10 Things To Do In Vegas

Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. Las Vegas bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and is famous for the number of casino resorts and other major entertainment attractions. Its tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title Sin City. Because of this, Las Vegas has been a popular setting for many films and television entertainment series. Also, with its year round high temperatures (due to its location in the Nevada desert), most of its resorts feature luxurious swimming pools and massive indoor climate controls. Home to some of the finest hotels and casinos in the world, Las Vegas is a mega-popular tourist destination.

Here is a top ten list of attractions in Las Vegas, Nevada:

10. Gallery of Fine Art at the Bellagio: Located in the heart of the Bellagio you'll find the Gallery of Fine Art. Stop by and visit the current exhibits to see the artworks that have come from museums as well as private collections.

9. Gaming Classes at the Las Vegas Hilton: If you are planning on gambling, these 30 or so minute classes can be fun and education. Most of them are free, so why not include them in your things to do in Las Vegas? You will need to inquire on class times at the Las Vegas Hilton.

8. Visit the bar in the Stratosphere tower: It costs $8.00 to go up, but the view of the city at night is priceless. Don't bother with the rides. The restaurant is nice but very pricey; just to go to the bar.

7. See the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay: Here you will come face-to-face with some of the earth's most fascinating creatures in North America's only predator-based aquarium and exhibit. See sharks of all kinds, along with sawfish, giant rays, endangered green sea turtles, piranha, moon jellies and the rare golden crocodiles. In all, there are over 2,000 animals in 1.6 million gallons of seawater.

6. Take the New York-New York Roller Coaster: Let the good times roll. The roller coaster will lift you up 203 feet, drop you down 144 feet and leave you breathless at speeds of up to 67 mph. It simulates a jet fighter's barrel roll; you'll turn 180 degrees, hang 86 feet in the air, take the famous "heartline" twist and dive, and get your negative g's on! Ah, what a rush.

5. Visit the Hoover Dam: Once known as Boulder Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada.

4. Gamble: Most of the places on the Strip will have $5 minimums for craps and card games. If you want to gamble on the cheap, you need to go downtown, where you can find $1 and $2 minimums. On the Strip, the Sahara (north end) usually has $1 and $2 blackjack, and Casino Royale (center), an old dive by Strip standards but with a nice old-time Vegas feel.

3. Las Vegas Space Flights: The zero gravity Las Vegas experience is now available for those who wish to feel weightless. A specially designed Boeing 727 will perform effects of a real space flight including flying smaller parabolas that recreate lunar gravity.

2. See the Cirque du Soleil: a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Olympic gymnasts catapult themselves over the stage, risking their lives in outlandish costumes to world music and an amazing lightshow. There really is nothing else like it.

1. See the Bellagio Fountains: Every half-hour between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and every 15 minutes from then 'til midnight, an 8.5-acre lake in the middle of the desert explodes with 1,214 individual fountains shooting water up to 460 feet in the air set to the tune of Sinatra or Gene Kelly.

One of the best features of this amazing city is that many of the attractions are next to free. Free drinks, gaming tickets and complimentary meals are the norm in this city of high-stakes, go big or go home gambling. If you play your cards right, so to speak, you can have the time of your life for as little as a movie and a popcorn!