What happens in Vegas... Well, you know! It's Vegas!
Overview
When to Go
Activities
Sights
Places to Shop
Getting There & Around
History
One-armed bandits, beautiful desert, free drinks and unlimited glitz.
Las Vegas is all about glamour for its own sake: over-the-top hustle and flash as means and end. Its crowds of people in polyester pantsuits, big hair and gold chains, staring at neon signs and spinning cherries like deer hypnotised by headlights.
Not that Vegas doesn't have a serious side - billions are at stake on the tables and at the megaresorts. But you're given enough distractions to ignore it, until you lose. If you tire of the ding-ding-ding of the slot machines, the surrounding area has some of the Southwest's most beautiful scenery.
Deciding on when to go to Vegas is a gamble in itself. As a general rule November to February has always been the quietest and thus cheapest time in Vegas. However, a lot of shows take a break during this time and during events such as Thanksgiving, New Year and the Superbowl, surges of people take their parties to Vegas. Add to this the plethora of conventions that are continually held in town and accommodation prices fluctuate at a whim. The spring-fall shoulder months tend to be the busiest times: mid-summer fries the bejesus out of Vegas and winter, while still relatively mild, can throw a chilly night its way.
Weather
Summers in Las Vegas are scorching. The daily high averages around 38°C (100°F) from June to August, compared with average winter lows of around 13°C (55°F) from December to February; the rest of the year is temperate. It's pretty dry most of the time, but thunderstorms are most common in the summer (June to August) and can cause dangerous flash floods.
If you can tear yourself away from the gaming tables, you'll find that the city is surrounded by a rough-and-rugged desert landscape that is ideal for a range of outdoor activities. The steep, jagged red rock valleys and canyons around Las Vegas are superb hiking and rock climbing territory.
golf, downhill, 10-pin bowling, watersports, hiking
Golf
There are dozens of golf courses in Las Vegas Valley, most within 16km (10mi) of the Strip. Unless you can hustle together US$30000.00 up front plus US$500.00 a month for membership of a private club, you'll be playing at a public course. Reserve your tee-off time a week in advance.
Downhill
Novice skiers are thrilled by the downhill at the Lee Canyon ski and snowboarding area on Charleston Peak in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, about 80km (50mi) northwest of Las Vegas.
10-pin bowling
Bowling is very big in Las Vegas and most bowling centres are in casino hotels where you can work on your glide and release far into the small hours. Occasionally a venue can suffer an 'attack of the bowling league', so call ahead to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Watersports
For boating and water-skiing, smear on the sunscreen, slither into your wetsuit and head over to Lake Mead, about 50km (30mi) east of Las Vegas. You can even scuba dive here. The lake's 880km (550mi) of shoreline offers plenty of sunbathing spots.
Hiking
Great for hiking, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 30km (20mi) west of the city, has multicoloured sandstone scenery that irresistibly draw climbers and hikers. The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, further northwest of the city, features Charleston Peak and trails that wind through pine forests and desert scrub. Camping is allowed at both places.
The aim is old-fashioned: ensure visitors go gaga and keep coming back for more. Beyond the casinos, the Liberace Museum has recently been upstaged by the Smithsonian-affiliated Atomic Testing Museum and Las Vegas Art Museum, while back on the Strip you'll find showy spectaculars, kitschy sideshows, high-flying thrill rides and amusement parks galore.
In Las Vegas consumption is as conspicuous as dancing fountains in the desert. Haute purveyors cater to the cashed-up, and here you can find almost anything on offer that you mIght pick up in London, New York or Tokyo, along with a few high-roller items not likely to be sold anytime soon.
Orientation
Las Vegas is in the southern part of the state of Nevada, about 80km (50mi) east of the California border and 50km (30mi) west of the Arizona border. The city is divided into two main parts: a compact downtown centred on Fremont St, nicknamed Glitter Gulch, near the intersection of Highway 95 and Interstate 15; and the Strip, a corridor of hotels and casinos lining Las Vegas Blvd, parallel to but east of Interstate 15, a few kilometres south of downtown.
The casinos are divided between downtown's Fremont St and the Strip; most hotels are on or near the Strip. McCarran International Airport is located east of the southern end of the Strip, about 10km (6.5mi) from downtown. The Greyhound bus station is downtown and is located next to the Plaza Hotel and Casino.
Getting There, Getting Around
Getting There
The classic way to pull into Vegas is in a car (preferably a Red Shark of a car) or on a Greyhound bus. If you travel by rail, you'll end up on a bus anyway, as trains only reach as far as California and Arizona. If you're coming from elswhere in the US, Canada or Europe, you can usually fly direct into McCarran International Airport.
Bus
Greyhound runs bus services between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Phoenix, Arizona. The station is in downtown Las Vegas. Green Tortoise offers a low-budget, communal bus experience between Las Vegas and major cities on the West Coast.
Car
One of the best and most picturesque ways to get to Las Vegas is by car. Highways traverse the desert and converge on Las Vegas from the major cities of the southwest.
Train
There is no train service to Las Vegas, but you can travel to Kingman, Arizona (170km/105mi); Needles, California (185km/115mi); and Barstow, California (250km/155mi) by train and connect to Las Vegas by Greyhound's Thruway bus.
Plane
Las Vegas is served by McCarran International Airport (LAS), where travellers from other US cities, Canada and Europe have the best connections. Departure tax is included in ticket prices. McCarran International Airport is located at the southern end of the Strip, about 8km (5mi) south of downtown. Several companies run shuttle buses between the airport and the city. Taxis are also available, and city buses run along the Strip into downtown.
Getting Around
Vegas' compact centre and devotion to the customer make getting around a breeze. It's easy to navigate your way around either on foot (if you can stand the desert heat) or in a car. Taxis are waiting for your lightest gesture; you can also jump on the cheap and efficient buses or on one of the trolleys (air-conditioned!) that chug up and down the Strip.
Bus
The local bus company Citizens Area Transit (CAT) offers an excellent and inexpensive service. Buses chug along the Strip, downtown and between the two 24 hours a day. . Many off-Strip casino hotels offer limited free shuttle bus services to/from the Strip.
Car
Las Vegas is a traffic-choked city to drive around (orientation around the grid is not as easy as ABC), but if you want to get out of town you'll need your own wheels. You can rent a car at one of the many agencies in town or at the airport. Free self-parking and valet services (tip US$2.00 ) are available almost everywhere on the Strip and at downtown casino hotels.
Walking
The Strip and downtown are easy to navigate on foot, especially since getting around really only means getting between three or four casino-hotels in a day anyway... If you do plan to walk around, remember, this is the desert - it gets hot!
Tram
Free private trams connect TI (Treasure Island) and the Mirage; and Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. The tram between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo is under reconstruction as at 2006.
Taxi
If you don't want to do any more walking than you absolutely have to, you'll get by just fine in Las Vegas. You don't even have to dirty your stilettos on the sidewalk: just wave down a taxi from the entrance of your hotel.
Monorail
A pricey private monorail system zippily links only some properties along the Strip's resort corridor, from the MGM Grand to the Sahara, detouring to the Hilton and convention centre.
Disabled Travellers
Las Vegas is an extremely accommodating place for people with reduced mobility. Nearly every casino in town is on the ground floor and most hotels and area restaurants have taken the steps to make their establishments wheelchair accessible. The same goes for public restrooms. Where stairs exist, so does an elevator or a ramp. Automatic doors and shaved curbs are standard. Most public transport and some hotel pools are lift-equipped. By law, all taxi companies must have a wheelchair-accessible van. Wheelchair seating is widely available and assisted listening devices are available at most showrooms. Guide dogs may be brought into restaurants, hotels and businesses. For more information, contact the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority's ADA coordinator on 702 892 7575 (voice relay 800 326 6888, TTY 800 326 6868).
Pre-20th-Century History
The only natural feature to account for the location of Las Vegas is a spring north of downtown. Once used by Paiute Indians on their seasonal visits to the area, it was rediscovered by Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. The area became known to overland travellers as las vegas - 'the meadows' - a place with reliable water and feed for horses. It became a regular stop on the southern emigrant route to California, the Spanish Trail. In the 1850s, Mormons built the town's first structures, a small mission and fort; the fort became a ranch house, but there was little urban development before the 20th century.
Modern History
In 1902 the land on which Las Vegas now stands was sold to a railroad company. The area that is now downtown was subdivided when the tracks came through, with 1200 lots sold on 15 May 1905 alone - a date now celebrated as the city's birthday.
As a railroad town, Las Vegas had machine shops, an ice works and a good number of hotels, saloons, brothels and gambling houses. The railroad laid off hundreds in the mid-1920s, but one Depression-era development gave the city a new life. The huge Hoover Dam (then known as Boulder Dam) project commenced in 1931, providing jobs in the short term and water and power for the city's long-term growth.
In 1931, Nevada legalised gambling and simplified its divorce laws, paving the way for the first big casino on the Strip, El Rancho, which was built by Los Angeles developers and opened in 1941. The next wave of investors, also from out of town, were mobsters like Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, who opened the Flamingo in 1946 and set the tone for the new casinos - big and flashy, with glitzy entertainment laid on to attract high rollers.
The dazzle that brought in the more lavish cash-lashers also attracted smaller spenders. Southern California provided a growing market for Las Vegas entertainment, and improvements in transport made it accessible to the rest of the country. Thanks to air conditioning and reliable water supplies, Vegas became one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. Until recently, Vegas had bent over backwards to remake itself into a family resort destination, but the end of the 20th century saw a tidal-wave movement to put the sin back in 'Sin City'. Megaresorts have outdone each other with fiery artificial volcanoes, million-gallon fishtanks and miniature Manhattans. All of this - along with dozens of artificial lakes in the suburbs - has put a huge strain on the city's water supply, but it hasn't slowed the development juggernaut.
Recent History
The 21st century started off with a bang, as casino mogul Steve Wynn blew up the vintage Desert Inn hotel, then spent five years crafting his eponymous resort, Wynn, which opened in 2005 - just in the nick of time for Las Vegas' centennial celebrations. A serious disruption to the city's well-honed reputation as a capital of low culture was the arrival of a Vegas branch of the Guggenheim museum in 2001 and the Smithsonian-affiliated Atomic Testing Museum two years later. Today Las Vegas boasts all but a few of the world's 20 largest hotels, attracts 35 million visitors per year (100,000 of whom get married there), and earns over US$5250000000 in annual gaming revenue. As slot machines go cashless and omnipotent surveillance goes digital, the illusion of Sin City approaches an Orwellian dream-nightmare. There is no place in the world like Las Vegas, and no city even pretending to be.