Every single thing you should be doing while in Las Vegas

With one foot in the past and one in the future, the 50-year-old Caesars Palace remains an icon of Sin City decadence. Caesars is one of the last old-school properties remaining, and few Las Vegas casinos can match it in atmosphere. But before you hit the table games, poker room or baccarat pit, mug up on the subject. The Gamblers General Store in Downtown Vegas has a library of “how to” gaming books as well as gifts. If poker’s your game, head to the Bellagio, where you might see some of the world’s top players in action, or Downtown’s legendary Golden Nugget, where you can match your skills with anonymous, grizzled veterans who look like they haven’t left their seat at the table in decades. If you’d rather stick to slots or video poker, head to the Palms, where the payouts are above average, or the off-Strip Gold Coast or Circus Circus, both of which offer glimpses into Vegas’ vintage past.

Changing entertainment trends mean that, today, the Strip is populated with less production shows and more resident headliners—A-list musicians and bands that set up shop in casino showrooms for extended runs that translate all the production value of a massive tour into a far more intimate experience. Whenever you visit, somebody will be putting on a show, so check the calendar then book your tickets to see Celine Dion, Elton John, J. Lo, Cher, Bruno Mars, Backstreet Boys or Reba, Brooks & Dunn in concert.

Check out our guide to the best Las Vegas shows

Many of the more preposterously themed hotels in Vegas pay homage to notable locales around the world that would seem tacky anywhere else. You want Paris and the Eiffel Tower? Try Paris Las Vegas. Venice? There are gondolas and a St. Mark’s Square at the Venetian. Head to Bellagio for an erupting replica of Italy’s Lake Como. The Big Apple? New York-New York has a Statue of Liberty so convincing it once ended up on a stamp by mistake. Even Detroit gets a themed casino, courtesy of Fremont Street’s the D, where you can grab a hot dog at American Coney Island or coffee from Michigan landmark Zingerman’s. Such is the magic of Las Vegas.

When Life Is Beautiful Festival launched in Downtown Las Vegas in 2013, it brought with it a team of international street artists and muralists who blanketed the city’s walls with colorful, evocative paintings. That program has continued each year, with new works added and old pieces refreshed or replaced. The result? Exploring Downtown feels like wandering through an epic art gallery scaled for giants.

Whether you want to counteract the previous night’s excesses or put your best face forward, almost every hotel has a luxurious sanctuary to help you unwind and shine. Sahra Spa & Hammam at the Cosmopolitan is among the most original, with towering sandstone walls that give way to treatment rooms where guests can opt for services ranging from hot stone massages to clay body treatments and Fire & Ice facials. At the Mandarin Oriental, you can visit the Chinese foot spa or partake in a blissful couples treatment, while at the Linq guests can book a break in the Himalayan salt cave. Whatever your need, the best spas in Las Vegas have got you covered. 

The Hoover Dam looms large in Las Vegas history as in physical form, and the 726-foot-high curving cement facade makes for a striking view, whether you take a guided tour, walk onto the bridge or view it from a boat on Lake Mead. It took five years and 21,000 men to build the mighty dam on the Colorado River, and it’s worth stopping by to see the fruits of their labor.

Vegas visitors are often shocked to find that the Strip isn’t four miles of glitz plopped down in the midst of open desert. Rather, the city is ringed by mountains and canyons, which offer wonderful hiking year-round. During the winter, hit Red Rock National Conservation Area, where ruddy rock walls are dotted with climbers on world class routes and trails that lead into lovely gullies. In the summer, push north to Mt. Charleston, where almost 12,000 feet of elevation mean cooler temperatures, forests of bristlecone pine and expansive views of the valley below.

Today, most people have heard of kobe beef, but, despite what your local bistro would you have believe, few people have tasted it. That’s because only a handful restaurants in the entire U.S. are permitted to sell the good stuff, and three of them are in Vegas. You can find certified, melt-in-your-mouth Japanese kobe at José Andrés’ Bazaar Meat at SLS, SWS Steakhouse at the Wynn and Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria. If you’re an aficionado of fine meat, the best steakhouses in Las Vegas will surely rock your world.

Aerialists and acrobats and strongmen, oh my! Las Vegas has long been the stateside home of Cirque du Soleil with seven resident shows filling theaters along the Boulevard. For the most definitive display of Cirque’s charms, book O at the Bellagio, a marvelous spectacle based around a stage that transforms into a pool in the blink of an eye and is stocked with astonishing acts, inventive engineering and the company’s classic clowns. For a naughtier take on the Vegas circus, wander into Absinthe’s Spiegeltent outside Caesars Palace and let the raunchy Gazillionaire and his motley crew of entertainers wow you with their abilities between blush-inducing banter not for the prude or proper.

From the time summer arrives in early April until its departure in late October, Las Vegas pool parties are the place to beat the heat. Wet ’n’ Wild is the waterpark that kids yearn for, while whole families will find something to love among Mandalay Beach's sandy shoreline, rolling wave pool and lazy river. For a more thumping pool experience, join the throngs at Encore Beach Club, where party people spend the afternoon drinking, dancing and splashing to soundtracks by chart-topping DJs.

Ever thought about taking the trope “birds-eye view” literally? That’s the idea at Bootleg Canyon Flightlinez near Boulder City, where a trip to the top of Red Mountain kicks off a 1.5-mile descent over four different zip lines that can reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. If that sounds too intense, consider the aptly named Slotzilla, an oversized slot machine on one end of the Fremont Street Experience that shoots riders under the canopy either hanging or Superman-style.

Las Vegas has long been the classic destination for lightning-quick, starry nuptials, as well as other less than traditionally inclined services—including themed weddings and celebrity ceremonies. Do it Frank’s way and tie the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel, where Sinatra married Mia Farrow, or book the Viva Las Vegas Chapel, where an ersatz Elvis weds the betrothed. The dinkiest is undoubtedly Wee Kirk o’ the Heather, for a Scottish Highland-meets-Nevada fling. Other options include truly romantic ceremonies, adventure weddings, licensed wedding chapels and drive-through I-dos. Getting hitched in Vegas is easy; the hard part comes after.