Four Things to Do While Visiting Las Vegas

Whenever we think of Las Vegas, the first things that come to mind are drinking, gambling, and night clubs. However, there are so many other things to do in Vegas than just that. I recently traveled back to Las Vegas after about 10 years and had such an amazing time doing the following four things!

1 – Exploring the Las Vegas Strip

If you’ve never been to Vegas, the first thing I suggest you do is explore! Explore all the main hotels on the strip because each and every single one is unique in their own way. These hotels are not like any others that you’ve been to before because they all have specific themes and attractions. You can walk into each hotel and walk around the lobby, casino, restaurants, and any lounge areas or shopping centers. If you want to make time for each hotel then you will probably need around three days. Keep in mind it is a lot of walking!

Some hotels like New York New York, Circus Circus, and the Stratosphere have actual amusement park rides on property. New York New York has your typical roller coaster (see below) that takes you for a ride down sudden drops and even some loops. Circus Circus, as the hotel name suggests, is a circus themed hotel that actually has an area called the “Adventuredome.” This area has roller coasters, kiddie rides, and arcade games. Lastly, the Stratosphere has four thrill rides for those seeking that extra adrenaline rush.

All of these rides aren’t free of course, they have a fee! Also, if you do go to Circus Circus or Stratosphere you’ll notice they are some of the older hotels on the strip. Unfortunately, Circus Circus needs a MAJOR refurbishment (which I doubt it will ever get) but hey, at least the Adventuredome is worth visiting especially if traveling with children or teens.

Some free attractions to look out for are the Fountains of Bellagio and the Mirage’s erupting volcano. The fountains essentially “dance” to a variety of songs every thirty minutes. The first show I ever saw was to Andrea Bocelli’s Con Te Partirò which was just beautiful! This time around the show was to a Christmas song which at this time the name escapes me. There are a variety of songs from pop to classical so you never know what you’ll get.

The Mirage’s volcano is a brief nighttime show that happens every hour from 8-10pm. It’s not as great as the fountains, in my opinion, but I would still take the time out to pass by and watch it. The volcano even lets out some flames while it’s erupting which was perfect during that cold night we saw it.

2 – Watching Some Las Vegas Shows

Now, the one thing that I highly highly recommend is going to some shows. Las Vegas is known for its large variety of shows from comedy to music to magic. There are shows for all ages so don’t worry if you want to include the kids! During my trip, we saw two shows: Cirque Du Soleil Mystère (located at Treasure Island Hotel) and Beatleshow (located at Saxe Theatre, close to Bally’s Hotel).

I had never been to a Cirque Du Soleil show before Mystère so I had no real idea what to expect besides acrobatics. The show left me speechless. Although the storyline was hard to follow, (that is if there was a storyline at all), the stunts were outstanding and there was not even one error. I left the show wanting to see all the others and now I am on the hunt for the next one touring in Miami.

As I was writing earlier, I actually found a documentary on their casting and training process on Youtube. After watching the whole video, my appreciation for the performers grew. It’s remarkable to see the amount of practice and dedication the performers have who are part of Cirque.

The Beatleshow is one of the few Las Vegas Tribute shows on the strip. The theater is on the smaller side but even then, there were a few empty seats. The show included historical video clips from the Beatles era and tons of songs from all their albums. It was a nice show with the performers really sounding like the Beatles. The outfits were on point especially for the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band scenes. In terms of price, the Beatleshow was much less than Cirque Du Soleil.

3 – Visiting Red Rock Canyon

Renting a car and driving to Red Rock Canyon was probably one of the best decisions we made! Red Rock Canyon is only about 20 – 25 minutes from the Las Vegas strip so it’s an extremely short drive. Being from Florida, I don’t see these type of rock formations every day so this was definitely a breathtaking site to see! Due to the current government shut down, there were no park rangers in the park and we were basically on our own. That didn’t stop us, along with tons of others, from visiting the national park.

Red Rock Canyon has various trails and hiking opportunities. We decided to try one out, however, we didn’t get too far since there weren’t any park rangers working. Next time I go back to Las Vegas, I would love to spend a full day at Red Rock Canyon and drive through the full scenic route. I was surprised to see a group of people on a horseback riding tour!

If you love nature and want to escape from the Las Vegas strip craziness for a day Red Rock Canyon is the place to go!

4 – Driving to Mt. Charleston

Lastly, from Red Rock Canyon we drove to Mt. Charleston and I would recommend this to anyone. The drive was between 45 minutes to an hour from Red Rock Canyon through long winding roads. As you start approaching Mt. Charleston, your ears start to pop as the elevation gets higher. We stopped at a little lodge on the mountain top called The Resort on Mount Charleston. It started to lightly snow and it was the perfect place to rest and enjoy the view.

It was snowing on and off for a while so we had lunch at the lodge. The restaurant didn’t have a lot of staff working at the time and took a while to get our orders. After another thirty minutes we were finally served our food and well my burger was a little burnt to be honest. Another lodging area on Mt. Charleston is the Mt. Charleston Lodge with cabins. I wish we had gone there too!

After having lunch at the lodge, we kept driving up the mountain and found an area that was completely filled with snow. There were people tubing and throwing snowballs. The wind was much stronger than the area we were in before so that was when my parents said “turn around.” Another chance to appreciate nature and see snow while visiting Las Vegas.

Hope this helped some of you decide what else to add to your trip itinerary! On this trip we didn’t visit the Grand Canyon because we had seen it on our previous trip but if you’ve never gone, add that to your list too. Until my next adventure, peace out!