Insight Guides Pocket Las Vegas (Travel Guide with Free eBook)

By Insight Guides

Insight Guides: Inspiring your next adventure

Spectacular, escapist and surreal, there is no other city on earth like Las Vegas. Be inspired to visit by the brand new Insight Pocket Guide Las Vegas, a concise, full-colour guide to this desert metropolis that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the best that Las Vegas has to offer.

Inside Insight Pocket Guide Las Vegas:

Where To Go details all the key sights in and around the city, from mega resorts on The Strip to the Grand Canyon, while handy maps on the cover flaps help you find your way around, and are cross-referenced to the text.

Top 10 Attractions gives a run-down of the best sights to take in on your trip, including The Fremont Street Experience, the Luxor, the Big Shot and the Hoover Dam.

A Perfect Day in Las Vegas provides an itinerary for one day in the city.

What To Do gives you the lowdown on the most popular games, the best entertainment shows, and the city's nightlife, sports and other activities.

Essential information the origins of the city and the infamous figures associated with it.

Eating Out covers the city's best cuisine.

Curated listings of the best hotels and restaurants.

A-Z of all the practical information you'll need.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-color print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travelers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Mar 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780059495

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

Getting Around the e-Book

This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Las Vegas, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Las Vegas, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Las Vegas are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Las Vegas. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2016 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

How To Use This E-Book

Las Vegas’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

Top Attraction #2

Top Attraction #3

Top Attraction #4

Top Attraction #5

Top Attraction #6

Top Attraction #7

Top Attraction #8

Top Attraction #9

Top Attraction #10

A Perfect Day In Las Vegas

Introduction

Landmarks of the Modern World

Fast Lane

Sunny Days

Rush to the New

Reinvention

Local Las Vegas

Spectacular Sports

Powerful Productions

Glittering Moments

A Brief History

First Inhabitants

From Mailmen to Mormons

Las Vegas Ranch

Of Tracks and Tracts

Dam Good Luck

Public Relations

Gambling and the Rat Pack

New Legitimacy

Las Vegas with a Vision

The Modern Era

City of the Future

Historical Landmarks

Where To Go

The South End of the Strip

Excalibur

Tropicana

MGM Grand

New York-New York

Monte Carlo

The Center Strip

CityCenter

The Cosmopolitan

Planet Hollywood

Paris and Bally’s

Bellagio

The North End of the Strip

Caesars Palace

LINQ and Harrah’s

Venetian and Palazzo

The Mirage

Treasure Island (TI)

Wynn and Encore

Circus Circus and SLS Las Vegas

The Stratosphere

Downtown

Fremont Street Experience

Main Street Station and the Plaza

Fremont Street Casinos

El Cortez

West of the Strip

West Flamingo Road

Orleans

East of the Strip

The Hard Rock

Cultural Attractions

Art Museums

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Excursions

Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

Boulder City

Ghost Towns

Valley of Fire State Park

Red Rock Canyon

Mount Charleston

Grand Canyon

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

Death Valley

What To Do

Gambling

Card Schools

Baccarat

Bingo

Blackjack (or 21)

Blackjack Switch

Craps

Pai Gow

Poker

Roulette

Slot Machines

Three-Card Poker

Video Poker

The Big Shows

Keeping Up with the Shows

Adult Entertainment

Nightlife

Nightclubs and Bars

Gay Clubs

Music Venues

Shopping

Shopping Malls

Factory Outlet Malls

Local Shopping

Sports

Spectator Sports

Boxing

Golf Tournaments

Motor Sports

Rodeo

Other Sports

Participatory Sports

Cycling

Golf

Hiking

Rock Climbing

Snow Sports

Tennis

Las Vegas for Children

Thrills and Spills for Older Kids

Further Afield

Calendar of Events

Eating Out

Restaurants

Strip Restaurants

Downtown Restaurants

Off-Strip Restaurants

A–Z Travel Tips

A

Accommodations (See also Camping, Youth Hostels, and the list of Recommended Hotels)

Airport

B

Bicycle Rental

Budgeting For Your Trip

C

Camping

Car Rental

Climate

Clothing

Crime and Safety

D

Driving

E

Electricity

Emergencies

G

Gay and Lesbian Travelers

Getting There (see also Airport and Driving)

Guides and Tours

H

Health and Medical Care

Holidays

M

Media

Money

O

Opening Hours

P

Police (see also Crime and Safety)

Post Offices

Public Transportation

T

Taxis

Telephones

Tickets

Time Differences

Tipping

Tourist information

V

Visas and Entry Requirements

W

Websites and Internet Access

Y

Youth Hostels

Recommended Hotels

Strip Casinos and Resorts

Downtown Casinos and Resorts

Off-Strip Casinos and Resorts

Motels

Las Vegas’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

iStock

The Big Shot at the Stratosphere

A must for thrill seekers. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #2

iStock

Bellagio

The spectacular fountains in front of this lavish casino-resort make it an unmissable attraction. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #3

iStock

High Roller

The world’s biggest Ferris wheel offers spectacular views of The Strip. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #4

iStock

The Fremont Street Experience

With over 2 million lights, it’s neon nirvana. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #5

iStock

Hoover Dam

A marvel of 1930s engineering. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #6

iStock

The Luxor

This resort is housed in a huge pyramid. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #7

iStock

CityCenter

Sleek and modern, this is a city within the city. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #8

Shutterstock

The Chandelier

A three-story bar, designed to make patrons feel like they’re inside a chandelier. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #9

iStock

Binion’s Gambling Hall

Downtown casinos offer the best value, and this place is among the best. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #10

iStock

Grand Canyon National Park

One of the wonders of the natural world, and just an excursion away from Vegas. For more information, click here.

A Perfect Day In Las Vegas

9.30am

Breakfast

Start the day with a great buffet breakfast, either at your hotel or from the lavish menu at the Wynn’s Tableau restaurant.

10.30am

Shop till you drop

Break out the credit cards for a dose of retail therapy at the Miracle Mile Shops inside Planet Hollywood or at the LINQ Promenade.

1.00pm

Lunch and people-watch

The open-air patio of Mon Ami Gabi, at Paris Las Vegas, is a great spot to linger over a lunch of croque-monsieur. It’s also a good spot from which to watch hundreds of people as they wander down the Strip, or ogle at the fountains at Bellagio across the street.

2.45pm

Spa luxury

Spas in Las Vegas are always jockeying for the title of best in show. The undisputed champion: Qua Baths & Spa inside Caesars Palace. Master barber offers men old-school flat-razor shaves, while women love to luxuriate in the Roman Baths after indulgent signature treatments such as the exfoliation body scrub or a hot-stone massage.

5.00pm

Drinks with a view

Clean up and continue the Zen vibe from the 23rd floor of the Mandarin Oriental at the Mandarin Bar. From up here, the view in both directions of the Strip is amazing, and the sparkling wine is almost exclusively from France. Be sure to try some hors d’oeuvres, too; most of them come on single serving-sized spoons.

7.30pm

Steakhouse feast

Hail a taxi to Wynn Las Vegas, get out near the Wynn Tower Suites, and stroll through the Wynn’s gardens as you make your way through the covered passageway to Encore. Your destination: SW Steakhouse, where chef David Walzog cooks an outstanding American steakhouse fare.

9.30pm

Surrender to sweets

Decline dessert at SW Steakhouse and instead take an evening walk north along the Strip to Luv-It Frozen Custard, a legendary spot near the Stratosphere, serving delicious sundaes.

10.30pm

Press the felt

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