Vegas is......
a place I think you have to see at least once in your life just because :) but apart from the city it is a great base for the wonders of the countryside around it. So on that note.....
1/Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon is a National Park located in southwestern Utah, (80kms north and 300m higher than ZIon) and and is not a canyon as such but a series of natural amphitheaters. Artifacts from 10,000 years ago have been found in the canyon, and the Pauite Indians believed that the hoodoos (the stone structures) were the Legend People that the trickster Coyote turned to stone.) In the 1850s it was explored by European settlers and named in 1873 after Ebenezer Bryce who settled there. In 1928 it was named a National Park, but has relatively fewer tourists because it is more remote and harder to get to than some of the other national parks. It has may walking trails (and even some skiing ones) It is also one of the best places in the world to see the night sky (still on my to do list) and there is an astronomy festival held in June to take advnatage of the beautiful night sky.
Bryce Canyon is one of my favourite places in the world, and 'easily' reached from Vegas. Well not really as it's a long day in a car, driving from Nevada to Utah but well worth the long drive to get here. It is one of those natural wonders, with hoodoos of all shapes and sizes, and the colours are magnificent and no matter what time of year you will find something different each time you go.
Getting here is not easy if you are not in your own car, it's not on a train track or on a bus route so unless you hire a car, you have to find a tour company that will take you to it.
In my experience I didn't find a lot of tour companies going to Bryce Canyon (especially in winter) so you have to try your luck and we did with Bundubashers, (we didn't find out until the last minute that our trip was going ahead but I was so glad that it did and would recommend the company to anyone wanting to do this trip.)
2/Grand Canyon West Rim
Of course the Grand Canyon is on the list, it's an amazing place and I think is one EVERYONE'S wonders list, and we are thrilled to have seen it from helicopter, boat, bus, foot and skywalk. (of course there are the purists that say the West Rim is not the 'real' canyon, but it was pretty damn GRAND to me, would like to see the South Rim next time I am in the neighbourhood.)
The Grand Canyon is in the north west corner of Arizona, which has been carved out the land by the Colorado River.
The West Rim is 2.5 hours drive from Las Vegas, and is owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe is part of the Hualapai American Indian Reservation which was created in 1883 and is not part of the Grand Canyon National Park so you can not use any National Park passes here, and you need to pick up your permits and legacy passes to gain access to the canyon.
I can only comment on the West Rim as this is the only part of the canyon I have been too. We took a day tour here, with a package including the helicopter ride, boat cruise on the river and the Skywalk. Again having no transport of our own thought this option was the best (check out the tour companies for deals as there were plenty, and our experience through one company was no different from others I spoke to going through another so get your best deal!!!) You can do the West Rim in your own car, but you have to park your car at the welcome center (where the tour buses do) and join the hop-on hop off buses that everyone else does. On the tour you get plenty of time to explore on your own so I think it is well worth the cost.
3/Shows, shows, shows
and more shows!!!! Comedians and dancers, strippers and
drag, variety and strippers and superstars, magicians and cirques it's all on offer. There are plenty of places to get tickets at a good price and I know there were a lot more shows I would like to have seen, but there is only so much time and so little money. Check out a variety of sites, online and at the hotels themselves for ticket prices, (again if you have preferences on shows you want to see book ahead of time as you don't want to take your chances that you may miss out, if you are more flexible buy tickets on the day either through the hotel or at the ticket booths on The Strip.)
4/New York New York Rollercoaster
I loved this ride as it hurtled around and through the hotel (I was glad not to be staying in the hotel though because it might not have been so thrilling to have the coaster going past the windows ) It is not the only ride in Vegas, the Stratosphere had a couple that I wasn't quite brave enough to try (but maybe next time!!!) You can pay for individual rides on the NY NY rollercoaster which is what we did but I wish I had known about the Scream Pass which allowed for daily unlimited rides (it costs less than the price of two rides which is what we ended up doing so it would have been more cost effective in the first place.)
5/The Strip
Lots of bright lights, amazing hotels, it's gaudy and ritzy, loud and sleazy, crazy and fun that is The Strip, is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South, 6.8 kms in length, that is home to 15 of the world's largest hotels by room capacity.
Where else are you going to find Venice and Egypt, Paris and New York, castles and towers, dancing fountains and singing gondoliers in the one street? Whether you like it or loathe it, the Strip is an amazing sight to see.
6/Zion National Park
Escaping the sights and sounds of Vegas, Zion is a place of tranquility, with amazing scenery, trails and climbing areas. Again not the easiest of places to get to if you don't have your own car, but there are tour companies that go here, bundubashers is a small group tour that I was on and thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.
7/Freemont Street
Freemont St has been around since 1905 when Las Vegas was first founded, it was the first paved street in Vegas and had the first traffic light. Freemont Street is old school Vegas, Elvis and 'Viva Las Vegas' (Freemont St appeared in the opening credits of the movie although the rest was filmed mostly around The Flamingo and Tropicana which are on the strip) and movies when the Mob ran Vegas come to mind and take you back to a time prior to mobile phones and the internet....and then night hits and the Freemont St Experience comes alive, old Vegas merges with the new (I missed that side but I hear it's great and something to visit next time around.) The Freemont St Experience was a project to revitalise the Downtown area as the Strip and it's newer glitzier hotels took a lot away from this area, but this seems to have done it's trick and has brought a whole lot of new clientele to the area.
Vegas is not for everyone, but there is something about the place that is addictive and don't be surprised if you go once that you might want to go again.