The Grand Canyon

A mile deep, 277 miles (446km) long and up to 18 miles (29km) wide the breathtaking grandeur of the Grand Canyon is so impressive that pictures or words simply cannot do it justice. One of the great natural wonders of the world, it was formed by the cutting action of the Colorado River over millions of years, the harder rock formations remaining as great cliffs, pinnacles and buttes, and the different layers of rock possessing colours that range from purple, fiery red and pastel pink, to yellow, brown, grey and soft tones of blue.

Whether by foot or on horseback, from a plane or helicopter, aboard a raft down the mighty Colorado River or by merely gazing in awe from the rim, the canyon’s seemingly infinite depths can be experienced in a variety of ways and is a landscape not to be missed, however one chooses to see it. The park receives hoards of visitors from around the world, who cannot fail to be transfixed by the sculpted rock shapes, the shifting colours that change with the light and a tiny glimpse of the Colorado River far below.

The Grand Canyon National Park comprises two separate areas, the South Rim and the more remote North Rim. Separated by the 10-mile (16km) width of the canyon, it is a 215-mile (346km) drive from one visitor centre to the other and the South Rim, being the most accessible and possessing more facilities, sees over 90 percent of the park visitors. The North Rim is higher in elevation and wetter, with thicker surrounding forests; it is further to get to and is usually closed by snow from October to May, but many people prefer the comparative peacefulness of its less crowded lookouts.

At both rims there are several drives and walkways along the edge with numerous lookout points for views from different angles, as well as a few hikes down into the canyon where one can overnight at Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor. The impact of over four million visitors a year to the South Rim, especially during the busy summer months, has its negative influences on the park, with overcrowding and traffic congestion, but despite the hoards it is a positively memorable experience to have visited one of the most spectacular examples of erosion in the world. (more…)

Culturally speaking, Las Vegas is not exactly the world capital of high-brow art. True, it possesses a fine philharmonic orchestra and a ballet troupe, but these do not draw the visitors in nearly the same numbers that popular entertainment does. The city, however, continues to attract some of the biggest names in show business with live theatrical shows, magicians, circus acts and dance. There is one major venue, the UNLV Performing Arts Center, Cottage Grove Street and Maryland Parkway.

Most major hotels offer concierge services and can order tickets for the more popular cultural events. Visitors can go online to Ticketmaster to order and pre-pay for tickets. Events at the West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 West Lake Mead are free.

The best place for visitors to go for cultural listing is online. One website that holds a master list of all Las Vegas cultural and community events is the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce site. Visit their Calendar of Events page for more details.

Music: The Las Vegas Philharmonic performs at the Artemus Ham Concert Hall at UNLV Performing Arts Center.

Theater: As with virtually everything in Las Vegas, the casinos offer the bulk of the stage entertainment. The Luxor is home to the Pharaoh’s Theater and the Luxor Theater. The 1,200-seat Luxor Theater hosts theatrical productions, while the Pharaoh’s Theater offers a topless revue, as well as comedy acts. The MGM Grand is home to the Hollywood Theater, hosting a variety of performers, including Chris Issak, Tom Jones and David Copperfield, and the 1,700-seat EFX Theater, which is currently showing EFX Alive, which showcases musician Rick Springfield. At Caesars Palace, the Celine Dion Theater in the Colosseum features the Canadian songstress in the entrancing Dragone-created production A New Day as well as Elton John in The Red Piano. The two artists alternate schedules through the year, so check the website for show dates and ticket details.

The Las Vegas Little Theater, 3844 Schiff Drive , and the Actors’ Repertory Theater, Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center, 1771 Inner Circle Drive are two of Las Vegas’ newest small theaters. Both put on more serious theater than the hotel-casinos, be it the classics, modern playwrights or even musicals.

Dance: The Nevada Ballet Theater , founded in 1972, is one of Nevada’s larger cultural institutions and performs many of its productions at the Judy Bayley Theater at UNLV Performing Arts Center. Many of the revues and touring shows incorporate or are devoted to dance.

Film: Mainstream cinemas in Las Vegas include the United Artists - Showcase Mall, 3769 Las Vegas Boulevard South and the Century Orleans 18, 4500 West Tropicana . Seating is normally done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets are sold at the box office on the day of the performance. There are no exclusively arthouse cinemas in Las Vegas, although the Regal Village Square, 9101 West Sarhara Street, features two to three independent films per week. IMAX enthusiasts can get their fix at Brenden IMAX, 4321 West Flamingo Road , located inside The Palms Hotel and Casino; admission is US$9.75. The average cost for a film in Las Vegas is US$9.

Las Vegas is almost as famous a location for films as it is for casinos. Popular movies based in the city include Bugsy (1991), about the infamous gangster’s move from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and Casino (1995), telling the story of mob-ruled casinos in the 1970s. Leaving Las Vegas (1995) is an emotional story documenting the damage and pain inflicted by alcoholism. The cut-throat and sleazy world of topless revues and Las Vegas nightlife was given an airing in Paul Verhoeven Showgirls (1995). Andrew Bergman’s romantic comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), starring James Caan, Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicolas Cage, pokes fun at Vegas wedding culture and features the astounding Flying Elvises. More recently, the ambitious celluloid version of the late and lamented Hunter S Thompson’s cult classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), starred Johnny Depp as the seriously spaced-out ‘gonzo’ journalist, and the remake of the classic Rat Pack vehicle Ocean’s Eleven (2001) directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Cultural Events: Las Vegas’ growing population has opened the door to new cultural and musical events, with springtime events such as jazz festivals in April and May, a folkdance festival in May and Mardi Gras in April. Of course, there is also America’s national day of Independence, July 4, which is celebrated just as fervently in Las Vegas as anywhere else.

Although it is not, strictly speaking, a cultural event, Hunter S Thompson famously reported on the off-road racing in these parts. Las Vegas has become somewhat famous for revving engines, clouds of dust and, of course, arguably the toughest off-road race in America, the BITD (Best in the desert) Nevada 1000 . This 1,609km (1,000-mile) race through the heat and dust of Nevada sets off from Las Vegas on 6 July, returning five days later. Dates for this event change yearly, so visit the website for schedule information.

Literary Notes: More than one book has managed to get behind the flash of Las Vegas’ bright lights to explore its deeper, often darker themes. Not surprisingly, numerous mystery and crime novels are set here. Best known among these are Mario Puzo’s The Last Don (1997), which follows a crime family’s move from Las Vegas to Hollywood, and Michael Ventura’s The Death of Frank Sinatra (1998), which weaves a literary web of crime and intrigue in early 1990s Las Vegas. Many of the movies that made Las Vegas so famous began their lives as books. Casino (1995) was based on the Nicholas Pileggi book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (1995). Leaving Las Vegas (1995), by John O’Brien, was made into the eponymous movie and recounts a dark, sad tale of a suicidal alcoholic’s finding true love with a prostitute. Perhaps the most influential literary work associated with Las Vegas is Hunter S Thompson’s pop-culture classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). The bizarre, true-life tale follows the journalist Thomson and his attorney’s drug-addled journey through Nevada.

Sport:

Although Las Vegas prides itself as an entertainment hub, the city has no professional sports teams. That said, there are sporting events that attract thousands of fans. The Grand Garden Arena at the MGM Grand has become one of the venues of choice for boxing matches in America. The University of Nevada Las Vegas is home to the UNLV Rebels football team, the local favorite in the exceedingly popular college (NCAA) football league. There is also a wide variety of sporting opportunities in Las Vegas for those who want to take part personally. As a resort destination, the city and region is brimming with golf courses. The vast hotel-casino complexes also offer superb fitness facilities (as luxurious and opulent as their restaurants and lounges) although, due to availability, these are sometimes limited to hotel guests. (more…)

Sightseeing

While most cities have particular entertainment districts for tourists to visit among other attractions, Las Vegas is one giant entertainment district. Las Vegas Boulevard (the central attraction for this 24-hour city) runs through the heart of Downtown, in the north of the city, and turns into the Strip, in the south. The city is divided into two halves - Downtown and the Strip. Downtown (also known as ‘Glitter Gulch’ for the bright neon signs and millions of flashing lights) is the living embodiment of old Las Vegas. Here, the vintage-style hotels, casinos, stage shows and strip joints are joined by the new and popular Fremont Street Experience Mall. Further south, the Strip is home to the latest, biggest and most ambitious casinos, many of which verge on being mini theme parks. Casinos are obviously Las Vegas’ biggest draw card and the biggest and the best.

Passes:There are no tourist passes currently available in Las Vegas.

Key Attractions:

Wynn Las Vegas

Erected on the spot where once stood the legendary Desert Inn, Las Vegas’ newest landmark is the glamorous Wynn Las Vegas. The latest property developed by Vegas casino kingpin Steve Wynn opened its doors on April 28, 2005. Sheathed in coppery bronze reflecting the desert sun, this 42-story, 192-acre, US$ 2.7billion megaresort boasts a 10,000-sq-meter (110,000 sq ft) casino, 2,700 guest rooms, an 18 hole professionally designed golf course, a fine art gallery and Las Vegas’ only fully authorized Ferrari Maserati dealership with 10,000 square foot showroom. The centerpiece of the resort is a 46m (150ft) high mountain with a five-story waterfall cascading into a man-made lake featuring The Lake of Dreams, a multi-media spectacular in an environmental theater setting.

The Wynn also features a US$70m, 2,000 seat domed showroom with a circular stage, the first of its kind in the city and the home of Le Reve, the latest production from Franco Dragone, of Cirque du Soleil fame and the mastermind behind three of Las Vegas’ most popular shows. The resort will also boast close to 5,000 rooms with the scheduled completion of Encore, a 2,000-suite tower, in 2008.

Bellagio

The Bellagio has quickly become one of Las Vegas’ best-known and most visited hotel-casinos. Cashing in on the recent trend towards Euro-opulence, the Bellagio sits on its own four-hectare (10-acre) ‘oasis’, featuring a mock northern Italian village on the shore, behind which looms the bulking mass of the large hotel. T

he hotel offers 3,200 rooms and suites (see Hotels), 17 restaurants, six lounges, botanical gardens and six Mediterranean pool settings. Its 9,000-sq-meter (100,000-sq-ft) casino features over 2,000 slot machines and electronic games and over 100 table games. The Bellagio also has a fine art gallery, which hosts contemporary art exhibits, as well as a 9,000-sq-meter (100,000 sq ft) glass-encased shopping mall. A popular attraction is the dancing water show from the Bellagio’s world-famous fountains every 30 minutes 1500-2000 Mon-Fri (starts at 1200 Sat-Sun) and every 15 minutes from 2000 -2400.

Freemont Street and The Freemont Street Experience

Located Downtown, near the Plaza Hotel, Freemont Street is a favorite nightly flocking ground for the city’s many tourists. Ten casinos, over 60 restaurants and countless bars and lounges offer Old Las Vegas style enticement to visitors. Peddlers sell silver jewelry and various crafts from their pushcart stalls by day and especially at night, when Freemont Street comes alive with The Freemont Street Experience.

Perched 90 feet above Freemont Street is a hi-tech overhead light and sound show stretching for five blocks over 1400ft composed of one of the world’s largest and longest LED screens. The Experience is an ideal way to take in the ‘real’ Las Vegas and see some of her older and well-known neon signs, for example Glitter Gulch’s Vegas Vickie and the equally recognizable Vegas Vic. Freemont Street is open 24 hours with shows starting at 2030 and from then run hourly between 2100 and 2400. A particular hit for those traveling with families.

MGM Grand

Since its completion in 1993, the momentous MGM Grand has held the title of largest hotel in the world, with over 5,005 rooms. Its enormous Grand Garden Arena has also become one of the key venues for boxing matches in the USA. The casino area alone is 15,300 sq meters (170,000 sq ft). Other features include 15 restaurants, a coffee shop, a food court with five lounges, two showrooms, two wedding chapels, five pools including a flowing river pool, a lion habitat, a dance club and shopping complex. The MGM Grand is also a main terminal station for the Las Vegas Monorail.

Caesars Palace

An old denizen of the Strip, Caesars Palace possesses more Las Vegas character than many of its newer neighbors. It sits in a lavish Roman setting, perhaps the historical theme best suited to this city of excess, with Roman columns, grand staircases, manicured shrubbery, imported marble statuary and luxuriant fountains. Its two main casinos, measuring a total of 12,050 sq meters (129,750 sq ft), feature all the regular games, as well as an ‘empire’ of slot machines that feature prizes such as motorcycles and convertible cars, and jackpots that have reached more than US$21 million. Recent additions to the Caesars Palace property include the newly constructed Colosseum, featuring The Celine Dion Theater, a high-limit slot salon The Palace Court Slot Casino and the all-suites Augustus Tower, slated to open late summer 2005, which will see the resort rooming increase to 3,340 by the end of this year.

Mirage

Of all the mega-casinos that line the Strip, the Mirage provides the biggest outdoor spectacle. The evening sees queues of people taking in the artificial volcano that erupts every 15 minutes from 1900-2400. The setting is completed by an artificial lagoon with 54 artificial waterfalls that flow down the side of the volcano. As visitors make their way inside, they enter an indoor tropical rainforest, a dolphin habitat and a saltwater tropical aquarium. The hotel also boasts a pool and spa, eight restaurants, four lounge bar areas, a white tiger habitat, its famed Shadow Creek golf course and the requisite casino, which features over 2,000 slot machines. (more…)