- Currency: US Dollar ($)
- Language: English
- Key phrase to learn: “Stick” (not “Twist”)
- Time difference: Las Vegas is eight hours behind the UK
- Average flight time: 10 hours
- International phone code: +1
- Emergency services number: 911
- Public holidays: New Year’s Day (January 1), Martin Luther King Jr Day (third Monday in January), Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), Independence Day (July 4), Labour Day (first Monday in September), Columbus Day (second Monday in October), Veterans’ Day (November 11), Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November), Christmas Day (December 25), plus Election Day, a federal government holiday in presidential-election years on the first Tuesday in November.
- Link to FCO travel advice: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa
Why go to Las Vegas?
Simply put, a Las Vegas holiday is guaranteed to be unique, because Las Vegas is unique.
Lining its famous ‘Strip’ (a neon-tastic section of Las Vegas Boulevard) in garish, supersized form are the legendary likes of the MGM Grand, Wynn and Bellagio: super-casinos synonymous with gambling and good times, with 24-hour debauchery and decadence.
Lining its famous ‘Strip’ (a neon-tastic section of Las Vegas Boulevard) in garish, supersized form are the legendary likes of the MGM Grand, Wynn and Bellagio: super-casinos synonymous with gambling and good times, with 24-hour debauchery and decadence.
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The whole world in one Strip
Las Vegas is a trip: inside each of these mega-casinos is an entire world.
Past the slot machines and blackjack tables you’ll find zoos and ziplines, boxing bouts and beaches, spas and shark parks.
At the Venetian, there are canals and singing gondoliers. The Luxor is shaped like a massive pyramid, and Caesars Palace has a 4,300-seat Colosseum. A 46-metre (150-feet) model of the Statue of Liberty towers above New York-New York.
Everything under one roof
All these overblown enterprises are sumptuous hotels too and typically the base for luxury package holidays in Las Vegas (and deals galore), plus world-class shopping and entertainment. Any big-name chef worth his salt and pepper has a restaurant here.
Extravagant, excessive and utterly unapologetic
Want somewhere nice and restrained? Try the next town.
From Kardashian-packed all-nighters to multi-million-dollar poker tournaments, Las Vegas is anything but subtle. This is America’s playground, a place where people come to party, and boy does it know it.
Every last element of Las Vegas is gloriously, thrillingly overblown – right down to The Mirage’s nightly-erupting model volcano, and its pina colada-scented lava.
Don’t forget to step outside
Trips to Las Vegas should also include time beyond the Strip.
Home to the city’s original, old-school casinos, Downtown Las Vegas has undergone a renaissance in recent years, becoming a hip destination in its own right via galleries and cool art spaces.
Las Vegas is also a superb base for explorations of nearby Death Valley or the Grand Canyon, ideal for adding some ‘outdoor’ variety to Las Vegas family holidays and those typically-indoor casino experiences.
For all that, the Strip is near impossible to ignore, and far too fascinating to overlook. Expect to gasp when you first spy it – such is the incongruence of multi-billion-dollar extravagance rising up from the scrubby Mojave Desert – and to make memories for life.
When to go
In terms of weather, March to May and September to November are the safest bets for holidays in Las Vegas in 2017: it’ll be warm enough to generate a nice tan, but not the sweat-box that is summer.
Price-wise, great package deals to Las Vegas are available year-round, with weeknights (Tuesday to Thursday) a better bet than weekends for bagging short and cheap Las Vegas trips.
Events for your diary
New Year’s Eve along the Strip attracts the biggest crowds, with more than 300,000 revellers descending and forcing the road to close to traffic.
Cars are definitely involved at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Weekend in early March, while another massive sporting gathering is December’s National Finals Rodeo. Cowboys are then replaced by card sharks for the World Series of Poker, held at the Rio for seven weeks and climaxing in July.
Make sure you plan ahead for any holiday to Las Vegas during these times.