Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas is the largest city in the state of Nevada. Commonly referred to as the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” it is situated in the midst of the southern Nevada desert landscape. The city has giant mega-casino hotels, decorated with lavish care and attention to detail to create a fantasy-like atmosphere. The casinos have names that evoke romance and mystery—Luxor Hotel and Casino, The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, and the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Others evoke popular worldwide destinations, such as: New York-New York Hotel and Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, and The Venetian. There is an abundance of shows and many of the larger casinos now include high-end shopping areas with designer stores.

Opportunities to gamble are found in most places in the Las Vegas metro area, as well as McCarran airport and small supermarkets. However, please be advised that it is state law that all gamblers must be at least 21 years of age. Las Vegas is also the wedding capital of the world. Both parties must have valid ID and the cost is $55 per couple. The Las Vegas Wedding Bureau is open from 9 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, including holidays. No waiting period is required.

Vegas has some of the best climbing in America. Red Rock Canyon is located on the western edge of the Las Vegas city limits and features hundreds of traditional/gear and sport routes. Climbing is possible year-round, though spring and fall tend to be most comfortable.

Built on more than 120 acres and situated at the four corners of the Las Vegas Strip, the Bellagio is three miles from McCarran International Airport. Local attractions include the Las Vegas Convention Center, located two and one-half miles from the hotel, and the Hoover Dam, located 32 miles from the resort. The world famous Fountains of Bellagio feature choreographed streams of water which conduct a show to the sounds of classical music and opera.Bellagio's lobby features 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers created by Dale Chihuly. The Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens contain exotic plants. There is also an onsite Gallery of Fine Art, currently featuring works by Ansel Adams (general admission is 15). The hotel's outdoor pool area resembles a Mediterranean villa, is open year-round, and includes a courtyard, a whirlpool, and cabanas for rent. Gambling guests can try their luck at one of more than 2,700 slot machines, 140 gaming tables, and 30 poker tables, not to mention the race and sports book. The full-service spa offers massage therapies, beauty treatments, a fitness center, and fitness classes. Live entertainment includes performances of O by Cirque du Soleil. Several high-end boutique shops are located throughout the Bellagio's grounds. Rounding out the amenities are the full-service business center, valet parking, tour assistance, golfing arrangements, and two wedding chapels. Fine dining options include Le Cirque, Circo, Prime Steakhouse, Picasso, Michael Mina's seafood restaurant, Jasmine, and Shintaro. Guests may partake in casual dining with at Sensei, Olives, Noodles, FIX Restaurant & Bar, Cafe Bellagio, the Buffet, and the Pool Cafe. In addition, the Bellagio also offers four quick-dining establishments, five onsite bars, Jean-Philippe Patisserie, and the nightclub, Light.Guestrooms feature minibars, irons and ironing boards, dual-line telephones, dataports, high-speed Internet access, and bathrobes.

This restaurant, located high up on the top floor of the Palms Casino Resort, offers the best possible view of the famous Las Vegas Strip, but that isn't all that will take your breath away. The French cuisine served here is guaranteed to grab your attention above all else! Veal, 'Four Ways' ($52), Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon ($43), Dover Sole Sauteed Véronique, Sauteed Macadamia Crusted Chicken Breast ($30), and other such divine preparations will have you coming back time and again - if you can afford the rates!

This collection at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in the Bellagio is impressive even to those who have visited better-known museums in New York and Europe. On display are sculptures and paintings from late 19th and 20th century artists, including original works by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and other European masters. The tour is best appreciated when the audio headphones are used, which are included with admission. Check the website for current exhibitions. Reservations are necessary, as this is a very popular attraction. Admission is $17 for adults and $12 for students, and &14 for senior citizens and Nevada residents. Seasonal discounts are occasionally offered.

When most people imagine Las Vegas, the first thing that comes to mind is The Strip—the four mile stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard with all the famous casinos and hotels. Bordered by Mandalay Bay in the south and the Stratosphere in the north, visitors can enjoy 30+ casinos which are attractions in themselves. Fabulous shopping, dining, and world-class entertainment can all be found here. Pick up the latest designer bag in the boutiques at the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace Hotel Casino. Or peruse the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian Resort & Casino. Watch the dancing Fountains at Bellagio, or take in an imported Broadway show. Attempts have been made to make The Strip more pedestrian-friendly by adding footbridges, free shuttles, cable-pulled trams, and the Las Vegas Monorail (frequency and rates vary).

Wolfgang Puck has found the perfect place for one of his fine eateries in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The main dishes, created with a style only Puck can provide, are nothing short of amazing. Executive Chef and partner David Robins update the menu daily, offering a variety of fresh fish, pasta and gourmet pizzas. Select from entrees like the Seared Rare Yellowfin Tuna with shiitake-seaweed salad and soy glaze or Puck's signature Smoked Salmon Pizza with dill cream, black caviar and chives. The restaurant is two eateries in one; you can eat in the patio cafe, which is less expensive, or opt for the formal dining room.

A visual water symphony choreographed to music provides an unforgettable welcome to the Bellagio Hotel Casino. The water jets span more than 1000 feet and can shoot up to 250 feet in the air while seeming to dance to choreographed lights and romantic classical music. It is a spectacular sight and one worth taking the time to view while strolling along the boulevard. Be sure to bring a camera as this is one of Vegas's best attractions; not to mention, it is also free! Every 30 minutes until 7p, after which shows are every 15 minutes.

Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat is a tropical paradise dedicated to the wild things. You will find many exotic animal breeds housed here, from elephants, panthers and leopards to Siegfried and Roy's rare and enchanting white tigers. This exhibit is presented in an effort to spotlight the need to protect vanishing breeds. Along with the land-based residents, visitors are invited to visit the intriguing Dolphin Habitat. You will thoroughly enjoy watching the antics of these amazing creatures that love to show off for onlookers. This attraction is located at the Mirage Hotel Casino located mid Strip.

Vegas patrons just can't get enough Asian Fusion. Ah Sin specializes in Pan-Asian cuisine with French culinary flare. You can move from Thai noodles to Chinese Szechuan beef to a Japanese spider roll to a French dessert in a matter of minutes. The availability of indoor and outdoor seating is also a plus, especially in Vegas where it sometimes feels like you can walk from one end of the strip to the other without ever going outside. Ah Sin is located in the Paris Las Vegas hotel.

In Las Vegas cutting edge entertainment is de rigueur and the Mirage Hotel resident show, "Love" is not only cutting edge but also razor sharp. A miraculous marriage of performance and artistic icons, the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil, "Love" is an acrobatic spectacle of athleticism and a symphonic rendering of the soundtrack of the last half of the 20th century. "Love" sprung from the friendship of Beatle George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. These kindred spirits got the bright idea that something should be done to present Beatles classic music within a show manifesting the best that Cirque could devise. The result is an entirely magical feast for the senses. Non-stop acrobatics and sky high daring do of the chameleon-like performers are spellbindingly awe-inspiring. Scored to timeless Beatles hits like Get Back, Eleanor Rigby, Help!, Yesterday, Strawberry Fields, and many more, the audience is driven to successive heights of anticipation. The Beatles have a large song catalog and some highlights are worth noting. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is a showstopper particularly with light blinding color costumes. At the close, the chorus of Hey Jude sweeps over the house as the whole audience sings along, entirely breaking that fourth wall between performers and viewers. The emotional effect is palpable and you stagger out of the theatre thinking you've passed through another dimension of time and space. Music is under the direction of George Martin and his son Giles. The elder Martin is the Beatles original and most long-lasting producer way back to the Liverpool days, ensuring a strict fidelity to what the Fab Four intended. "Love" is a stroll down memory lane for anyone who remembers the Beatles as the 1960's musical revolutionaries. Owing to the alchemy of Cirque du Soleil this music transcends the past, encompassing our present and future. Mirage theatre and the production have been specially built for this show at a cost of nearly $100 million with state of the art sound and lighting, all-around projection, and enough special effects for a trip to the moon and back. There is no shortage of great entertainment all along the Vegas Strip, but if your travels bring you to this desert oasis, "Love" at the Mirage is an experience you cannot duplicate anywhere else.

Tickets: $75.90-$165 Showtimes: Th-M 7p & 10p; Tu,W Dark

Inside one of the five tall, white-washed buildings of Caesars Palace Hotel Casino, you will find the Forum Shops which were added in 1992. Here, you can buy with the richest of them (Gucci, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Baccarat, Harry Winston, etc.) in an atmosphere reminiscent of the ancient Roman Senate: large statues, majestic fountains and grand pillars abound. This enormous mall spans multiple floors (more than 643,000 square feet!) and is dotted with various restaurants (some with a dress code and some casual) to please all palates, including Wolfgang Puck's renowned Spago. Free valet parking available.

Dine with authentic Picasso's on the walls and enjoy a Michelin Five Star Award Mediterranean dinner at the Bellagio Hotel. Master Chef Julian Serrano was the first Las Vegas chef to be honored with the James Beard Award for 'Best Chef, Southwest' and continues to wow diners with his ever-changing fresh seasonal menus. There are two separate menus; a four-course tasting menu and a five-course Chef's Ddgustation. In 2002 Las Vegas Restaurant Survey voted Picasso 'Most Popular Restaurant' in Las Vegas and the restaurant has maintained its reputation for excellence.

Located in the Four Seasons Hotel, this is a top-notch health spa with five-star service and facilities, as well as a five-star price tag. Full weight training and treatments are offered in six large rooms, or if a more intimate experience is your goal, reserve one of the two private spa rooms. These feature a whirlpool and any of the regular services are available for private enjoyment. Facials, salt rubs, wraps, mineral treatments, massages, aromatherapy, steam rooms and tanning are available. A visit is a vacation in itself.

Built on more than 120 acres and situated at the four corners of the Las Vegas Strip, the Bellagio is three miles from McCarran International Airport. Local attractions include the Las Vegas Convention Center, located two and one-half miles from the hotel, and the Hoover Dam, located 32 miles from the resort. The world famous Fountains of Bellagio feature choreographed streams of water which conduct a show to the sounds of classical music and opera.Bellagio's lobby features 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers created by Dale Chihuly. The Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens contain exotic plants. There is also an onsite Gallery of Fine Art, currently featuring works by Ansel Adams (general admission is 15). The hotel's outdoor pool area resembles a Mediterranean villa, is open year-round, and includes a courtyard, a whirlpool, and cabanas for rent. Gambling guests can try their luck at one of more than 2,700 slot machines, 140 gaming tables, and 30 poker tables, not to mention the race and sports book. The full-service spa offers massage therapies, beauty treatments, a fitness center, and fitness classes. Live entertainment includes performances of O by Cirque du Soleil. Several high-end boutique shops are located throughout the Bellagio's grounds. Rounding out the amenities are the full-service business center, valet parking, tour assistance, golfing arrangements, and two wedding chapels. Fine dining options include Le Cirque, Circo, Prime Steakhouse, Picasso, Michael Mina's seafood restaurant, Jasmine, and Shintaro. Guests may partake in casual dining with at Sensei, Olives, Noodles, FIX Restaurant & Bar, Cafe Bellagio, the Buffet, and the Pool Cafe. In addition, the Bellagio also offers four quick-dining establishments, five onsite bars, Jean-Philippe Patisserie, and the nightclub, Light.Guestrooms feature minibars, irons and ironing boards, dual-line telephones, dataports, high-speed Internet access, and bathrobes.

Las Vegas is the largest city in the state of Nevada. Commonly referred to as the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” it is situated in the midst of the southern Nevada desert landscape. The city has giant mega-casino hotels, decorated with lavish care and attention to detail to create a fantasy-like atmosphere. The casinos have names that evoke romance and mystery—Luxor Hotel and Casino, The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, and the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Others evoke popular worldwide destinations, such as: New York-New York Hotel and Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, and The Venetian. There is an abundance of shows and many of the larger casinos now include high-end shopping areas with designer stores.

Opportunities to gamble are found in most places in the Las Vegas metro area, as well as McCarran airport and small supermarkets. However, please be advised that it is state law that all gamblers must be at least 21 years of age. Las Vegas is also the wedding capital of the world. Both parties must have valid ID and the cost is $55 per couple. The Las Vegas Wedding Bureau is open from 9 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, including holidays. No waiting period is required.

Vegas has some of the best climbing in America. Red Rock Canyon is located on the western edge of the Las Vegas city limits and features hundreds of traditional/gear and sport routes. Climbing is possible year-round, though spring and fall tend to be most comfortable.