Las Vegas

Why Las Vegas works

The Las Vegas Strip, a roughly 6.8km stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, holds the majority of the city's mega-resorts, each themed to transport visitors elsewhere — the Venetian's indoor canals and singing gondoliers, Paris Las Vegas's half-scale Eiffel Tower, and the Bellagio's choreographed fountains, which erupt to music every 15-30 minutes against a backdrop of its own 8-acre lake. Founded on legalised gambling since 1931 but transformed into a global entertainment capital from the 1990s onward, Vegas today draws as many visitors for its residencies — major recording artists performing multi-year runs in purpose-built venues — and Michelin-starred restaurants as for its casino floors. The Fremont Street Experience downtown, a pedestrian mall roofed by a 90-foot LED canopy synchronised to music, offers an older, grittier alternative to the Strip's polish, alongside vintage casinos dating to Vegas's mid-century heyday. The High Roller observation wheel, at 167.6m one of the world's tallest, offers a 30-minute rotation over the Strip's lights, best ridden after dark. Beyond the casino floor, Las Vegas serves as the gateway to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon, all within a 1-2 hour drive, making it a common base for combining desert-adventure days with neon-lit nights. Buffets, once the city's signature dining format, persist alongside a now-serious fine-dining scene helmed by internationally known chefs.

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