Top Outdoor Attractions in Las Vegas

The Linq Promenade’s Central Plaza.
The Linq Promenade’s Central Plaza

On a recent visit to Las Vegas, we ventured outside the casinos to enjoy a few fun activities that you can recommend to clients who may wish to try a different side of the city. When dinner time rolled around, we found an culinary adventure to satisfy our appetite for something interactive.

Dig This, the country’s first heavy-equipment playground, is right off the Strip, close to the Wynn and Encore hotels. Visitors can, after a quick introduction (and a breathalyzer test), hop into a bulldozer or excavator to get to work. It makes for a great family or team-building activity.

As they learn proper operational skills, drivers can dig holes, push dirt around, make a hill and then drive up it. Good to know: The drivers are connected via headset to an instructor at all times, so no worries about not knowing how to stop this crazy thing or running into another operator’s space. Safety is just as important as fun, and Dig This emphasizes both.

A must is spending some time in an excavator, where drivers can pick up basketballs and drop them into tires to show off their newly learned dexterity. (It’s amazing that a machine capable of digging into hard-packed earth can be so precise and gentle that it can be used for a basketball game.)

Dig This, located just off the Strip, is the country’s first heavy-equipment playground.
Dig This, located just off the Strip, is the country’s first heavy-equipment playground.

Tip: Advise clients to wear comfy, casual shoes for this activity. While no heavy lifting is required and the machinery is climate-controlled, the lot is real desert dirt and dress shoes would probably get smudged. Contact Group Sales Manager James Von Eps ([email protected], 702-222-4344) for any special requests.

Fresh-Air Shopping

The Linq Promenade — the popular open-air retail, dining and entertainment district — has some top shops in the fresh air. The entire facility, which has been opening in stages, will have more than 30 shops, restaurants, bars and venues when completed.

Unique stores here include footwear mecca Bella Scarpa; 12AM RUN (pronounced “Midnight Run”), a sneaker and urban-inspired clothing shop partnered with hip-hop artist Nas; and an outpost of L.A. lifestyle boutique Kitson. There are also several nightlife options, so tell your clients to come by late to make the most of it.

The High Roller, a 550-foot-high observation wheel offering 360-degree views of Las Vegas, is the focal point of The Linq Promenade and the newest “must do” there.

Make Your Own Paella

The Cosmopolitan, one of Las Vegas’ newer resorts, has an array of restaurants covering a range of cuisines. But for visitors looking for a fun hands-on activity, visit Jaleo, an authentic Spanish restaurant with a massive Paella Grill in the middle of the room so that diners can watch their to-order rice dishes be prepared from scratch. Even better, with advance reservations they can participate and make their own paella while sipping sangria and sampling tapas. (The dish takes just under an hour to make, and the guests can be as involved, or uninvolved, as they like in the process.)

While preparing the dish, aspiring chefs can learn about Spanish cuisine and how Head Chef Jose Andres combines traditional cooking styles with local Southwestern produce. (As many ingredients as possible are locally sourced and nothing is pre-made, including the chicken stock.)

The Auto Collections at The Linq Resort & Casino.
The Auto Collections at The Linq Resort & Casino.

Bonus: This is one of the few restaurants we’ve seen in the U.S. with a traditional jamon iberico (traditional Spanish style of cured ham) available for sampling. Only recently made available for import, the ham sets the tone for a genuine Spanish experience.

For special requests, reach out to the Cosmopolitan’s Director of Leisure Sales Erin Naeve ([email protected], 702-698-7086), or contact the restaurant directly ([email protected], 702-698-7950).

Another View on Things to Do

Looking for more ideas for something different to do in Las Vegas, we reached out to an expert, DavidTravel CEO David Rubin. In addition to seconding our appreciation of Jaleo and Dig This, he came up with these suggestions:

Vegas Balloon Rides offers a spectacular bird’s-eye view of the Las Vegas Valley,” he says. “It’s amazing to see what Las Vegas was built out of; there’s nothing but desert in the distance. [Also the] Hoover Dam and Hoover Dam Bypass are worth the short drive of about 45 minutes. We parked on the Arizona side and the walk over the dam was amazing. There are a few companies that do the drive. We’ve dealt with a DMC, AlliedTPro, and set up a private tour of the dam. It’s worth going on an interior tour of the dam, or to get a car and driver for a private tour.”

For indoor fun, Rubin says that The Auto Collections at The Linq Resort & Casino “is a great collection of cars and other auto-related memorabilia. The range of vehicles spans several decades and includes Marilyn Monroe’s pink car and the car full of holes where Al Capone died. There are cars for sale there, as well, so the exhibit always changes. For collectors, it’s a place to buy, but for anyone, it’s fun to see what the cars are selling for. [It’s] a bit hard to find as it is on the top floor of the parking garage at the back of the hotel.”

New Culinary Treats

Since our return from Las Vegas, we’ve learned of some other developments on the culinary front. Aria Resort & Casino has announced the opening of a new restaurant, the French Bardot Brasserie from James Beard award-winning Chef Michael Mina. The design, meant to evoke a café along the Champs-Élysées in the 1920s, complements the traditional French dishes on the menu.

The new Off the Strip, a two-story bar and bistro at The Linq Promenade, is open 24 hours a day with menus that change seasonally. Like the original venue, founded in 2007 in the Southern Highlands area, The Linq location will offer many signature menu items, including sliders, grilled sirloin burgers, eggplant parmesan, shrimp scampi, beef Wellington and pasta. A new “Fresh & Fit” menu is also available.