Las Vegas is known worldwide as “Sin City”, obviously the Nevada Government and tourism promoters prefer the nickname “The Entertainment Capital of the World”.  Although it was established in 1905 gambling was not legalised until 1931.  Nowadays it is recognised as the centre of legalised gambling in the US and is the most populated city in Nevada. 

The city and surrounding areas offer many attractions for both visitors and locals to enjoy. The number-one activity in Vegas is walking The Strip and taking in all the gaudy, garish and absurd wonder of it all at night.  Then there are the shows and plenty of other night time entertainments including free hotel attractions, such as Bellagio's water-fountain ballet, The Mirage's volcano and white-tiger exhibit, and the Rio Masquerade show.

Besides the casinos Las Vegas also has many museums such as Bruno's Indian Museum, Clark County Heritage Museum, the Guinness World of Records Museum, some art museums and auto museums including the Carroll Shelby Museum which is located at the Las Vegas Speedway circuit

Shopping in Vegas is endless and it's a shop-till-you-drop kind of city. Some extensive malls and many hotels have comprehensive, and sometimes highly themed, shopping arcades. In addition to the malls, outlets, and shops, it's a good idea to drive to Maryland Parkway, which runs parallel to the Strip on the east and has just about everything: several major department stores, Toys “R” Us, Tower Records, major drugstores, some alternative-culture shops (tattoo parlours and hip clothing stores), and so forth. Las Vegas has a big factory-outlet centre just a few miles past the southern end of the Strip. Vegas also has nearly two dozen antiques shops, of consistent quality and price, nearly all located within a few blocks of each other.

Among the many images that come to mind when people think of Las Vegas are cheap food deals, bargains so good that the food is practically free. Some of the big names are Pinot, Le Cirque, Aqua, Aureole, Olives, Border Grill, Nobu and Rosemary's Restaurant. Las Vegas has some theme restaurants like The House of Blues, Harley Davidson Café, The Hard Rock Café, the Rainforest Café and Margaritaville.

The city has several top-notch sporting arenas, there are important annual events that take place in Las Vegas. The PGA Tour's Las Vegas Senior Classic is held each April in nearby Summerlin, and the Las Vegas Invitational takes place in Las Vegas each October. The National Finals Rodeo is held in UNLV's Thomas and Mack Centre each December.

If there's one thing Vegas has, its hotels, big hotels and lots of them to suit any budget. The 10 largest hotels in the United States - 9 of the top 10 in the world – are located in Vegas.

Just about every hotel in town has a sightseeing desk offering a seemingly infinite number of tours in and around Las Vegas. The tours include Air Tours including Airplane, Helicopter Tours; Land tours including Bicycle Tours, Bus Tours, Walking/Hiking and Horseback Riding; Water tours including Jet Ski Tours, Lake Cruises, River Rafting,  etc. These tours contain destinations like Hoover Dam, Mount Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire and Lake Mead.