8 things you must do in Las Vegas

1: Take a hike…or go for a run

Seriously. Vegas might feel like a huge metropolis but it’s actually little more than a skinny neon-lit strip bang in the middle of a vast desert. When you tire of the glitz and the glamour, stick on a pair of trainers and head out into the wilderness for a blast of fresh air.

Las Vegas Running Tours, founded just three years ago, organises a variety of hikes or runs of different lengths in the Mojave Desert and along the Strip (otherwise known as Las Vegas Boulevard).

You can join an organised trip or, if there’s a group of you, Las Vegas Running Tours will organise something that suits.

Founder Jimmy picked me and my friends up from our hotel at 6.30am for a 90-minute hike in Bootleg Canyon, a short drive from the Strip.

It was hideously early, we all felt groggy after less than three hours sleep but thanks to Jimmy’s upbeat patter (think Jim Carrey’s younger brother) and his thoughtfully provided snack bags full of energy bars, we’d all perked up by the time we arrived at the starting point for the hike.

Just to remind us we really were in the desert, we almost trod on a tarantula and some of the group eyeballed a coyote. Lagging at the back, I missed the coyote but I did see lots of Big Horned Sheep poo, so that was good. The desert is also home to Diamondback Rattlesnakes, the Desert Tortoise, Red Tailed Hawks and bats.

The steep path we climbed was rocky underfoot and felt a tad unstable at times, probably due to the early morning rainfall, but with a helping hand from Jimmy and colleagues Danny and Pete just about anyone of any age could manage it.

More strenuous runs and hikes are available. Options include a trail through a mining town, navigating historic tunnels by the famous Hoover Dam and a ‘Valley of Fire’ hike.

Las Vegas Running Tours also organises daily morning 5km runs along the Strip, meeting by the fountains at the front of the Bellagio Hotel at 7am and jogging to the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign before looping back, snapping photos of the Strip’s iconic attractions along the way.

If you’re organising a corporate event in Vegas, the company will put together fun runs, in fact this is quite a big part of its business. As Jimmy says, you don’t have to choose between partying hard and exercising in Vegas. "We pick up some guys straight from the casino, they just throw on some tennis shoes."

www.lasvegasrunningtours.com

2: Fly to the Grand Canyon

You can’t possibly come this far and not see one of the seven wonders of the natural world, not when it’s only a short helicopter ride away. Of course, you can go by road too, but that takes several hours and it’s not nearly as much fun.

Maverick  will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the airport, just a few minutes’ away, from where it will fly you to the Canyon, passing over Las Vegas Lake, home to many of stars including Britney Spears and George Clooney, the spectacular Hoover Dam, an extinct volcano and Boulder Lake.

Choose the Wind Dancer Air and Landing Tour and you’ll touch down in Hualapai Indian Territory, deep in the Canyon, just above the Colorado River.

There’ll be time to walk around and snap some photos. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a condor or two. Make sure you wear flat shoes, preferably with some grip as the ground is stony and a bit lose underfoot.

On the return leg, there’s a refuelling stop in the desert, where you’ll see the unique Joshua Tree. Just before landing back at the airport, the helicopters swoop over the Strip.

At $539 a head, this tour’s not cheap, but it’s one of the highlights of a trip to Las Vegas.

For those with more time and more cash, there’s an extended tour that includes a second stop on the West Rim of the Canyon where you can enjoy views of Eagle Point and receive a brief talk about Hualapai Indian legends and culture before heading to the Guano Point observation spot for a meal.

An optional extra on this tour is a walk on the Skywalk, a glass bridge that extends 4,000 feet above the Colorado River.

www.maverickhelicopter.co.uk

3: Get some R&R

Vegas is best-known for its nightlife, but what do you do during the day? Well, the gambling is 24/7 so you could spend all your time in a windowless casino where night merges into day, you could shop in one of the many malls or visit one of the outlet stores….or you could relax by the pool.

Most of the hotels on The Strip have snazzy pools where they’re trying to foster a chilled, Miami-beach style vibe. During high season in the summer they have DJs playing during the day and when the sun goes down they host night-time pool parties.

For a touch of luxury (this is Vegas after all), reserve a poolside cabana for the day. The most luxurious come fitted with TVs, sofas, mini bars, tables and chairs, providing somewhere to escape from the heat.

Our cabana at The Cosmopolitan Hotel, one of the newest, coolest hotels in Vegas and one of the best located mid-way along the Strip (next to the Bellagio, opposite Planet Hollywood) included sun loungers half-in, half-out of the Boulevard pool and waitress service. There’s no charge for a cabana, but you have to commit to spending a significant amount on food and drink, so you’d better be thirsty or hungry or have a taste for expensive Champagne. Otherwise, just grab a lounger and enjoy the vibe.

Note that pools close for the winter, when it does get chilly in Vegas, so check opening dates with your hotel.

www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

4: See a show

Aside from the gambling, Vegas is best known for attracting some of the world’s best performers. Britney Spears has just extended her two-year residency at Planet Hollywood till next April, and right now she’s one of the biggest stars in town.

What’s great about Vegas is that the venues are smaller than some of the massive arenas we’re used to, so the shows are more intimate.

Perhaps surprisingly, you don’t necessarily have to book months or even weeks in advance. We got tickets to see Britney’s Piece of Me performance at Planet Hollywood just a few days beforehand.

We bought our tickets online before we left the UK, but Tix4tonight.com has 11 booths dotted along Las Vegas Boulevard (otherwise known as The Strip) where you can buy tickets for that evening’s performances, sometimes at a discount.

Photo by Alexia Yuill

5: Take a ride on the Slotzilla zip line

This is a bonkers, slot machine-inspired attraction whereby visitors zoom along Fremont Street in downtown Vegas, hanging from a zip wire more than 100-feet high.

You can take the lower zipline or the upper ‘zoomline’ and travel prone or in super-hero style at about 40 mph.

The attraction is all part of a Las Vegas plan to lure more visitors downtown, which used to be quite seedy but has had something of a facelift. To be honest, it still is scruffy compared to the Strip and I wouldn’t want to be there alone at night, but it’s certainly interesting.

6: Visit the Neon Museum and the Mob Museum

If you do venture downtown, you might as well visit two of the city’s newest and most interesting attractions, the Neon Museum, sometimes referred to affectionately as ‘the boneyard’ and the Mob Museum.

The Neon Museum has rescued countless historic signs that once adorned the most famous hotels and casinos in Vegas, including the Starlight and El Cortez, the oldest continuously operating casino downtown.

While some of the signs have been restored to their former glory many are battered and broken, but a guided hour-long tour of the yard gives a real sense of the history of Vegas.

Try to go at night when some of the signs will be lit. Tickets sell out early.

To delve deeper into the history of Vegas, pay a visit to the Mob Museum, situated in a former court house downtown, which catalogues the rise of the Chicago ‘outift’ and the part it played in the history of Las Vegas. It’s fascinating stuff.

7: See the Wynn Lake of Dreams light show

One of the weirdest attractions in a city that’s a byword for weird, this is a crazy spectacle of music and bizarre images, created by over 4,000 lights sunk into a lake at the Wynn, one of the city’s poshest hotels.

Grab a cocktail at the Parasol Down bar and wait on the outdoor terrace for the lake to light up. If the first show leaves you thinking "wait, what?", you need another drink, obviously.

Photo by Kerry Fitchett

8: Have a flutter

When in Vegas……Although only a tiny percentage of its zillions of visitors come to gamble, very few leave without at least sticking a dollar in a slot machine. To be honest, it’s hard to avoid gambling in this city as every hotel has a casino and in many you have to walk through them to get to the lifts/loos/bars or even to the reception.

You can stick with the slots (and thousands of visitors do, sometimes, tragically, for days) or try your hand at cards. There’s no need to be intimidated if you’ve never played before as the dealers – and sometimes other more experienced players – will tell you what to do. Just don’t get carried away and bet more than you can afford to lose!

My group of novices nervously approached a Black Jack table at the Wynn (IMO the only Vegas casino that offers the slightest whiff of glamour), where the boldest of us took a seat and was helped to a tidy win by another couple at the table – along with some useful facial expressions from the dealer.

Things to note are that all tables have a minimum bet, which seems to vary from $15 to $50, players get free booze (but you should tip the waitress) and if you win, it’s good etiquette to tip the dealer before you leave. Oh, and don’t leave without your shirt, it’s not a good look, even here where pretty much anything goes.