Lake Havasu City Travel Guide, Arizona

Unlike in its early days when it was a little untouristy settlement in the desert, Lake Havasu City total changed into a thriving touristy place that attracts many visitors every year and every season. Winter is a favorite season for retirees that come here to relax while spring and summer weekends are the youth’s favorites that come here to party the nights away or to enjoy the outdoor activities the lake provides: water skiing, kayaking, canoeing and every other water sport imaginable can be practiced here in the Jet Ski Capital of the World.

The city came into being in 1963 as a result of the formation of Lake Havasu that sprung up after the Parker Dam was built in 1938. The idea of founding a city near the lake belonged to Robert McCulloch, a person that did not want his little settlement to remain unknown; he needed a brilliant idea to bring investors and tourists to his remote place in the middle of desert. There was nothing to attract them.

One day the idea he was looking for stuck him. It was brilliant and had the expected result. He bought the falling down London Bridge for nearly $2.5 million and had it shipped to his little city. The decision turned the city’s fate and helped it become one of Arizona’s most popular tourist destinations. What has proven a misfortune for the British brought fortune to the little American city that even if it has no other connection to British heritage it gave the place the interesting look, as it can’t be said that blended in the surrounding. The 900–foot-long bridge wasn’t even built over the water, it just connected desert areas, and only after the bridge was rebuilt a channel was dredged through the base of the peninsula and created an island offshore from the city.

Even if it was built by the British in 1824 the bridge still stands proudly in the Arizona desert bringing a bit of London to American soil and as if to complete this image an English village was built in true English style at the base of the bridge.

There are plenty to see and do in this little village including walking on a waterfront promenade, renting a peddle boat, riding Venetian stile in a London Bridge Gondola. But the English styling was only the beginning as tourist attraction, other investors have kept coming to have a piece of the cake and now you can see many other styling as Mexican or Italian and lots of attractions and activities await tourists.

Among the most appreciated are water sports on the 45-mile-long lake and among the main drags are pedal boat riding, water skiing, parasailing and if you don’t want anything fancy, swimming can also be a satisfying choice. And still for those who are not much into activity, the London Bridge Beach is the perfect place to get suntanned while watching the beautiful view of the desert mountains. It is really a unique combination as there are not many paces where desert combines with beaches and there are even more beaches north of London Bridge at Lake Havasu State Park and at Cattail Cove State Park south of the city. Another park is the Rotary Community Park that has an aquatic centre nearby with plenty of opportunities to have fun including a water slide.

More activities await you on the river where you can practice kayaking or canoeing. There are quite a few outfitters that provide everything you need form boats to shuttles to take you to the put-in points and back from the take-out points. The tours are generally self guided ones. Some outfitters offer tours that take you to the beautiful Topock Gorge, home to ancient petroglyphs and big horn sheep.

With abundant activities, a lively nightlife, and a varied, youthful population Lake Havasu City is so appealing you'll probably want to scrap your itinerary and linger a few days extra.