Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert.
The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. The city’s tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of “Sin City”,and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.
As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city (“Las Vegas” in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which are actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester. Nevada is the driest state, and Las Vegas is the driest major U.S. city. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Southern Nevada have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Las Vegas’ water security.
1.The Strip
Lined with upscale casino hotels, the neon-soaked Strip is quintessential Las Vegas. As well as gambling floors, the vast hotel complexes house a variety of shops, restaurants (ranging from mainstream to high-end), and performance venues for music, comedy and circus-style acts. Attractions like the soaring, choreographed Fountains of Bellagio and the High Roller observation wheel draw crowds.
Historically, casinos that were not in Downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street sat outside the city limits on Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1959, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was built] exactly 4.5 miles (7.2 km) outside the city limits. The sign is currently located in the median just south of Russell Road, across from the location of the now-demolished Klondike Hotel and Casino and about 0.4 miles (0.64 km) south of the southernmost entrance to Mandalay Bay, which is the Strip’s southernmost casino.
In the strictest sense, “the Strip” refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, a distance of 4.2 miles (6.8 km).Clark County uses the phrase Resort Corridor to describe the area including Las Vegas Boulevard between 215 Beltway and Sahara Avenue and surrounding areas.
2.High Roller Las Vegas Strip Observation Wheel
High Roller is a 550-foot tall, 520-foot diameter giant Ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment, it opened to the public on March 31, 2014 as the world’s tallest, and as of 2021 is the world’s second tallest Ferris wheel.
A single rotation takes 30 minutes. This will give you plenty of time to soak up the outstanding views over the Strip and surrounding area, especially at night.
Each cabin holds up to 40 people and is climate controlled. The High Roller is located at the bottom end of the Linq Lane – if you aren’t sure where that is, just look up!
Each 225-square-foot (20.9 m2) cabin weighs approximately 44,000 pounds (20,000 kg), has a diameter of 22 feet (6.7 m), includes 300 square feet (28 m2) of glass, and is equipped with eight flat-screen televisions
At night the wheel is illuminated by a 2,000-LED system which can display a single solid color, differently colored sections, multiple colors moving around the rim, and custom displays for special events and holidays.
3. Mirage Hotel: Erupting Volcano and Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden
The resort opened on November 22, 1989, after two years of construction. It was the world’s most expensive resort, completed at a cost of $630 million. It was also among the world’s largest hotels. The Mirage was the first megaresort to open on the Las Vegas Strip, and its success prompted a building boom in the 1990s for other large resorts along the Strip.
The Mirage opened with several non-traditional attractions for a Las Vegas casino. Features include animal habitats for dolphins and tigers, and an indoor tropical forest display. Its primary attraction is an artificial volcano that erupts nightly, providing free entertainment in front of the resort. In 1990, the Mirage debuted a magic show by Siegfried & Roy, who performed there for nearly 14 years. The resort also hosted Cirque du Soleil’s first Las Vegas show, Nouvelle Expérience, which opened in 1992. Cirque du Soleil would return to the property in 2006, with the debut of Love, a show featuring music by the Beatles.
A $14 million dolphin habitat opened at the Mirage on October 19, 1990, serving as an educational and research center. The habitat consists of four pools providing a total of 2.5 million gallons, exceeding government regulations. The facility includes tours, and visitors can interact with the dolphins and become trainers for a day. It is a popular educational attraction among schoolchildren.It originally featured five bottlenose dolphins, including four from Marathon, Florida and one from Texas. As of 2008, three dolphin generations had been born at the attraction, and a fourth began in 2019.The attraction does not feature wild dolphins.
On November 13, 1996, the Mirage opened the Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy, an outdoor attraction showcasing six types of animals which were featured in the magicians’ show at the resort. These included Bengal tigers, white tigers, white lions, a snow leopard, a panther, and an Asian elephant. Siegfried & Roy also ran a breeding program for big cats, particularly white lions and tigers, which resided at the Secret Garden. The $15 million attraction, covering 2.5 acres (1.0 ha), was built next to the property’s dolphin habitat. By 2002, the dolphin area had become part of Siegfried & Roy’s attraction, now known as Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.
4.Caesar’s Palace and The Colosseum
Perhaps one of the best known of all the Las Vegas hotel resorts, Caesar’s Palace continues to evolve. Currently Caesar’s Palace is a massive complex in the middle of the Strip, complete with every imaginable entertainment option.
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a theater located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theater is the main entertainment venue for Caesars Palace. Deemed the Home of the Greatest Entertainers in the World, the theater has hosted numerous concert residencies by Madonna, Celine Dion, Elton John, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Usher, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, Shania Twain, Mariah Carey, and Adele. Celine Dion has had the longest residency (1,141 shows as of June 8, 2019) at the venue grossing a total of $650 million since her arrival in 2003. She also performed her record-breaking 1000th show at the venue on October 8, 2016. The venue has an estimated seating capacity of 4,100 and is inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome along with aspects of contemporary architecture. The cost of the theater was $108 million, becoming the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas, beating the “O” Theater at the Bellagio Las Vegas.
5.Bellagio Resort and Fountain Show
Fountains of Bellagio is a free attraction at the Bellagio resort, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It consists of a musical fountain show performed in an 8.5-acre man-made lake in front of the resort. The show uses 1,214 water nozzles and 4,792 lights. The fountains shoot as high as 460 feet.
The Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas is a massive, high-end hotel complex, with a wide variety of attractions, including the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, a spa and salon, and some of the finest restaurants in Las Vegas.
Beyond the lobby is a showroom area with changing themes that range from spring botanical displays to fascinating shows of art. The most impressive and famous feature is the fountain show.
The fountains are controlled through computer programming. A control room overlooks the lake from a tower, and is staffed by an engineer who pushes a button to commence the fountain show.Water can be shot as high as 460 feet, up from 240 feet when the show debuted. Water is shot up using compressed air at a rate of up to 500 pounds per square inch. Ten compressors are used to power the fountains.Wind is taken into consideration and the fountains are adjusted if necessary, to keep the show synchronized and prevent pedestrians from getting wet.
6.Paris Hotel and the Eiffel Tower
Located on the Strip, Paris Las Vegas is one of the most easily recognized resorts in the city. Out front is a scale model of the Eiffel Tower, and down the way is a recreation of the Paris Opera House. Forty-six stories above the city streets, the Eiffel Tower Experience is an observation deck with incredible 360-degree views.
One story below this is posh and romantic Eiffel Tower Restaurant, with fine views out over the Strip and across to the dancing fountains of Bellagio. Also on the property is a mock hot air balloon festooned with neon and flashing lights.
7.The Mob Museum
The Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a history museum located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
The centerpiece of the Mob Museum is the second floor courtroom, which was the location of one of fourteen national Kefauver Committee hearings to expose organized crime held in 1950 and 1951. The museum also acquired the brick wall where the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre took place. Other exhibits focus on Mob violence, casino money skimming operations, and wiretapping by law enforcement. In 2018, a new exhibit called Organized Crime Today was added to the first floor following a major renovation.
The self-guided tour commences on the third floor where the actual wall of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is on display, accessible by elevator or stairs, and winds its way down to the second and first floors. Visitors can watch a film about the history of Organized Crime (beginning around the time of the passing of Prohibition). The main part of the exhibition consists of Mob-related photos with captions explaining the significance of the particular images, but also what individuals/events to which they were connected
