Prior to my visit, the only knowledge I had of Lake Havasu was from an episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Of, course, I’ve heard of it, but that was it. Just over three hours from Phoenix, five hours from Tucson or Los Angeles, and 2.5 hours from Las Vegas, Lake Havasu City is a year-round party city, with loads of outdoor activities and an interesting past.

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The city was only recently founded in the 1960s. An entrepreneur named Robert McCulloch bought up a bunch of land in the area, bought several airplanes, and headed to the Midwest in the dead of winter to offer folks an all-expenses-paid trip to check out Lake Havasu. These “see before you buy” programs continued through 1978 when the city was incorporated. Today, it’s a thriving tourist destination, especially popular with boaters and RVers. If you are headed to Arizona’s West Coast, here are some fun things to do in Lake Havasu City, Arizona:

Sunset Cruise on Lake Havasu

Lake Havasu is all about boating, and boaters flock here from all over to enjoy a party scene on the Colorado River. However, you don’t have to have a boat to have fun in Lake Havasu. There are loads of boat tours on Lake Havasu; I recommend a sunset cruise! Afterward, you’ll cruise back to Lake Havasu City in the dark, with your final view being the London Bridge lights.

London Bridge Walking Tour

Robert McCulloch purchased the London Bridge as a tourist attraction around 1970. It was painstakingly numbered, disassembled, shipped via the Panama Canal, and reassembled in Lake Havasu. The channel that now flows under the bridge was created specifically for the bridge, which in turn created the Island District. The Lake Havasu City Visitor Center offers a guided walking tour of the London Bridge three mornings a week from October through April. For $25, you’ll take a 90-minute tour to learn about the history of the bridge, how it came to Lake Havasu, and how it led to the master plan of developing Lake Havasu City. If the tour time doesn’t fit your schedule, you can purchase the walking tour on CD at the Visitor Center and browse the Lake Havasu Museum on-site.

Lake Havasu Lighthouses

Lake Havasu sports 27 replica lighthouses around the lake. Each one is a 1/3 size model of lighthouses found elsewhere in the United States. The Visitor Center has a neat map that lists each lighthouse, the location of the original, and the GPS coordinates of each Lake Havasu lighthouse. Some are easily accessible from places like the Channel Walk and Lake Havasu State Park, while others can only be seen from the water. If you don’t have a boat, but want to see all the lighthouses, Sunset Charter offers two-hour boat tours of the lighthouses. Lake Havasu Lighthouses include Cape Hatteras and Chicago Harbor/Navy Pier. You’ll find the West Coast lighthouses represented on the California side, East Coast lighthouses represented on the Arizona side, and the Great Lakes lighthouses on the Island.

Channel Walk & English Village

Around the base of the London Bridge, a quaint English Village has sprung up. There are several English replicas, including an iron gate leading from the parking lot and an elaborate fountain. The shops sell typical souvenirs and boating supplies, with many restaurants to choose from. This is where you’ll find Sunset Charters, and other boat rental options, as well as the Visitor Center. I really enjoyed the Channel Walk, which follows the Bridgewater Channel past the Rotary Community Park and out to Lake Havasu. The path is about two miles out and back, passing several parks and beach areas. I got a kick out of the rowdy games of bocce ball played by the local seniors. I overheard one guy say they had a 9-year game going!

Day Trip to Oatman

The Arizona ghost town of Oatman is just over one hour from Lake Havasu City, making it one of the best day trips from Lake Havasu City. Unlike many ghost towns in Arizona, Oatman is accessible on paved roads, so you don’t have to worry about having a high clearance vehicle. However, you can take a bus tour to Oatman and leave the driving to someone else.

The main draw of Oatman is the pack of wild burros, descendants of burros brought here by miners in the late 1800s. Visitors can purchase food for the burros in many of the shops. Oatman draws half a million tourists a year, so it feels more like a Wild West reenactment village than a true ghost town, as there’s quite a bit of commerce in the town.

The Oatman name is an interesting story, too. Olive Ann Oatman was a Mormon girl whose family joined a wagon train in 1850. According to the story, she was kidnapped by a Native tribe in Arizona, later sold to another tribe, before being released five years after her capture, with a distinctive face tattoo. Read More: The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman

Lake Havasu Events

Lake Havasu is home to over 400 events each year. I was fortunate to visit during the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival in mid-January. The largest winter hot-air balloon festival in the US took place right outside my hotel window! The week after my visit, Buses by the Bridge was coming to town with over 800 VW buses! Lots of Lake Havasu events are all about water sports and motors – speedboat races, car races, rodeos and more. Check out the event calendar and start planning!

Lake Havasu Hotels

There are hotels and vacation rentals for every budget in Lake Havasu City. Nearby Quartzite is the “boondocking capital of the Southwest” and some of that spills over towards Lake Havasu, so you’ll see tons of RV’s just parked out in the desert. For more civilized camping options, there are many RV parks and campgrounds dotted around the area. Boaters will find an overnight mooring, and lakeside campsites, many of which are first-come, first-served.

The Nautical Inn Beachfront Resort

I was able to spend one night at Arizona’s only beachfront resort. The Nautical Beachfront Resort played a critical role in the development of Lake Havasu City. In the 1960s, it was the Lake Havasu Hotel, and is where prospective residents were housed on their tour of Lake Havasu. Don’t worry, it’s been renovated since then! The Nautical Inn really feels like a beach resort and brought back memories of my childhood trips to Corpus Christi, Texas. All of the rooms face the water, and I loved the balcony of my huge Executive Suite.

The resort has several restaurants, including the Turtle Grille, which is open for breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner. (Check out the yogurt parfait at breakfast – it’s gorgeous!) There’s also boat rental, watersports rental, and a fun Beach Boutique on property. And best of all, Nautical Inn Beachfront Resort is pet-friendly, with just a $50 pet fee. I felt pretty bad that Bailey didn’t join me on this trip, so I will definitely have to bring her with me next time.

Hampton Inn Lake Havasu

My next two nights were spent at the recently renovated Hampton Inn Lake Havasu City. I haven’t stayed at a Hampton Inn in years, so I didn’t know what to expect. From the get-go, I was really impressed. The lobby is modern and bright, with a bar(!) and huge common areas. My room was also really nice with all the amenities I needed for a comfortable stay. The best part of this hotel is the location. I literally watched the Lake Havasu balloon festival from my room. Other rooms even have balconies, so if you’re planning to visit for the balloon festival, I highly recommend trying to get a lake-view balcony room ASAP. Now that I work for the Hilton brand, I’ll be staying at many more Hampton Inns in the future.

London Bridge Resort

If you are coming to town to party, this looks like the best place to stay in Lake Havasu for nightlife. Located right in the English Village, London Bridge Resort is home to Kokomo Havasu, the Southwest’s largest dance club. Next time I’m in town, I definitely want to stop in for Afternoon Tea, held on Wednesdays at 3:00.

Be sure to stop in the Visitor’s Center when you get to town and they can help craft a Lake Havasu City itinerary that best matches your interests.

I was a guest of Go Lake Havasu, Nautical Beachfront Resort and Hampton Inn Lake Havasu. These are solely my personal experiences and I was not financially compensated for this post.