20 great things to do in Las Vegas

1. Lose your shirt in style

Caesars Palace remains an icon of classic Sin City decadence – few casinos can match it for atmosphere – but before you hit the baccarat pit mug up on the subject. The Gamblers General Store in Downtown has a library of 'how to' gaming books, as well as gifts. Apart from Caesars, some of the best poker games can be found at the legendary Golden Nugget in Downtown, whose residents can actually shed their shirts in a pool area where waterslides run though a central shark tank. Casino Royale provides the cheapest fun you can have round the roulette wheel. Killers fans who like a spot of the Old West with their 20x-odds craps should make for Sam's Town.

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2. Have a faux capital time

Many of the more preposterously themed resorts in Vegas pay tacky homage to other world cities. You want Paris, and the Eiffel Tower? Try Paris Las Vegas. Venice? There are gondolas and a St Mark’s Square at the Venetian. The Big Apple? New York New York has the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park and much, much more. Only in Vegas (or Legoland).

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3. Get into the spirit with the Tequila Goddess and wine angels

The most impressive difference between watering holes in the rest of the world and those on the Strip is the sheer number of bottles. Single malt enthusiasts can boggle at the vast scotch collection at Craftsteak. Cognacs to knock your socks off reside at chef André Rochat's three restaurants – André's and Alizé. A full-time Tequila Goddess is employed to educate the customers at Treasure Island's Isla. Wine drinkers should set their sights on Aureole, where the bottles are stored in a four-storey wine tower that requires harnessed 'wine angels' to retrieve them.

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4. Go off-Strip for extreme kitsch

The Atomic Testing Museum, a one-of-a-kind, often terrifying, insight into the Nevada Test Site, once the country's principal weapons testing facility, makes room for some bizarrely cheesy exhibits. The gong for campest collection of all time, however, has to go to the Liberace Museum, with its sparkling cache of treasures left by the Glitter Man himself.

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5. Scale Mount Wynn

Maverick mogul Steve Wynn designed his Wynn Las Vegas resort from the inside out, which means you have to remain cocooned inside his casino to appreciate its signature attraction. From outside, the visitor can see a small hill covered with huge trees, but to get the full effect, you have to go in, then take the spiral staircase down to the terraces at the SW Steakhouse or Daniel Boulud. The faux mountain fuses light, water, horticulture and architecture into a diverting multimedia experience.

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6. See the sights of the Strip for $5

How the Deuce do you do that? By riding one of the city's fleet of pimped-out double-decker buses that troll the Strip and all the way Downtown. Known as the Deuce, these buses come cheap at $2 a ride or $5 to hop on and off all day.

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7. Follow the screams into the Stratosphere

There are two reasons to follow Las Vegas Boulevard South as far as Sahara Avenue. One is Bonanza Gifts, which claims to be the 'world's largest gift store', and offers a pleasantly kitschy ride back in time to the Route 66 era. A very different ride is in store if you go north along the Boulevard to the tower where the shrieks are coming from. Stratosphere, the tallest building in Nevada, has at its summit a trio of thrill rides: Big Shot, X Scream & Insanity: the Ride, all as white-knuckle as they sound.

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8. Comfort eat when the shirt is lost

What better way to cheer the soul than soul food – chicken, short ribs, yams – at M&M's Soul Food, or burgers as big as your head at Hash House a-Go Go. For steaks, try the best barbecue in Vegas at Big Mama's Rib Shack. For a generous slice of Old Vegas, try the Bay City Diner, housed in a historic casino (Golden Gate), where no-nonsense waitresses like you see in the movies serve basic food for 20 hours a day.

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9. Soak up the watery attractions

The most eye-catching attraction at the Bellagio, a supersized, all-American Italian villa, is the signature jumping fountain. It's a fine, free, appetiser for a rather more expensive attraction here. Cirque du Soleil's most sophisticated show, O, comprises more than 70 swimmers, divers, aerialists, contortionists and clowns performing acrobatic feats around a pool/stage containing 1.5 million gallons of water. If you see only one show, make it O.

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10. Say och aye do

Weddings are the other industry in Las Vegas. The classic place for lightning-quick, starry hitching is the Little White Wedding Chapel, where Frank Sinatra married Mia Farrow. The tackiest, a favourite with Elvis impersonators, is the Viva Las Vegas Chapel. The dinkiest is undoubtedly Wee Kirk o' the Heather, for those who find the real Scotland a mite too chilly.
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11. Love that frozen custard

It looks like ice-cream, it tastes a bit like ice-cream, but the richer, smoother confection at Luv-It Frozen Custard is better than anything we've had from Mr Whippy. We recommend the Western Sundae, but it's all good stuff.

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12. Drink to the weird

There's no shortage of deeply odd places to raise a glass in Las Vegas. Horse-a-Round Bar at Circus Circus is the most extraordinary. It's a merry-go-round, which means a headachey soundtrack of children screaming. Take a tipple here before seeking (relative) peace of Ghostbar at Palms – 51 storeys up and quiet before 11pm. When you're ready for more fun, join in the singalongs to duelling pianos at the Bar at Times Square at New York New York or doodle electronically in the Beatles-themed Revolution at the Mirage.

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13. Coin it

Nickels and quarters burning a hole in your pocket? You have two options. Play the slots at Palms, Gold Coast or the Sahara, where you'll get free drinks and great people-watching opportunities, or test your flipping skills at the peculiarly beautiful Pinball Hall of Fame, a museum of more than 100 operational pinball machines.

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14. Rome around the mall

Take your credit card for a spin around the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, where, if the faux Roman vibe doesn't defeat you, the legions of medium- and high-end designer outlets will. You have until midnight to make your choices at weekends. If you're thin and rich enough, shop at the Fashion Show Mall, whose one billion dollar Cloud, an amazing image projection screen hovering over the centre, provides entertainment enough when the credit runs out.

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15. Go Off Strip for a reality check

Suffering from neon overload? Rancho Drive, north-west of town, offers a different taste of old Vegas. Take the bus as far as the US 95 to the historic Las Vegas Springs Preserve, a huge site given over to botanical gardens, nature trails and museum exhibits. It takes a while to adjust the eyes to the unwonted green.

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16. Deal a soggy hand

The Hard Rock's pool gives you the very best fun you can have with your cossie on. It's always buzzing, with its sandy beaches, waterfalls and swim-up blackjack. On summer Sunday evenings pop into your sequinned swimsuit for the raucous pool parties.

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17. Glam up for the new Glitter Gulch

Fremont Street, east of the Boulevard, is where the hipsters preen. The melancholy air of discarded Vegas evoked by restored vintage neon signs around Neonopolis and the open-air Neon Museum (www.neonmuseum.org) lighting up the shabby environs of old Downtown makes a nice counterpoint to the trendy centre. At its heart is the Beauty Bar, sister to the New York 'martinis and manicures' backdrop for those Sex and the City girls. Just nearby the Downtown Cocktail Room and the more pubbie, indie rocking joint Griffin, pull in the young and cool. Check out these bars for after parties on First Fridays (www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org), when the city's galleries stay open late and everyone parties artily.

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18. Discover your inner child

Bounce back to babydom at Skymania (www.skymaniafuncenters.com) – a room filled with an alluring grid of trampolines – where the walls and floor are padded and everyone jumps for joy.

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19. Feast your eyes

At Nove (Palms), the seafood spaghetti is exemplary, at the Mix (Thehotel at Mandalay Bay), the signature French/American dishes is ambitious, at The Top of the World (Stratosphere), the cultured mix of American and European favourites are surprisingly good. In all three, however, the menu is secondary to the stupendous views. High end dining indeed.

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20. Make like an Egyptian

The Venetian, which recreates the city of canals in the desert, may be the world's largest hotel but the Egyptian vibe evoked by the glass pyramid of the Luxor is more suited to the topography, and it's enjoyably silly. The high-intensity lights that shoot from its top at night can be seen from space and attracts bats during warmer months.

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