Highs and lows
The Fremont Street Experience is a free light show projected onto the underside of a four-block-long metal canopy that arches over a pedestrian mall. Shows are at the top of the hour, from nightfall to midnight. (Francine Orr / LAT)
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden at the Mirage Hotel. (Francine Orr / LAT)
The spa at the Westin Casuarina Hotel is a respite from the rush of Las Vegas. Still, it’s just a two-minute walk from the corner of Flamingo and the Strip, home to the Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally’s. (Francine Orr / LAT)
The Elvis-a-Rama Museum is said to house $5 million worth of Presley memorabilia. The entrance fee automatically includes an Elvis show: $14.95 for the show, but the museum tour is extra. At the time of the author’s visit, the King’s blue suede shoes were on loan. (Francine Orr / LAT)
The Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo Las Vegas houses pink Chilean flamingos, as well as endangered African penguins, Australian black swans, helmeted guinea fowl and various ducks. And it’s free. (Francine Orr / LAT)
Liberace Museum: Once as painfully tacky as Elvis-a-Rama, this off-Strip tribute to the man who invented over-the-top Vegas camp is now a respectable and seriously curated presentation. (Francine Orr / LAT)
Celine Dion’s “A New Day “ : It’s not that it’s a terrible show. Well, it was when it opened in 2003, but it’s refined itself since then and Celine looks better and chest-thumps less. But her music is so relaxing that it fails to deliver the jolt of energy that Vegas theater is supposed to give. (Francine Orr / LAT)
The Fremont Street Experience: Yes, it’s downtown, which loses points with lots of Vegas-goers. But aside from the Bellagio’s fountains, the best free spectacle in town is the astonishing, clever light show projected onto the underside of a four-block-long metal canopy that arches over a pedestrian mall. (Francine Orr / LAT)
