On my next trip to the States in August, I am going to have a weekend in Las Vegas. Are there halfday/day trips to the Hoover Dam? Or is it too far away?

Anne in Australia

Plenty of tours to Hoover Dam. It's not far from Vegas but the traffic getting in and out is somewhat slow. Check with the hotel desk at your hotel.

Anna in Illinois

Hi Anne,

If you have a car drive out to the dam yourself for a really nice day. The drive itself is very pretty (for those of us from the north east anyway).

My husband and I were there last fall and we paid the extra money for the "hard hat" tour. We had to wait for 2 hours so we just had an ice cream and walked around it was a very pleasant way to spend some "quiet" time together.

The tour itself was really great (personally, I thought it might get boring - but not at all!)

Of course by the time we returned to Vegas we were ready to hit the slots again!!!

Rent a car and drive to the Dam, then go to Lake Mead about 15 minutes away and go to the Lake Mead Marina. It's right on the water and is a nice, pleasant place for lunch.

You can call Hoover Dam ahead of your visit and make a reservation on the Hard Hat Tour. Then, when you arrive, you bypass everyone else in line and go right on your tour!

Thanks everyone for the all the information. The 'Hard hat' tour sounds really interesting. How long does it take?

Anne in sunny but cold Australia

My husband and I did the hard hat tour a week ago. It takes one hour and costs $25 - you get to keep the hat. It goes more behind the scenes than the regular tour which is $8. Personally, I think I would have been happy with the regular tour.