Nevada: Las Vegas, Valley of Fire, Nelson & More
There are few places in the world you immediately recognize when seeing certain pictures. Las Vegas is definitely one of them. I mean, are there other cities with a sign this big and this famous? So, as you understood by now, today it is all about Las Vegas and its surroundings. I know Vegas is not that high on places people want to visit, so I’ll try to show you why I truly enjoyed my stay and that there’s way more to Sin City than just gambling and casinos.
As mentioned before, to me, Las Vegas is way more than just casinos. But I didn’t know all that when planning the trip, that’s why I decided to make Vegas our ‘home base’ for a week and to visit various places from there. The ones in Nevada will be included in this blog post. The Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend will be mentioned in next week’s blog post. If you can, try out different hotels in Vegas, you might be surprised. First, we stayed at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel, but then we wanted to stay closer to the Strip, so we changed to the Paris, and being in the middle of the hustle and bustle was exactly what we wanted!
The ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ Sign
Want to head to the place that makes you sing ‘Viva Las Vegas’ in your head? Then you have to head directly to the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign. If you enter the city from the south, this sign is one of the first things you see, just as the skyscrapers begin to rise behind it. This is the obligatory Vegas shot and even though it’s not that original, it is definitely a great one! The sign is busy at all times, so I was glad I headed there in the morning when the queue was not that long. There was also a friendly local who continuously offers tourists to take their picture.
The Strip
If you want to see the world but do not want to travel every single place: just head to Las Vegas. If you want, you can see nearly all of Europe within a few hours. As I already told you, during the second part of my stay in Vegas, I stayed at the Paris. You want to know what it’s like to see the Eiffel Tower every day? Well, then this is the place for you. They rebuild it, and there’s even a restaurant inside. Inside the hotel, you’ll find Parisienne alleys, shops, creperies and you can genuinely forget the time when wandering around. But of course, this is not the only hotel/casino of its kind. New York New York is located more south on the Strip, and here you’ll find the Statue of Liberty, and there’s even an ACTIVE rollercoaster surrounding the hotel. Rather north on the Strip you’ll find another Vegas classic: the Ceasar’s Palace with a Trevi Fountain in front of the hotel.
But to me, the most impressive hotel of this kind was surely the Venetian. Already from the outside, you get Italian vibes. There’s the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge on the outside, and then you enter the hotel via the Palazzo Ducale. As someone who’s been to Venice frequently, I was just mumbling ‘this can’t be real’ constantly. But the highlight are surely the Venetian Canals: you can actually ride a gondola, shop in Italian boutiques and gelaterias, eat in a trattoria and at some point, a woman started singing classic Italian songs. This is truly madness.
But when talking about Las Vegas, the Strip and famous casinos, I’m pretty sure there is one specific casino that comes to your mind: the Bellagio. Just like Dubai, Las Vegas has its own water fountain show that fascinates hundreds of people every 15, 30 or 60 minutes, depending on the day and hour. If you ever watched one of the Ocean’s movies, you surely are familiar with the show, and for me, it’s been a dream watching it. Also, I binge-watched all the film as soon as I found out I’m heading to Vegas and I was curious if the Bellagio lives up to its hype. If you ask for my opinion: it does! Also, while you are there, don’t miss out on watching one of the many shows that are found on the Strip. This year, it’s been all about the Cirque Du Soleil, and the presumably best show of them is the show called ‘O’ which I went to watch in the Bellagio and to keep it short: I just don’t understand how human bodies can be moved this way! It’s been a surreal experience!
The Neon Museum
Vegas is everchanging. The city is evolving, and even though it might not seem like this on first glance, it has a lot of history. But not the history we Europeans have in mind. If you want to get a feeling for the old Las Vegas, you should visit the Neon Museum. It is also called the ‘neon boneyard’, and this is where the signs of Las Vegas go to die. The museum was founded in 1996 and is not a cheap place to visit if you do not qualify for any discounts. Also, tickets are cheaper when bought online, which can be done up until a few minutes before the visit.
The tallest sign of the museum is undoubtedly the Hard Rock guitar, which was installed at the Las Vegas hotel until 2017, but no matter what kind of neon signs you are looking for, you’ll surely find one you like. In spite of the price, the museum is not that big, so you’ll have worked through it within half an hour, if it’s really hot you’ll might be even faster. Keep in mind that cameras are forbidden, you can only take pictures with your phone.
The Seven Magic Mountains
The Seven Magic Mountains are an art installation south of Las Vegas, just a few minutes off the Interstate 15. Initially, they were intended to last 2 years, from 2016 to 2018. Still, due to their popularity, they have remained and ever since their installation, they are a huge tourist attraction. They were designed by a Swiss artist. Each of the seven ‘mountains’ has a height between 7 and 9 metres. The Seven Magic Mountains were definitely one of the highlights of Las Vegas and visiting them is free, so if you have a morning or afternoon to spare, you should definitely check them out. Fun story: I don’t know if it’s really true, but it is said the artist was inspired by his family history which has roots in Sassi di Matera, which I visited on my road trip through southern Italy.
Nelson Ghost Town
Want to feel as if you took a time machine and got back to the times of the gold rush? Well, then you’re lucky, as just about 45 minutes from Las Vegas, there is Nelson Ghost Town. Back in 1775, Nelson was called Eldorado by Spaniards who discovered gold in this area. About a hundred years later the Techatticup Mine as established and active until 1945. Several years ago, Nelson was partially destroyed by a flash flood.
It was amazing to explore a little town full of old cars, a gas station, and vintage goods. I mean, there was even a yellow school bus – does it get any more American? Wandering around Nelson was great fun, and there’s also a small bar located that has prices that seem to come from a different time (1$ for a coke?!). Luckily, this place is not that famous among tourists, so you’ll explore the town nearly on your own, and you have lots of time to take pictures and read without people breathing down your neck.
Valley of Fire State Park
Recently, the web has been overflown with pictures from the Valley of Fire State Park. And if you look at the pictures below, are you even surprised? The bright orange and red colours are simply fascinating. It is also the oldest and biggest state park of Nevada and was founded back in 1935.
The Valley of Fire State Park is located in the Mohave Desert, around an hour north-west from Las Vegas. As it is a state park and not a national park, it is not included in the interagency pass, but the entrance fee is only 10$. The park itself is rather small, and within a few hours, you’ll have explored everything. I just loved how the scenery changed from the Death Valley, where the colours were brighter orange or even white tones, to these orange colours, and then later on the Grand Canyon’s darker reds. Just as in the Death Valley, there were lots of warning signs because of the heat and park rangers hand you info leaflets when entering the park.
I hope I was able to show you that there’s more to Vegas than just gambling. It’s a city that can offer you so much, no matter if you want to explore its surroundings or not. As mentioned, I made even more trips from Vegas, but they were to Arizona, so I’ll tell you more about them next week.
