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Luxor Hotel
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Las Vegas, Nevada is the largest adult playground in the world. It is a city dedicated to gambling and entertainment. Everything in Las Vegas is done (or overdone) on a grand, spectacular scale. Along the strip, there is a glass walled pyramid hundreds of meters high with a larger than full sized replica of the Sphinx. In the next block, you see a larger than life sized castle with garishly colored turrets. Across the street, is a realistic three-dimensional skyline of New York City, complete with a Brooklyn Bridge and a Statue of Liberty. A bit further down, past the giant volcano that erupts a huge ball or fire every 30 minutes, you find a full-scale British man-of-war doing battle with a full-scale pirate ship in front of a sidewalk filled with spectators. In Las Vegas, you often ask yourself, "Is this really a city, or am I in a fantastic amusement park on some other planet?"
On any given evening in Las Vegas, you will find at least 50 major entertainment events such as the renown Las Vegas stage shows, world class sporting events or performances by famous singing stars. In addition, there will be hundreds of lesser shows and entertainment performances at bars, clubs and lounges around the city.
Las Vegas Boulevard is "the Strip"
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Neon Sign
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Las Vegas Boulevard, known as "the Strip" extends from the southern edge of the city to downtown. Just driving down the strip past all these spectacular casino resorts is a fantastic experience. At night, "the strip" comes alive with miles of colored neon and millions of dancing, pulsating lights.
Many of the grandest Las Vegas casino hotels are located along the strip. More than a dozen giant theme oriented casinos are "on the strip". Even the smallest has over 2,000 rooms. Each one contains thousands of slot machines, hundreds of gaming tables, multiple restaurants, shopping malls and theaters featuring "Las Vegas Shows".
The city was created by a reputed gangster
In December of 1946, reputed gangster, Bugsy Siegal built the original Flamingo resort in the barren desert wastelands of Nevada. He dreamed of creating a whole new resort city in the desert. Unfortunately, Bugsy was found shot to death in Hollywood in 1947, so he never got to see his dream fulfilled. Today, his desert gambling oasis is a thriving city with more than one million inhabitants and over 28 million visitors a year.
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Excalibur Hotel
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Las Vegas is located in the southwestern corner of Nevada near the borders of California and Arizona. It is situated in a broad flat desert valley surrounded by barren arid mountains. It receives only about 2 inches (5 cm) of rain per year. The city is nevertheless an oasis of green grass, flowers and palm trees all subsisting on imported water.
This is a good starting place to see the southwest
Las Vegas is well situated for anyone that would like to explore the southwest of the USA. The surrounding desert landscape is stark and forbidding but strangely beautiful. Red Rock Canyon, just 20 miles west of the city looks just like hollywood scenery for a cowboy movie.
Grand Canyon National Park, one of the great natural wonders of the world, is only 150 miles east of Las Vegas, but over 300 miles by road. Death Valley National Park is about 150 driving miles to the west. Zion National Park is about 150 driving miles to the north east. There are many tour options to these great natural wonders via bus, airplane and helicopter.
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