memorabilia and exhibits about the Hoover Dam project and 1950s atomic testing. Look for the museum’s new-and-improved location at the Springs Preserve in 2009.
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TI (Treasure Island)
Yo, ho, whoa: although traces of the original swashbuckling skull-and-crossbones theme linger at this casino hotel, TI's shift from family-friendly to bawdy and oh-so naughty epitomizes Vegas' efforts to put the 'sin' back in 'casino.' One-armed Playboy bandits have replaced the playful pirates, plastic doubloons and chests full o'booty. Several times nightly, the spiced-up and totally cheesy Sirens of TI show stages a mock sea battle between sultry temptresses and renegade freebooters.
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Shark Reef
M-Bay’s unusual walk-through aquarium is home to 2000 submarine beasties, including jellyfish, moray eels, stingrays and, yes, some sharks. Other rare and endangered toothy reptiles on display include some of the world’s last remaining golden crocodiles. A staff of biologists, scuba-diver caretakers and naturalists are available to chat as you wander around. Better yet, go scuba diving yourself (from $650).
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Lied Discovery Children’s Museum
At a public library branch, this award-winning museum is designed for much younger kids than the natural history museum across the street. Most of the rotating exhibits, however, are either too complex for children to operate successfully without lots of guidance or they are too simple and unfortunately, boring. Check the schedule in advance for multisensory creative play workshops for families.
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Mirage
Despite having been open for more than 20 years, there’s still nothing quite like casino mogul Steve Wynn’s most exotic creation, Mirage. Its paradisiacal tropical setting, replete with an atrium of jungle foliage and waterfalls, captures the imagination. Out front in a lagoon, the fiery trademark faux volcano erupts nightly, stopping slack-jawed onlookers in their tracks.
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Mirage Rainforest Atrium
This high-roller's casino is replete with a rainforest atrium under a 100ft (30m) conservatory dome filled with jungle foliage, meandering streams and soothing cascades. Woven into this waterscape are scores of bromeliads. Exotic scents waft through the hotel lobby, with its 20,000-gallon saltwater aquarium harboring five dozen species of tropical critters from pufferfish to pygmy sharks.
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Museum Of The American Cocktail
Delve into the liquid origins of American mixology, from the pre-Prohibition era to the modern day. Witty historical exhibits fill an elegant side lounge at Commander's Palace restaurant, which offers 25¢ martini weekday lunches to put your newly acquired knowledge to immediate use. Check online for cocktail seminar schedules and to see if the museum has found a new permanent home.
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