Things to Do in Las Vegas

The 8,000-square-foot National Atomic Testing Museum, located just off the Strip, unveils the fascinating history of the famed Nevada test site. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a growing collection of permanent and special exhibitions. Boots quake as visitors experience a simulated atomic blast, and another exhibit details the Manhattan Project, the U.S.’s massive undertaking to create the first atomic bomb. Firsthand accounts of nuclear tests put museum-goers in the shoes of blast eyewitnesses; there’s also a poignant exhibit that includes a 6-foot I-beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The museum volunteer tour guides act as exhibit interpreters, encouraging hands-on exploration and teaching how to divide atoms using nothing more than a good set of kitchen cutlery.

Preaching the importance of variety in fitness, The Pilates Studio contours and controls physiques through an array of group classes appropriate for any fitness level. Novice yogis can partake in a Hatha yoga session to learn the basics of breathing, poses, and meditation. Vinyasa flow takes a more active approach by incorporating a variety of yoga positions that build on one another, improving alignment and overall fitness. High temperatures and more than 30% humidity sends toxins on a Class VI rafting expedition down rivulets of sweat during a 95+ Pilates class, while TRX Suspension Training bolsters strength through bodyweight exercises instead of using traditional weight-training techniques. During Intimate Chair Expressions, learn a sensual, choreographed chair dance while sculpting your body, and put your new skills to practice when the next company meeting starts to drag.

Madame Tussaud began crafting wax likenesses in 1770s Paris, and a sense of history clings to her wax museums around the globe today—according to the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventurers, the location is haunted by unsettled spirits. By day, the collection of wax sculptures fills the serene exhibits with characters ranging from daredevil Evel Knievel (complete with his original Harley Davidson and good-luck teddy bear) to Lady Gaga and Whoopi Goldberg. A Hugh Hefner figure, wearing the Playboy magnate’s signature smoking jacket, reclines on a bed, and a nightclub-themed section of the museum honors Las Vegas’s entertainment history with a waxen Elvis and Wayne Newton.

Velvet ropes no longer cordon figures off from the public, granting guests up-close-and-personal photo ops. Madame Tussauds Las Vegas honors its spooky roots with special late-night Scream events, a shriek-inducing tour through a maximum-security prison set interspersed with ghoulish wax figures and live actors.

Because they believe movement is a precise science, the teaching team at Pilates + Yoga only recruits experts. Each certified instructor must have a background of 10 years or more in their movement-based art, whether they practice Pilates, yoga, dance, or interpretive sitting. They wield their knowledge during the studio's classes, adapting mat-based and apparatus moves to suit beginners and Pilates pros alike. Their wealth of experience also allows them to structure specialized lessons for pre- and post-natal women. From moves aboard the reformer machine to Vinyasa sequences to boot-camp circuits, they compose workouts that hone both strength and mental focus. The Pilates + Yoga studio reflects the same level of commitment toward the environment that the teachers display for their practice. Students stretch on bamboo flooring, their silhouettes dimly illuminated by low-lighting sconces, and solar blankets deter the sun. Reusable cups and cloth towels cut down on waste, and the Return Your Mat policy ensures that no mat purchased at the studio is thrown out or forced to work under wrestling Barbie dolls.

Core Pilates' staff of former ballet dancers, registered nurses, and doctors discovered Pilates in various ways, but having experienced its health benefits firsthand, they've joined forces to share their knowledge of the rehabilitative, low-impact exercise. Mat, reformer, and barre group classes tone cores seven days a week, and seasonal instruction in hoop fitness, yoga, and VertiMax add new flavors to exercise routines. Serious practitioners can seek teacher certifications, which are spiced with a liberal helping of anatomy and medical science, essential for helping students recover from injuries from disastrously ambitious toe-touches.

Inferno Hot Pilates founder Gabriella Walters is a one-woman decathlon. In her native Budapest, she was an emerging track-and-field athlete and competitive diver. After winning long-jump events and 400-meter races, she moved to the U.S. in 2002 to try her hand at IFBB fitness competitions when she suffered a severe knee injury. After she physically recovered with equal parts meditation, yoga, and Pilates, she traveled to India and learned deeksha and meditated for several months. When she returned to the States, she became a certified Pilates instructor and opened Inferno Hot Pilates. There, her resolve is on full display during high-energy and results-oriented fitness classes, including Zumba dance fitness, TRX-suspension training, and more than 30 weekly hot-Pilates classes that are staged inside a 95-degree room where the atmosphere is 45% humidity and 55% exported from the top of Mount Olympus.