Las Vegas - NV Tourist-Attractions

Las Vegas - NV Tourist-Attractions information

Casinos

Las Vegas is the undisputed gambling capital of the world, and few visitors return home without having at least ventured a crafty quarter into a slot machine. There are literally thousands of options for frittering your money away, whether on the amazing fruit machines, some of which pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars, to a few turns of the cards at the blackjack tables, or a spin of the wheel of fortune on the roulette. For the complete gaming experience, try the Luxor with its amazing replica of the Sphinx and the Pyramids, the MGM Grand or the Bellagio, all of which can be found within the same part of "the Strip". Most casinos are open 24-hours a day, air-conditioned and few insist on any real dress code. Casual gamblers are the bread and butter of the casinos, and nobody will sneer at you whether you play for big stakes or small beer.

Hotel Attractions

Vegas is the one place on the planet where staying in your hotel can be as entertaining as getting out and about in the city. The hotels comprise casinos, theatres and concert halls as well as standards of service second to none. Constantly trying to outstrip each other for design and ingenuity, no expense is spared on creating ever more fabulous accommodation palaces. The result is that there aren't many international landmarks that can't now be found in Las Vegas - and touring the hotels along the Boulevard is actually an entertaining activity in itself. The Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, even the waterways of Venice have been painstakingly recreated - and in some cases improved upon. Hotels such as New York-New York, Paris and The Venetian offer loving homages to the cities they are named after. The Bellagio is also worth a look - it is the most expensive hotel ever built, costing USD1.6 billion.

Kings of Kitsch

Depending on your tastes, getting married in Las Vegas is either the ultimate in bad taste or the epitome of cool coupling. If it's the latter, you join Elvis and Priscilla, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, who all tied the knot in one of the city's numerous wedding chapels. Indoors or outdoors, in secrecy or with friends, with or without an Elvis impersonator, the choice is yours. But you won't be alone... one couple gets hitched roughly every five minutes in Las Vegas - that's over 100,000 per year. For full details, contact the Clark County Marriage License Bureau, at Las Vegas Municipal Courthouse, 200 3rd St.

High Roller Coaster

Las Vegas is home to what is technically the highest roller coaster in the world, the High Roller - although it has a head start by being already 909 feet above ground, atop the Stratosphere Tower. The Tower also features the Big Shot, which propels passengers 160 feet into the air in just 2.5 seconds. The city of Primm, just 35 miles south-west of Vegas on I-15, is home to Buffalo Bill's theme park, and America's steepest, tallest and fastest coaster, the Desperado. 2000 Las Vegas Blvd S.

Liberace Museum

Las Vegas's finest museum, the Liberace Museum is a dedicated temple to the impish high priest of piano camp and über-extravagant kitsch that makes Graceland look like a Zen rock garden. Ostensibly the mercurial performer made his fortune playing the piano, although he was better known and loved for his opulent lifestyle and child-like delight in spectacular material excess. Testifying to this are exhibits of his finest pianos; ornately decorated luxury cars and most spectacularly of all, in the Costume Gallery, Liberace's absurdly decadent stage wear including the memorable black diamond mink with 40,000 hand-sewn Austrian rhinestones (worth USD800,000), and the King Neptune costume, suitably bedazzled with sea shells and pearls. 1775 East Tropicana Ave. Open: Mon-Sat 10h00-17h00; Sun 12h00-16h00. Admission: USD12.50, adults; free for children.

Hoover Dam

Built between 1931 and 1936, the Hoover Dam is one of the 20th century's most impressive feats of engineering. Designed to prevent flooding of the Colorado River and to aid irrigation, the structure measures 220m in height and 200m thick at its base. Although touring a dam might not sound the most interesting of activities, the visitors centre does a decent job of keeping the exhibits interesting. Guides placed around the key points of the tour indicate areas of interest, and fill visitors in on the inner workings and history of this incredible structure. The most impressive sight is undoubtedly the 200m long turbine generator hall, dug out of solid rock in the wall of the canyon. Lake Mead, which was created by the damming of the river, is a popular resort for fishing, sailing and water-sports. Simply take I-93 south-east out of Las Vegas and follow the signs; journey time approximately 40 minutes.