7 Things Not to Miss in Las Vegas

The iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign located on the Las Vegas Strip.
The iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign located just south of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
The iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign located just south of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Photo by Katerina Papathanasiou/The Vale Magazine

Las Vegas is billed as “Sin City.” It’s true, there’s a lot to do if you want to demonstrate a little bad behavior – dance clubs, gambling, shows, and drinks abound. However, there are also a lot of exciting and unique things to experience in Vegas, Nevada. Give selfies a stunning backdrop with these not-to-be-missed Las Vegas sights.

Around the World in Minutes

The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, offers romantic glides down the Grand Canal in authentic Venetian gondolas.
The “Venetian Resort” in Las Vegas, Nevada, offers romantic glides down the Grand Canal in authentic Venetian gondolas.

You’ve dreamed of traveling the world; now you can get a taste of everything the world has to offer, wandering in Las Vegas. Make your way through Venice, Italy and ride on a gondola (the Venetian Resort). Then travel to Polynesia where you witness an onsite erupting volcano (the Mirage). Visit the romantic cafés of Paris, France (the Paris-Las Vegas Hotel & Casino), before going into the bustle of New York’s brownstone-lined streets, complete with yellow cabs (the New York-New York Hotel & Casino). Finish up in Egypt with the Great Pyramids (the Luxor Resort & Casino). A world tour in the space of half an hour. You’ll be amazed at the individual personality of each casino you enter.

People-Watching on “the Strip”

The 4.2-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard, known the world over as
The 4.2-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard, known the world over as “the Strip.”

Just strolling down “the Strip” through animated crowds is an experience like no other. Take a walk on the wild side and be amused by street performers, costumed entertainers, musicians and people cutting loose. You may even catch a celebrity sighting or one of the Jabbawockeez dancing.

Be Amazed by Dancing Water

The dancing fountains outside the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring dramatic aquatic shows.
The dancing fountains outside the “Bellagio Hotel and Casino” in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring dramatic aquatic shows.

The fountains outside The Bellagio Hotel and Casino offer a spectacular (and free) dancing water and light show set to music that is not to be missed. More than 1,000 fountain heads are choreographed to a mix of opera, pop, classical and Broadway music and shoot water over 400 feet in the air. Want a private dance? Splurge and book a table on the Picasso restaurant patio that juts into the fountains.

Eat Like a King

Delicious meal served at Gordon Ramsay Steak restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada
“Gordon Ramsay Steak” restaurant, Las Vegas, Nevada.

You can eat in one of the vast hotel buffets (a practical necessity when feeding thousands of gamblers). The food is delicious and plentiful, and with that much variety, you’re sure to find something to satisfy your appetite. Or take a taste tour and visit all the celebrity-chef restaurants – from Gordon Ramsay Steak to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill, you’ll eat like royalty.

Make Your Own Love Story

A man dressed as Elvis Presley outside the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The “Graceland Wedding” Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fall in love with a Cirque du Soleil performer at a show one night and marry him/her before you hit the breakfast buffet. The Vegas Strip has many romantic, or hilarious, chapels in where you can get married to someone you barely know on short notice. You can even tie the knot at the Graceland Wedding Chapel with The King himself to preside over the ceremony.

Be Blinded By the Light

The Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The “Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower” in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Face your fear of heights, ascend 1,149-feet at night and watch the neon city lights sparkle from the top of the tallest freestanding observation tower in the US, the Stratosphere. Come here during the day and jump from 829 feet above “the Strip” at the world’s highest commercial decelerator descent facility.

Go Grand

The 10-foot-wide, horseshoe-shaped glass bridge called
The 10-foot-wide, horseshoe-shaped glass bridge called “Skywalk” at Grand Canyon West Rim in Peach Springs, Arizona.

If you want to get out of town for a day, become one of the nearly one million visitors a year that visit the Grand Canyon. It’s only a two-hour drive from Vegas to the Grand Canyon West Rim in Peach Springs, Arizona which is owned and operated by the Hualapai Native American tribe. Hop on a helicopter or a donkey to get a better look while you’re there.