Shining like a neon sequin lost in the sand of the Mojave
Desert, Las Vegas is known as 'The Entertainment Capital of the
World'.
It has come a very long way from its original roots, starting as
a fort and a stopover for travellers on the Mormon Corridor Trail
in the 1850's and a bustling railroad and mining town, in the early
part of the 20th century. It lost some importance as the
railroads and mining circumstances changed, but the gained
popularity again with the legalizing of gambling in 1931 and the
completion of the nearby Hoover Dam in 1935.
Its rapid growth and early casino successes in the 1940's and
50's was possibly owed to the American 'Mob', who bought into the
new gambling town, and used their money and contacts to make it the
place to be seen.
The city started to lose its' organised crime contacts in the
1960's when Howard Hughes started to buy up casinos, radio and
television stations in the city, and with a now constant stream of
tourists, casino job hunters and Federal and Air Force personnel
from the nearby Nellis Airforce Base, the start of modern day Las
Vegas was created.
Accommodation in Las Vegas can be more than just a
place to rest your head! Most of the big Hotels and Resorts
that line the 'Strip' (the main highway that runs through the
middle of the city), or in Downtown, are more like attractions
themselves, and are huge, each offering 1,000's of rooms and
suites. 17 of the 20 biggest US hotels are in Las Vegas, and
there are roughly 134,000 rooms in Las Vegas, twice as many as in
New York! From opulence and luxury at Mega-Resorts like
the Bellagio, with its famous dancing fountains, the brand
new Palazzo, The Wynn, Four Seasons, the Mandalay
Bay, MGM Grand, Mirage to iconic landmarks like The Flamingo,
Harrah's, the Sahara, the Tropicana, the Golden Nugget and Fremont,
at Fremont Street, Downtown. Alternatively, you can have an
almost Round The World experience at newer hotels such as the
Roman-style Caesars Palace, the aptly named Venetian, with its
canals, the Egyptian-themed Luxor, New York-New York, with its sky
scrapers, the Paris Las Vegas, complete with Eiffel Tower
and Arc de Triomphe, the tropical, pirate-themed Treasure
Island (or TI as it's known) or the fun-themed Circus, Circus
and fantasy castle-style Excalibur.
The main attraction of Las Vegas is the obviously
gambling. Many hotels have their own themed casinos on site
and there are many others around the city. Many millions of
visitors take a chance on the turn of a card, the roll of the dice
or spin of the wheel every year, and the gambling revenue last year
was close to $7 billion. The high number of visitors has
resulted in a vast network of services and businesses to provide
everything they could possibly want. There are hundreds of
restaurants, shopping to seriously dent your credit card and a
huge variety of shows and concerts, of every style and theme.
Las Vegas is famous for its magic shows, major sporting events, and
for hosting some of the music entertainment industry's biggest
names, in long running shows and in nightly
concerts.
The second largest attraction of Las Vegas is surprisingly -
weddings! Las Vegas is also known as the Wedding Capital of
the World and on average, over 300 weddings take place here every
day! You can have a traditional wedding, a small-budget
wedding, a multi-million dollar wedding, a themed
wedding, (with any theme you can think of!) or even a
drive-thru wedding.
Although children and young people are not allowed inside any of
the Casinos, there are still many things for them to do.
The Bellagio has a huge botanical Garden and the famous dancing
fountains, Circus Circus has the Carnival Midway, with over 200
games and Circus acts, and the Adventure Dome, an indoor theme park
and the Excalibur offers Fantasy Faire midway, with carnival-style
arcade games and rides and the Magic Motion Film Ride. Other
attractions include the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Gameworks,
games arcade, M&M World, 4 floors of interactive play and
M&M merchandise, the Lion Habitat at the MGM Grand, the Secret
Garden, Volcano Eruption, Siegfried and Roy's white tigers,
Aquarium and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage, Madame Tussauds at the
Venetian, the Coney Island Emporium games arcade and
roller coaster at NewYork-New York, the Titanic Exibition at the
Luxor, the Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour, Speed the Ride at
the Sahara, high-speed thrill rides and the Observation Deck
at the Stratosphere, and the Southern Nevada Zoo. Although
these are all family friendly attractions, adults can enjoy them
just as much, or sometimes more than the kids!
Las Vegas is a hectic, busy bright-lights town with plenty to
do, see and experience, and is an ideal stopover city, either
at the beginning or end of your trip.
Average Las Vegas temperatures:
Winter: December, January and February average daily temperature
is 45 degrees
Spring: March, April, and May average daily temperature is 70
degrees
Summer: June, July and August average daily temperature is 100
degrees
Autumn: September, October and November - average daily temperature
80 degrees