The Strip in Las Vegas (officially known as Las Vegas Boulevard) is, perhaps, the defining symbol of American excess. Every year, millions of people descend upon the city, the vast majority of whom come with the sole intention of gambling. In 2004, nearly 38 million visitors came to Las Vegas and brought in US$6.8 billion in gaming revenue to the city. Nevada is the only state in the USA where gambling is legal, and nowhere is this more evident than on the Las Vegas Strip, where there are more slot machines and roulette wheels than anywhere else in the world. Here, massive neon casino-hotel complexes vie for supremacy in an ongoing competition to be the biggest and the best. In order to attract trade, many of them have turned into brightly-lit mini-theme parks, open 24 hours a day. World-famous hotel-casinos include the Luxor, Paris Las Vegas and the legendary Caesar’s Palace. The whole place is a non-stop cabaret of glitz and extravagance, with nightly performances in all the big hotels, featuring dancing girls, stand-up comedians and live music to keep the punters entertained. The city is also famous as a place to get hitched, with around 200,000 couples visiting Las Vegas every year to get married. Ceremonies range from the kitsch, complete with Elvis impersonator in the Graceland Wedding Chapel to ultra-quick drive-in weddings at the Little White Chapel, open 24 hours a day. If all this is not enough, there are also numerous museums in the area including Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Guinness World of Records Museum, the Elvis-A-Rama Museum and the Liberace Museum.
Air: Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Road: Bus: Public services; Las Vegas Strip Trolley runs along the Strip. Car: I-15 into the centre of Las Vegas, then Spring Mountain Road, Desert Inn Road or Flamingo Road to join Las Vegas Boulevard (from the north or south).

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA
Tel: (702) 892 0711
Website: www.lvcva.com

United States of America, Las Vegas