The best Las Vegas attractions

If you’re afraid of heights, stay away from the 1,150-foot (350m) Stratosphere Tower. And even if you don’t suffer from vertigo, you might want to steer clear of the resort’s thrill rides. The Big Shot will rocket you 160 feet (49m) up the tower’s spindle under a force of four Gs; at the top, you’ll experience a moment of weightlessness before free-falling back to the launch pad. X Scream will propel you 27 feet over the edge of the Tower and then leave you there to dangle. And during Insanity, an arm extends over 900ft of air and spins you around at a terrifying rate. True daredevils can take it one step further with the SkyJump, a controlled, 829-foot leap from the tower that has you reaching speeds of 40mph on the way down. Best save dinner for later.

The Las Vegas Strip offers plenty of epic vantage points, from the restaurants atop Mandalay Bay to the clubs that crown the Palms, but perhaps the best views come courtesy of the Linq’s anchor attraction, the 550-foot-tall High Roller observation wheel. Grab a few friends and your camera and climb aboard one of the glass pods for a 30-minute trip over the Strip with 360-degree views of the Vegas Valley. And if you like your vistas with a side of booze, book a spot in one of the Happy Half Hour cabins, which includes an open bar during your trip ’round the wheel.

To most people, a pinball machine is just a pinball machine. To some folks, though, it’s a kinetic monument to a simpler time when mindless entertainment didn’t necessarily involve sex, hyper-violence or the pixelated undead, a perfectly designed blend of challenge, workmanship and skill. In Tim Arnold’s world, it’s all these things and more. How else to explain his Pinball Hall of Fame, an interactive museum of sorts where more than 100 operational pinball machines spanning seven decades are on display and ready for your quarters? The Pinball Hall of Fame is a true mecca in a city of replicated ones.