Las Vegas Travel Guide

Credit.

Thomas Loof

Forget, for a moment, about all the money you could win (or lose) at the casinos in Las Vegas, or the serious coin that can be dropped in the high-end shops, celebrity-chef eateries, and penthouse suites along the Strip. The primary industry of Las Vegas is sensory overload. When you travel to Las Vegas, the lights, the sounds, and the exotic parade of people, all coming to soak up the vibes of legendary Sin City, are a feast all their own. But this desert city, which blossomed with the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam, also has plenty of history (here, Elvis impersonators also count as history) as well as bargains, especially if you wander off the Strip and into the Fremont Street Experience in the old downtown.

Things Not To Miss in Las Vegas

• Taking in a show, such as the ongoing selection of Cirque de Soleil productions

• Visiting the Bellagio Fountains

• Walking the Strip

• Trying one of the buffets, which range from cheap eats to high-end feasts

• Checking out the Fremont Street Experience

When To Go to Las Vegas

Some would say that the best time to visit Las Vegas is whenever you have the most money to lose. Short of that, weather is not usually an issue for Las Vegas travel - after all, many people spend most of their time inside windowless casinos.

Winter is a great time to visit Las Vegas for mild weather (though the nights get chilly) and the fewest crowds. Summer gets hot, with highs of over 100 degrees during the day, but it's a dry heat. Plus, if you want to take part in the hotels' pool scenes, you'll want to come during summer, as some of the big pools at least partially close from late fall until spring.

DON'T MISS

A free look at the city’s secret masterpiece: walk into the Tower Suite VIP check-in room at the Wynn Las Vegas to see one of only four Rembrandt self-portraits in a private collection in the world. Self Portrait with Shaded Eyes was painted in 1634, when the artist was 28.

Getting a treatment at Qua, the new spa at Caesars Palace. Its 50,000 square feet of Roman baths—including a caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium—are designed for those who take their luxuriating seriously. Be sure to visit the Arctic Ice Room: push a button and it snows.

Sure, the Bellagio fountains have been hyped to death. But experiencing the dancing displays of water, choreographed to “Luck Be a Lady” and “Hey, Big Spender,” are actually worth a few jostling elbows.