6 Best things to see & do in Las Vegas

Stretching more than four miles, the Strip might well have the densest concentration of flash, whizz, bang sights in the world. Here, the buildings sparkle (so much so, that when flying over Vegas, the city resembles a ball of light in a sea of black). It’s home to some of the world’s biggest hotels, with a total of more than 60,000 hotel rooms lining the iconic avenue, and nearly 200,000 slot machines!

A journey from one end to the other yields enormous dancing fountains, pirate ship battles, and erupting volcanoes – and better yet, most of it can be enjoyed for free.

There are few more jaw-dropping landscapes in the world than the ‘Grand Canyon’ – the mighty 277-mile long, 1-mile-deep gash, carved into the Arizona rock by the Colorado River.

Given its gargantuan scale, you need height and distance to appreciate its scale and majesty. Helicopter tours afford flyers a bird-eye view, and are able to descend thousands of feet below the canyon’s rim. Some tours even land at the canyon’s base for sunset cocktails.

Without question one of the world’s greatest helicopter flights and unmissable.

The USD40 million water, light, and music show that takes place every afternoon and evening in front of the Bellagio, is one of the world’s most spectacular visual displays. Over 1,200 jets shoot water as high as 460ft into the air in an intricately-choreographed sequence.

The Mirage’s volcano, one of Vegas’ most iconic images, is a thrilling show of fire, light, and sound where 150-plus fire shooters send up flames in a routine choreographed to music. Eruptions daily, on the hour from 8pm-11pm.

The 18 holes at this public course about 20 minutes west of the Vegas Strip are all replicas of holes Jack Nicklaus has designed in other desert locations – Arizona, California, Mexico and elsewhere. With the exception of the fabulous 18th, the holes aren’t a selection of signatures from the other courses, but as a whole they work quite well together and are a wonderful option to the much more expensive courses around the city.

The setup is straightforward, the staff are really friendly and you get to play (bits of) 18 different Nicklaus courses – all in one day.

Shadow Creek is a tribute to excess. Tom Fazio was given nearly $50m to sculpt this beauty out of the Nevada desert, and the result was a pristine track with carpet-like fairways, plenty of water features and a gorgeous mountain backdrop. It has all the qualities of Augusta, but you’re only 15 minutes away from the Vegas strip.

Build it and they will come; ‘they’ being the big-money players staying at the big hotels in Vegas. The locker room has all the names – Jordan, Gretzky, Clinton, Bush etc. In 2018 it hosted ‘The Match’ between Tiger and Mickelson.