Las
Vegas
|
|
The Luxor casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Las
Vegas, the USA's premier gambling resort, is not at all the sleazy dump that it used to be. Money-sucking,
yes. Hot, yes. Overlit, yes. Full of hustlers, pimps and thieves?
Well, not so obviously...
In fact the new millennium Vegas, in other words The Strip - which
is not actually officially named The Strip but Las Vegas
Boulevard, seems as much about extracting $$$ through entertainment
as through the roulette wheel or one-arm bandit. The shows are terrific,
among the best in the world, ranging from humour to hard rock to magic
to schmaltz, but ticket prices are accordingly high.
The Strip - actually named Las Vegas Boulevard - featuring New York, New York and a distant Eiffel Tower.
The trick in Las Vegas is to enjoy the amazing exteriors by day and
night, to avoid the generally crass interiors and to find the free
shows that casinos use to drag the punters in their direction.
Las Vegas is also an excellent jumping-off point for a trip around
the Grand Circle of SW USA's sensational National Parks. Hire a car,
Harley or RV there and do a two or three week loop, starting with
Zion Canyon and ending with the Grand Canyon, or vice versa.
The Strip, with the stunningly convincing Venice replica at The Venetian.
But of course it's at night that Las Vegas really shines; this is the lower Strip.
Treasure Island's exterior and night show is typically dramatic, with, however, a typically disappointing, styless, slot-machine-overdose interior.
END OF LAS VEGAS. Click on the image or below for SW USA National Park Pictures, including Arches, Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyons.
US Guides: Vegas Guide | Los Angeles | SW States | Arizona | California | New Mexico | USA Tours
Maps: SW USA Map | USA Map | California Map
SW USA images: Zion Canyon | Bryce Canyon | Joshua Tree | Death Valley
Arches NP | Monument Valley Park | Burning Man | Grand Canyon
Las Vegas Photos Nevada © Loader