Las Vegas, Nevada, is always reinventing itself. As older Las Vegas hotels remodel (which they seem to do every five years or so) and newer resorts are built, expect more luxury, including high-end linens, top-notch culinary experiences and spectacular shows.
Gambling is—of course—still a big draw, but fewer than half of current visitors go for gaming. Entertainment, including shopping, night-clubbing, dining, shows and the fabulous outdoor opportunities available within a short drive, makes Las Vegas one of the most-visited destinations in the world.
The Las Vegas Strip is fascinating. The only designated Nighttime Scenic American Byway, neon lights are being replaced with giant LED screens, but it still may have more lights per mile/kilometer than any other destination on earth. The resorts are full of lavish stage shows, big-name performers and restaurants owned by celebrity chefs.
Bowling, golfing, arcade games and even indoor equestrian shows can certainly fill a dance card for the typical three-day visitor. Add in a heightened awareness of outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, rock climbing and horseback riding, and most visitors have plenty of reasons to return.
Of course, the gaming tables and slot machines accompany (and underwrite) the Las Vegas spectacles. For many visitors, the thrill of winning and losing makes the casinos the most exciting show in town.
Outside of the Las Vegas Strip area, casinos are spread out around the valley. These neighborhood joints, which attract Las Vegans in droves, boast some of the best odds, greatest meal deals, least expensive entertainment and best service you'll find on a visit to Las Vegas. Community destinations have had an increasing sense of style and sophistication.
Sights—The Las Vegas Strip; the water show in front of Bellagio and its seasonal horticultural conservatory; St. Mark's Place and the canals within the Venetian; the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe replicas at Paris Las Vegas; the live battle-of-the-sexes show at TI-Treasure Island; the lion habitat at MGM Grand; nightly volcano eruptions at the Mirage; the animatronic statues at the expanded Forum Shops in Caesars Palace; the Fremont Street Experience; the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.
Museums—The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum at the Venetian; the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art; Las Vegas Natural History Museum; the Liberace Museum; the Atomic Testing Museum.
Memorable Meals—The farm-fresh ingredients on the ever-changing menu at Bradley Ogden; red meat at trendy Craftsteak; lobster and rib-eye steak at Fix; gourmet hamburgers at the Burger Bar; the desserts at Aureole; the award-winning James Beard restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas, including Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Alex and Okada; exotic haute cuisine at Mix; Texas barbecued shrimp at Rosemary's; short ribs at Todd's Unique Dining.
Late Night—A drink at Tabu; dancing at Forty Deuce or Studio 54; laughs at The Improv; live music at House of Blues.
Walks—A short hike through the desert at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area or Valley of Fire State Park; a casino walking tour along the Strip; strolling beneath the evening light show on Fremont Street; street entertainment and art at First Friday.
Especially for Kids—The afternoon comedy and magic show of Mac King; swimming with the sharks at the Golden Nugget; dolphins and white tigers at the Mirage; the lion exhibit at MGM; circus acts at the Circus Circus midway; interactive exhibits at the Lied Discovery Children's Museum; the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay; an art/history/science lesson at Hoover Dam; thrill rides at Adventuredome and the top of the 1,149-ft-/356-m-high Stratosphere; video games at GameWorks.
Many visitors never venture more than a few hundred yards/meters away from the Strip, the 3.5-mi-/5.5-km-long stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that's lined on both sides with casino-hotels. Because so much is concentrated on one street, it's easier to understand the layout of the city if you break the Strip into sections.
The South Strip begins near McCarran International Airport, extends north to Harmon Avenue and includes the major intersection where the Strip meets Tropicana Avenue. Center Strip runs from Harmon north to Spring Mountain Road and includes the busy Flamingo Road intersection. The North Strip goes from Spring Mountain to just north of Sahara Avenue.
The second major area of interest to visitors is downtown (often referred to as Glitter Gulch), a few miles/kilometers north of the northern end of the Strip. There the casinos are smaller, older and less lavish, but the area has its own theme attraction, the outdoor light show Fremont Street Experience.
Mormon missionaries entered the area in the mid-1800s, and just after the turn of the 20th century, Las Vegas was founded as a small railroad town on the line connecting Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
Several acts by the U.S. government spurred the city's growth. The first was the construction of Hoover Dam in the early 1930s, which brought an army of workers to the region. During World War II, a magnesium-processing plant and a U.S. Army base were established. Along the way, the Nevada state government lent a hand by legalizing gambling. Following the war, Bugsy Siegel was the first organized-crime figure to imagine Las Vegas as a major gambling center, a vision that soon came true—though Bugsy didn't live to see it happen.
In the 1960s, millionaire Howard Hughes bought a big piece of the Las Vegas action, and soon corporations rather than underworld figures were operating the casinos. Through it all, the city grew. The population made significant leaps in the 1980s as businesses discovered the state's tax advantages, and the boom has continued to the present.
The city consistently ranks as one of the fastest growing in the U.S. More significantly for visitors, Las Vegas has become a major travel destination, spurred on by its increasingly colossal hotels and an expanding number of trade shows and conventions.
The Las Vegas area, situated in one of the hottest and driest locales in the U.S., has 31 major golf courses.
Resorts estimate they need five employees to service every room, including housekeeping, entertainment, management and auxiliary functions.
The number of employees who work the graveyard shift (generally midnight-8 am) in Las Vegas is the largest per capita in the U.S.
Vegas is one of the top three dining destinations in the U.S. Las Vegas employs more master sommeliers than any other city in the world.
Between all of its restaurants, the Bellagio sells one US$15,000 bottle of wine each day.
The average annual number of sunny days in Las Vegas is 320.
The Nevada Test Site, roughly 100 mi/160 km from the Las Vegas city center, conducted a total of 928 tests of atomic bombs, more than 100 above ground.
Vegas has an estimated 15,000 mi/24,150 km of neon lighting.
Gambling dominates Las Vegas, but the city also offers fine collections of post-Impressionist art, a ballet company, a symphony orchestra and some of the country's leading gourmet restaurants with vast wine cellars.
Every year, more than 100,000 couples get married in Las Vegas. Among the famous names have been Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Michael Jordan, and Joan Collins. Mickey Rooney was married eight times in Las Vegas.
