MichelleY

I did that same tour in 1996. Not sure if they still do it after 9/11. I agree, it is spectacular and so interesting.

beba

I was in Vegas in Oct for the first time. Stayed at The Mirage which is mid way on the strip and found it great to get around. The Venetian across the street, Caesars next door, Wynn close, so very convenient. The Mirage has a lot going for it..great location, decent prices, The Volcano out front, good food (and lots of places to eat in the hotel), nice pool, the Secret Garden, Terry Fator, trolley to Treasure Island..I could go on and on.
For what it is worth I believe that to enjoy the total experience of The Strip you need to be on The Strip, but everyone is different.

DebitNM

We did the extended tour at Hoover Dam in January; highly recommend it.

scdreamer

I agree ... stay on the strip. Distances are really quite far between hotels and casinos, even though it might appear that it's just a few minutes' walk. The casino hotels are so huge, they take up what would be many blocks in any other city.

WhereAreWe

If you want to go to Valley of Fire, just make the stop on your way back from Zion. You don't say when your trip is but if it's summer it will be very hot there so you won't do much hiking.

Whether you stay on the strip or not really depends on how much money you want to spend. It's really not that hard to stay off strip, drive to a central location and walk from there. Avoid driving on the strip itself, just use the intersecting streets to get to a casino lot.

Brenkjtravel

If you are going to be in the Bryce Zion's area I would highly recommend stopping in Cedar City to attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival. They have received a Tony, have been around for nearly 50 years and put on wonderful productions. We travel to see their shows from Az. every summer. The outdoor Globe replica at night makes it a magical experience. ( be sure to buy tickets for the Adams theatre as there is also an indoor theatre) You could hit this between Bryce and Zion for an evening, sleep one night there, then be on your way.

As far as Vegas goes my personal favorites are the Bellagio fountain show (free out front every 15 min or so), after dining at their really great Italian restaurant (don't remember the name). Cirque Du Soliel is a must if you have never seen one. Also, I much preferred the David Copperfield show over Chris Angel, for magic shows. We alway stay at the MGM Grand, great location, great pool, nice rooms, good prices. There is a last minute tickets booth right outside the MGM, where you can purchase tickets to shows for a discounted price. I think you have to go there at 10am for any matinee shows and 2pm for evening shows. We always hit the booth and get tickets for shows that day. Cirque shows can sell out though, depending on the time of year. One of the best things about Vegas is the many fun and delicious places to eat at all of the different hotels. I love just walking through all the Hotels, they are all so different and interesting. Personally I have seen the Dam, it is really not worth taking time out of your vacation to see, it's just a really big dam.
Have a great trip and enjoy Zion's and all it's breathtaking beauty!

jp4120

thanks for all your helpful comments.
we will be going may 5 thru may 10....so shouldn't be extreme heat.
cutting it to 2 nights in the national parks because for us the landscape can get repetitive, although very nice.
we have been to lake Powell for 2 days twice, been to grand canyon south rim area for 1 day on a couple occasions. Both times for both places we didn't feel like it was too short. We will stay on the strip, thinking mgm grand or paris.