It took the television western, Bonanza, that ran from 1959 to 1973, to bring the declining Virginia City back to life. The city was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and today draws over 2 million visitors a year. If you want to feel and walk through the streets of the Old West, this is the place to visit! There are no chain stores and no fast food restaurants, just buildings echoing with the 19th Century.

Attractions in Virginia City include:

• The Fourth Ward School Museum, built to house a thousand students and today a museum dedicated to the history of Virginia City and the Comstock.
• The Silver Terrace Cemeteries, whose ornate, Victorian-era plots tell the stories of Virginia City's history and immigrant culture, capturing their profiles in colorful inscriptions.
• Piper's Opera House, in use since 1885 with a stage that has welcomed President Grant, Buffalo Bill and Mark Twain.

"It nestled in the edge of a great plain and was a sufficient number of miles away to look like an assemblage of mere white spots. The mountain summits overlooking it seemed lifted clear out of companionship and consciousness of earthly things."

150 years later, Carson City is still dominated by its spectacular setting. Also still in evidence are its roots as a gold and silver town, with a historic district featuring many buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Attractions in Carson City include:

• The Kit Carson Trail, a 2.5 mile walking route through the city.
• The Nevada State Museum - located in a former US Mint building, and containing a unique facsimile of a silver mine in the basement.
• The Warren Engine Company - the Warrens are the oldest established volunteer fire brigade in the U.S. and proud of it. Exhibits include an original 1912 Seagrave Fire Truck!
• The Children's Museum.
• The Great Basin Art Gallery
• The Stewart Indian Cultural Center.