Las Vegas Blvd. is one of the most notorious stretches of road in the world. Beneath its veneer of excess and hard partying, though, is a neighborhood that reflects the unbounded optimism of the American Dream.
Everyone has their perception of what the Las Vegas Strip is and means, gleaned from its depiction in popular culture and books over the decades. A celeb-packed pleasure center, drug-fueled place of ruination, Mecca of organized crime, an incubator for celebrity chefs, and even a budget-friendly family destination: the Las Vegas Strip is or has been all of these things and many more. The trick is to tap into what you want your Vegas vacation to look like and plan accordingly. To understand the dynamics of the Strip, consider this: The stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that runs north to south bookended by the STRAT observation tower and the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign swells with roughly the population of San Francisco in visitors each week—and it’s only about four miles long. As you might imagine, the hospitality industry is the largest employer in the Las Vegas Valley. About one-quarter of visitors are coming to Las Vegas for the first time. The majority are repeat visitors, here not just for the gambling and entertainment but also for the dining, nightlife, and overwhelming number of luxury retail stores. Open a store or restaurant in Las Vegas and you bring your A-game. All this is to meet the ever-growing expectations of Vegas visitors that they will see the best, eat the best, buy the best, and be treated like royalty. Perhaps the best thing about the Las Vegas Strip is that, while the business of gaming and hospitality is dead serious, it has arguably the best sense of humor of any city on earth. Here, monumental, choreographed fountains, a singing frog that sits atop a 90-foot waterfall, a belching volcano, and a replica of the Eiffel Tower: they’re all just part of the fabric of the Las Vegas experience, and completely normal to those who live here. Embrace the weirdness and you’ll fully understand this neighborhood.
The Las Vegas Strip runs for four miles parallel to the I-15, and drive-in traffic from Southern California accounts for many of its inbound visitors. It’s a straight shot through Las Vegas, connecting Utah and California. The city’s Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) is just minutes away from the hotels of the resort corridor, so getting in and out is easy. The airport has added more and more direct flights between US cities and international cities in recent years. There hasn’t been a train here since the 1980s but with the opening of the Brightline, an all-electric, high-speed train that will cut the drive time in half for travelers to and from LA.
The Fountains of Bellagio have graced nine acres in front of the Bellagio for the quarter century the resort has been here, and they’re as fresh and new each half hour they come on as they were when it opened. They epitomize the showmanship of the Strip and come on each evening in half-hour intervals. More than 1200 sprayers shot water nearly 500 feet in the air, choreographed to a playlist of 30 songs. Over the years, the fountains have branched out from classics like Elvis Presley singing “Viva Las Vegas” and Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” to contemporary hits like a BTS compilation of “Butter” and “Dynamite” and Bruno Mars singing “UpTown Funk.”
Book a table at Sadelle’s, the New York City brunch import, for the best view of the conservatory and a towering plate of pastries.
One of the most transporting places in Las Vegas (and that’s saying a lot) is the central conservatory and botanical gardens at Bellagio. A truly astounding number of horticulturalists, designers, artists and engineers create theatrical displays that coincide with the four seasons and the Lunar New Year. And while the conservatory has been celebrating the seasons since the resort opened, it has never repeated an element of the display. Within its 14,000 square feet, the team has designed an ode to the island of Capri (with a lake and a waterfall, no less), rats pushing golden wheelbarrows around a flower-festooned garden for the Year of the Rat, and lots of moving parts and animatronic characters.
A canal winds around Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes, on which singing gondoliers transport passengers under a blue sky (painted on the ceiling). You’ve never seen the Veneto like this before. This is how Las Vegas does a shopping center, with everything from retailers that are accessible mall staples to the highest-end jewelers, plus a solid food court, when your wallet needs a break from resort restaurants. The “Streetmosphere,” as the roving opera singers, dancers, and living statues are called, creates a slightly campy version of the Floating City.
Even with my extreme dislike of heights, I was able to comfortably take a yoga class on the High Roller. It goes around slowly enough that, as thrilling as its views are, it’s not a thrill ride.
Las Vegas is an expert on fitting a bar into any space, but the idea that you can drink at an open bar on a Ferris wheel is probably the most Vegas-y idea ever. The High Roller anchors the Linq Promenade, an outdoor pedestrian mall perpendicular to the Strip. And while it opened a decade ago to be the highest observation wheel in the world—at 550 feet, it’s taller than the Singapore Flyer and the London Eye—it didn’t take long to find fun new ways to ride it. Each of its glass cabins can fit 25 people, and the High Roller has hosted everything from weddings and happy hours to yoga sessions.
One of the most magical places in Las Vegas is the Lake of Dreams, a private lake surrounded on one side by two waterfront restaurants and a lounge and on the other, a 105-foot-high, pine tree-covered mountain. A 90-foot waterfall falls in a sheet, creating a perfect screen onto which fanciful movie productions and music videos are played. That’s the dramatic backdrop for the lake’s wild animatronics, including a 30-foot singing frog that rises from the top of the falls to sing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” and a trio of exotic birds shake their tail feathers and sing Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” The best places to see it are from SW Steakhouse, Lakeside, and Aft lounge, but you can stand at the top of the escalators that lead down to the restaurants for a perfectly fine view or find the outdoor viewing deck to the right as you face the lake.
There is a reason, other than its fabulosity, that the “Welcome to Fabulous” Las Vegas sign is the icon it is – emblazoned on everything from T-shirts to mugs to refrigerator magnets. Betty Willis, who designed the sign in 1959 for the neon sign company Yesco, gifted her design to the city without a copyright so it could be limitlessly reproduced. Of course, there’s nothing like the real thing, and the sign, which is now solar-powered, is the ultimate picture backdrop.
There are 150,000 guest rooms in Las Vegas, and most of them are concentrated on Las Vegas Blvd. The Venetian Resort has over 7,000 rooms and MGM Grand has just under 7,000. They both rank in the top five largest resorts in the world. In other words, finding a place to stay isn’t difficult. You can find everything from the ultra-luxury villa at Wynn and the invite-only Mansion at MGM to the all-in-one resort cities of Caesars Palace and The Venetian Resort, to gaming-free hotels like The Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria – plus more gently priced hotel rooms up and down the Strip. Your resort in Las Vegas will define your experience, so plan carefully.
Las Vegas demands that you have at least a little sense of humor and an appreciation for childlike wonders. The Strip has made a skyline that is specifically its own out of an Egyptian pyramid, a scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, and imaginative versions of several cities. The Strip is a big-budget, high-production-value theater set, and the people who are able to completely surrender to it have the best time.
