Las Vegas Travel Guide

The neon clad city of Las Vegas is famous as a hedonistic playground packed with vibrant stage shows, glamorous hotels and plenty of casinos. While most people come here to let off a little steam, the surrounding area also features some striking and dramatic natural features. Picking up car hire in Las Vegas and heading off into the desert for the day is the perfect way to unwind in style.

Visitors who appreciate natural beauty will want to climb into their vehicle of choice and follow the scenic road that leads to Wheeler Peak National Park. This stunning park is mainly covered by a large pine grove, which features some excellent walking and hiking trails.

No trip to this part of the world would be complete without paying a visit to Lexington Arch. This impressive arch towers high above a canyon floor and has been formed purely by the forces of nature. Death Valley is another dramatic natural feature that has to be seen to be believed. This is one of the lowest points on earth, and the stark rock formations are simply awe inspiring.

The Grand Canyon is just a four hour round trip drive for Las Vegas, making this the perfect day trip destination. There are breath-taking views to be enjoyed from the South Rim, and people who travel here on a clear day will feel as if the whole world is spread beneath their feet. This is a great place to take part in outdoor activities such as horseback riding. White-water rafting on the Colorado River is a sure way to get your adrenaline pumping while appreciating the intense natural beauty of this part of the world.

Las Vegas is jam packed full of attractions – whether its the world famous resort hotels, the movie set icons or the golf – yes thats right, golf in Vegas!  We’ve just finished adding over 100 things to do in Las Vegas to our main site – a big job, given the amount of information we had to collect on each attraction but actually this is only scratching the surface of the attractions which Las Vegas packs in. If you’re short of time here’s 7 of the best attractions in Vegas and our guide to doing Vegas in a weekend!

When it comes to sightseeing, you really can’t beat Las Vegas for convenience! Pretty much every sight you’d want to visit in LV is within a few miles (and the rest are mostly only a short drive out of town). Now I’m all for world travel and exploring new places but I have to admit there’s something pretty cool about being able to see so many (replica’s) of famous places within a single street – see our guide to going around the world in Las Vegas on travelmag.co.uk.

I was excited to write about the best Romantic hotels in Las Vegas for the travel magazine this week where I shared my tips on the 5 best places to stay for romance. Truth is the whole of Vegas is built for romantic endeavours so even if you can’t afford the four seasons you can still use the spa and pool, drink at the bar and eat in the restaurants. Then go back and sleep at one of the top cheap hotels in Vegas!!

The problem with visiting somewhere like Vegas for just a few days is you only get to scratch the surface of all the great things to do in Las Vegas and amazing places to eat both on the stip and further afield. There are literally hundreds of world class restaurants here, a good few of which are located within the top resorts like the Venetian and Bellagio. For me a meal out has to be steak so Stripsteak at Mandalay bay has to be my favourite Vegas restaurant. Here’s a few more tips on the most famous restaurants in Vegas.

I think fall is a great time of year to visit Vegas. Warm days and cool nights are a great combo and the fun of Halloween and the lead up to thanksgiving always makes for a great atmosphere. I wrote this post looking at the best time to visit Vegas – the conclusion really is there is no right or best time but still hopefully this will give you some pointers!

Its no secret that Vegas can be expensive. While hotels are actually relatively affordable in comparison to other US cities and flight subsidies mean getting here shouldn’t break the bank living the high life in Vegas can quickly empty even the deepest pockets. I’ve written a few articles on doing Vegas on the cheap and even finding free things to do in Vegas for when the money runs out – which it eventually will!

For me its still got to be the Bellagio. I don’t think it can be beaten. But if its your first time in Vegas you should at least try. I just wrote about my favourite Vegas buffets on the strip and the truth is there’s not a one size fits all answer to whats the best buffet in Vegas – what you really need to do is try ‘em all;-) Probably not all in the same day though!

One of the biggest complaints with the top Vegas hotels which I hear time and time again is resort fees – that extra $20 or more a day which some of the resort hotels throw onto your bill. Now I don’t like resort fees and I’ve written before about Las Vegas resorts without fees but lets get this into proportion – hotels do have to compete on price to fill their rooms. If there rooms aren’t full there’s less money to reinvest and eventually standards drop. To maintain the level of luxury in the hotels which we’ve come to expect the resorts need to be running a profit and resort fees are one way to scrape some revenue back from the reservation sites and travel agents who take a large chunk of the pie from the hotel rates you pay. I’m not saying its fun paying fee’s cos it ain’t, but just something to bear in mind

I know that most first timers in Vegas don’t ever make it far from the strip and I kinda get it. When I first came here I think the furthest we made it was to the Stratosphere for dinner! But I’ve gotta say what keeps Vegas interesting time and time again is not just the awesome nightlife but the great stuff you can do within an easy day trip of the strip. The Grand Canyon is of course a no-brainer but there’s also a bunch more stuff which I talk about in this post on day trips out of Vegas. Check it out for some ideas.

Las Vegas has so much to offer in terms of nightlife its almost impossible to know where to start. I’ve talked about my favourite clubs in Vegas before but these are mostly the places which everyone knows about – that doesn’t mean they’re not good but they’re designed primarily to extract cash from tourists. In this post on Las Vegas nightlife I take a slightly different route and look more at shows and other things to do in Vegas after dark – then there’s this guide to clubbing in Vegas which gives a few more tips about the clubs themselves. I’m working on an entire nightlife section for Las Vegas travel which is going to cover all of this in much more detail so stay tuned for that.

You never forget your first time right?! In this guide for Vegas virgins I take a look at some tips for first timers in Vegas talking about where to stay and what to do if its your first time here. Hopefully there’s some useful tips here even if its not your first time.

We believe that holidays in Las Vegas can offer something for everyone. Vegas isn’t just for partying and gambling (although yeah, those things play a major part). In this post for besttravelwebsites.com I take a look at some of the highlights of holidays in Las Vegas whatever type of group or party you’re with.