Las Vegas City Guide

Bold, brash Las Vegas is known as the entertainment capital of the world. This psychedelic city, which is situated in the midst of the Mojave Desert in the state of Nevada, was until the early 1930’s a veritable backwater for it functioned merely as a pit stop for travelers on their way from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City.

All this began to change in March 1931, when the State of Nevada legalized gambling and issued six licenses. This soon led to the sport being pursued most enthusiastically in the gambling halls and hotel casinos. These grew exponentially until 1964, when Mafia Don Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel funded the exceedingly lavish Flamingo Hilton hotel on Highway 91. The founding of this grand structure paved the way for the over the top, grand luxury casino hotels that populate the city’s main drag, Las Vegas Boulevard or ‘the Strip’ today.

Although the main attraction in Las Vegas continues to be gambling, Las Vegas today markets itself as a family-friendly destination suitable for all ages. This glitzy, glamorous city in addition to casinos, also offers relatively tame attractions like theme parks, golf courses, mega mall shopping and fine dining opportunities along with spectacular live shows and performances by the biggest names in show business.

Las Vegas also offers numerous 24-hour wedding chapels that offer a wide array of wedding packages. These reasonably priced all inclusive wedding packages are immensely popular with impulsive or cash-strapped couples in need a ‘quickie’ wedding who often combine a vacation to Las Vegas, with a trip down the altar.

If you are looking for an escape from your daily routine or merely a distraction, a Las Vegas vacation may provide you with just the tonic you need since this adult Disney Land offers a world of invigorating attractions that are known to enthrall and delight one and all.

Home to some of the most flamboyant hotel properties in Las Vegas, ‘the Strip’ or the 4.2 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that lies between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road is the most coveted choice for accommodations in downtown Las Vegas. This world famous road hosts many of the largest hotel, casino and resort properties in the world and offers in excess of 67,000 hotel rooms of all grades which cater to myriad tastes and preferences. Hotel bookings made trough Fare Buzz, ensure that you get the best hotel rates for the various Las Vegas luxury hotels located on this world famous Strip.

This area of Las Vegas is located to the east of the Strip near the city’s Convention Center and further south along Paradise Road, Flamingo Road, and Tropicana Avenue. The east of the Strip area of Las Vegas hosts several mid-range hotels. These hotel properties are popular with visitors whose visit to Las Vegas involves the need to attend a conference or a convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Northwest area of Las Vegas usually hosts visitors who can’t afford the high hotel rates charged by the super luxury Las Vegas hotels situated on the Strip. The hotel properties located here include discount hotels and other budget accommodation avenues.

The city’s chief attractions are it’s over the top, man-made casinos which can’t be missed on any trip to Las Vegas.

The Venetian Hotel and Casino has recreated the many attractions of the city of Venice in the heart of the Mojave Desert. The hotel offers replicas of Venice’s St Mark's Square and the Basilica as well as Venetian canals and waterways which feature gondolas that offer rides to guests. This huge gambling den features 2,500 slot machines and 125 gaming tables along with five swimming pools, seventeen restaurants and even an outpost of Madame Tussaud’s wax museum.

The star attraction at the Mirage casino is a faux Volcano that shoots flames that are 100 feet high into the night sky repeatedly, as it presents a spectacular though terrifying sight. Yet another popular attraction at the Mirage is its huge 20,000 gallon salt water aquarium, which is located behind its front desk and features angel fish, puffer fish, sharks and other marine creatures.

The casino hotel, the Luxor recreates the landscape of Egypt with its pyramids in the Nevada desert. The hotel offers a massive casino, an IMAX theater, swimming pools and various other attractions like entertaining shows and comedy performances.

The famous Bellagio casino offers a spectacular conservatory that features elaborate displays of exotic plants and flowers. The casino employs a team of 100 horticulturalists that organize these displays in the casino’s bright and airy atrium. In addition to its conservatory, the opulent Bellagio also features displays of dancing fountains that are set to music and feature rushing water that soars as high as 460 feet from a total of 1,214 water-emitting devices.

The Imperial Palace Auto Collection offers displays of 250 classic antique cars which are all available for sale. This collection, which features race cars, muscle cars, touring roadsters, exotic and rare models and cars owned by various famous folk should be considered a must-visit for any car enthusiast on a visit to Las Vegas.

Fremont Street is also known as ‘Glitter Gulch’ for its many neon signs and flashing lights. The gambling history of Las Vegas can be traced to Fremont Street as it is here that the first gambling halls were established in the early 20th century. Fremont Street continues to host vintage casinos like the Golden Nugget and the Gold Spike that hark back to another era. The street also hosts various strip clubs, stage shows and the Fremont Street Mall.

If you are on a vacation to Las Vegas with your children they are bound to be delighted by the city’s many roller coaster ride offerings. Las Vegas is believed to be one of the world’s top rollercoaster destinations, which has the biggest, fastest and most exciting rides.

The most thrilling roller coasters in Las Vegas include the roller coasters, which are located atop the 1,149ft (350m) Stratosphere Tower, the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States. However, the city also offers several other thrilling rides which include the Speed Ride at the Sahara Casino and Hotel, the Canyon Blaster at the Circus Circus Adventure dome, and the Manhattan Express at the New York , New York Hotel and Casino.

Las Vegas is located in the midst of the Mojave Desert and like other desert terrains; it experiences a weather pattern that features hot and dry summers and mild, cool winters. The hottest months in Las Vegas are usually July and August. During these months, the mercury often soars above 100ºF (38ºC) and the weather is not really conducive for doing much.

The winter months that extend from November to end of March constitute some of the best times to plan a trip to Las Vegas for they are characterized with cooler days with an average daytime highs of around 60ºF (16ºC).

Las Vegas is served by McCarran International Airport that is located one mile to the south of the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas airport is connected to the Strip and downtown Las Vegas by various buses and airport taxi services. Taking a flight to this airport is the easiest with Fare Buzz since our site offers the best and cheapest air flight tickets from across the top airlines.

If you need to hire a car for the duration of your stay in Las Vegas, Fare Buzz can also organize this service for you as it offers a wide array of affordable car rentals for Las Vegas. Moreover, these car rentals can be booked via its usual booking platforms and the vehicles can then be picked up at any of the outlets of rental car agencies that are located outside the Las Vegas airport.

Public transport within Las Vegas is provided by public buses, private trolley services, taxicabs, monorail links and free shuttle services, which are provided by many of the casinos.

Another popular mode of transport in Las Vegas is limousine hire and the city is equipped with many inexpensive limousine hire agencies which offer chauffer driven vehicles to the cater to the needs of visitors to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas offers a plethora of shopping opportunities. The city’s many casino hotels encourage you to spend money at every turn and they are equipped with huge mega malls in addition to gambling tables and slot machines. These casinos malls offer a world of delights and somewhat ensure that your winnings continue to remain with them as you indulge in shopping sprees with their treasure filled malls.

Some of the most popular shopping malls in Las Vegas include Town Square Las Vegas, the Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, the Forum Shops at the Caesar’s Palace, Mandalay Place, Via Bellagio, Wynn Esplanade, the Las Vegas Boulevard and the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.

Las Vegas offers a wide variety of restaurants that offer almost every cuisine known. Moreover the city also offers restaurants that are feature creations of some of the most well known chefs in the world like Wolfgang Puck, Guy Savoy, Joël Robuchon, Mario Batali , Bobby Flay, Michael Mina, Jean Joh, Charlie Trotter and more. With all these famous names on its dining roster Las Vegas represents an ultimate playground for food lovers on a visit to Las Vegas.

According to recent surveys, some of the best restaurants include Alize(French), Andres at the Monte Carlo (French), Craftsteak( steak), Il Mulino New York( Italian), Shibuya(Japanese), Aureole( American) and Nobhill Tavern( Californian).

Las Vegas is also commonly referred to as ‘Sin City’ and this raucous party central in the desert offers a whole host of nightlife options that include big booming night clubs, jazz cabarets, strip clubs, bars and much more. Celebrity sightings at these party places are a common occurrence, as these various Las Vegas nightlife haunts often host many events, premieres, product launches and more.

Some of the most popular nightlife haunts in Las Vegas currently include establishments like Tao Asian Bar and Restaurant, Studio 54, the Playboy Club, Tao Beach, Ghostbar, Rain, Pure, Moon and Lavo Nightclub.