Volcano eruption at the Mirage and other Las Vegas, NV Things to Do Tips

There is a large volcano outside the Mirage which erupts several times a night. The show times are posted. Its quite a sight, and its free.

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Address: Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas Strip

Another free activity in Vegas. The Bellagio hotel has an indoor conservatory/garden. The displays change seasonally, but always involve elaborate sculptures such as the ones shown in the photo. Since you'll probably check out the Bellagio while in Vegas, take a walk towards the back and check out the display.

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Address: Bellagio hotel

There are so many tourist attractions in the hotels that you really have to pick and choose. Its impossible to do all of them in a short visit. Plus, it can get pretty expensive. Personally, I'm a big fan of wax museums. I don't know why, but I just find them entretaining.

This wax museum was pretty small and there is no chamber of horrors, but the figures are very well done. Inside, you'll find wax impersonations of sports figures such as Shaquille O 'Neil and pop stars like Britney Spears. Elvis also makes an appearance as it wouldn't be a Las Vegas attraction without some form of Elvis impersonation.

Some of the exhibits are interactive and feature background sound and backdrops to help create the image that you are in a movie scene or real life scenario next to one of these figures. The sets make for great photo opportunities and the figures look as life like
in pictures as they do when walking through Madame Tussauds.
I found it entertaining and worth the price, which was around $15. I've included some of the photos in a separate travelogue.

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Address: The Venetian Hotel & Casino
Website: www.venetian.com

If you're a tourist in Vegas, you have to go to at least one all you can eat buffet. They are an exercise in gluttony and designated to encourage mass consumption of food combinations you wouldn't ordinarily pair into the same week, much less the same meal, but the experience is so quntessentially Vegas- over the top and not always in a good way.
That being said, I wouldn't recommend visiting one buffet per day for each day of your trip like I did. in fact, I'd strongly advise against it. But eating at a Vegas buffet is something you have to do at least once.

Most hotels have a buffet serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'd recommend an early lunch buffet as the most cost effective choice and a way to beat the crowds. The breakfast buffets I sampled seemed to be pretty standard issue, simply bacon and eggs deals, although one did have a salad bar for the a.m. crowd.

The Surf Buffet at the Boardwalk is open 24 hours, in case you get that craving at 3 a.m. Again, I would not advise an all you can eat buffet after an evening of drinking or gambling or both, but its there if you want it. I'll give more of my personal recommendations in my restaurant tips.

The buffets vary in price and quality but average around $15. Generally, there's a wide selection of different types of food including seafood, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Middle Eastern and usually a salad bar and a dessert table thrown in as well. I've sampled quite a few of these buffets, as you can see from my restaurant tips, and they do get repetitive after a while. Also, the majority of food offerings is average at best. This is not your gourmet dining experience. But, its an experience not to be missed.

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Yes, this does get old after you've seen it a few times, but the Bellagio fountain show is quite a sight to the first time tourist. Set to music, the fountain show takes place every 15 minutes or every half an hour, I can't remember which. Hundreds of fountains dance to the music, some soaring as high as 240 feet (73 meters).

Actually, see it twice- once during the day and once when the fountains are lit up at night.

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Address: Hotel Bellagio

I've been told that this one's a must see, although I didn't go to the top of the tower. I hate heights. And I wasn't crazy about the Stratosphere hotel either. But its the world's tallest hotel tower, or something like that, and its supposed to be an incredible view. So I recommend taking the trip up to the top. And let me know how it was.

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Phone: (800) 998-6937
Address: 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: North end of the Strip

The white tiger habitat is located along a long hallway in the Mirage Hotel. Here you can see the famous and beautiful white tigers from the former Seigfried and Roy show. The tigers roam around this area which consists of a swimming pool and cave. This is a free exhibit you can walk past on your way into or out of the Mirage.

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Phone: 800 374-9000
Address: Mirage Hotel and Casino
Website: www.themirage.com

The garden was created as a habitat for the animals who were once part of the Seigfried and Roy show. It is a pretty impressive collection of 40 or so endangered animal species, including white lions and white tigers in a pseudo forest setting. I'm not sure if its worth the price of admission, which runs $12.00 (as of 2004), so I'll let you decide that one for yourselves.

Admission into the secret garden also includes the dolphin habitat. This habitat is a large pool, or several connected pools rather, where Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are kept. The facility is touted as an educational and research facility, but its mostly a tourist attraction for the Mirage Hotel.

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Address: Mirage Hotel and Casino
Website: www.themirage.com

Not to be outdone by the neighboring Mirage's erupting volcano, Treasure Island, (or TI) has a nightly pirate show outside the hotel. The show is put on several times a night. The show is being upgraded from a mere battle of pirates to one involving scantily clad women, hence the title "The Sirens of TI."

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Address: Treasure Island Hotel and Casino

This might seem a bit tacky or touristy, but I liked the talking statue show at the fountain inside Caesar's Palace. It was tough to get a shot of these guys, and this was the best I could come up with, but watching these figures move about is something worth seeing, once.

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Phone: 1-(800) 634-6661
Address: 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: Center Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage