Climate

Since Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert, the climate is an arid desert one. The summers are very hot and the winters mild. Temperatures usually reach the mid and upper 30°s C in the summer, with very low humidity. Winters are cooler and windy marked by with a few rainfalls often in the form of thunderstorms. Winter highs are around 16° C and even cooler nights.

Attractions & Sights

How to sum up Las Vegas in three words? Gambling, gambling and gambling. You can gamble almost everywhere, even at McCarran airport and small supermarkets. But this privilege is given only to those 21 years of age and up: always bring to the casino a valid ID as proof of your age. If you are unfamiliar with card games try to educate yourself before arriving in Las Vegas, but dealers are always full of advice for beginners. Also pros suggest playing the games with the lowest house advantage, such as craps and blackjack paying 3 to 2. More fun but with less chances to win are slot machines, roulette, and some craps bets. To facilitate gambling in machine-based games, you can use a pre-paid card to make wagers and collect winnings. If you plan on playing a certain amount, say $1000 or more, make sure to ask for a ‘player card’ or ask to be rated for possible complimentary rooms, meals, and other services. With poker making a comeback, poker tables are making there way back into the main casino floors with Texas Hold’em, 7-card stud, Omaha and other games. Most major casinos are found on the Las Vegas Strip. Fremont Street is the second most famous street in Las Vegas. Located in the heart of the downtown, it is or was the address for many famous casinos such as Binion’s Horseshoe, Eldorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Golden Nugget, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club. Not into gambling? Do not worry there are a million other things to see and do while in Vegas: – The Fountains of the Bellagio perform a magnificent display set to music every 15 minutes in the evenings and also every hour on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Inside there is a huge flower garden as well as a fine-art gallery – The Flamingo Garden offers a great garden with flamingos and other exotic birds, as well as koi and turtles – The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum is a museum in The Venetian – At the Mirage Volcano in front of the casino erupts in a terrific light show almost every hour in the evening. Also at the Mirage, an impressive aquarium, and a dolphin habitat – The Shark Reef in the Mandalay Bay hotel is best know for walking through a transparent tunnel with sharks, sea turtle, fish on all sides – The Fremont Street Experience is a pedestrian mall where most of the downtown casinos are located. Multimedia shows are displayed on a giant canopy over the street nightly. The Golden Nugget Casino displays aptly the world’s largest gold nugget – The Liberace Museum houses many of Liberace’s stage costumes, cars, jewelry, lavishly-decorated pianos, and citations for philanthropic acts – Several themed hotels have rides and amusement parks, such as Circus Circus, Manhattan Express at New York New York, the Stratosphere which offers an incredible view of the city, or enjoy a gondola ride at The Venetian

If you have a chance to ride northwest of Las Vegas on US Route 95 at night you will be rewarded with a movie like scene of the Strip’s neon lights. Nearby, Laughlin is the third most visited casino destination in the state. Laughlin is advertised as a more family-friendly venue with outdoor and family activities. Hoover Dam straddles the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona. Its enormous dam was completed in 1935. The visitor center and offers guided tours and access to the elevator to the viewing platform above the dam. Reno has plenty to see and do so renting a car is a good idea when visiting Reno. Attractions include the Nevada Museum of Art, Wingfield Park, Reno Central Library, California and South Wells Avenues, Rancho San Rafael Park, Victorian Square, and Idlewild Park. Of course Reno has its fair share of casinos: Silver Legacy, Eldorado, Circus Circus, Reno Nugget, Harrah’s Reno, Club Cal Neva, Atlantis, Peppermill, Grand Sierra Resort, and John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Carson City is home to the Nevada State Museum, with exhibits everything from prehistoric native life to the Old West mining boom to the current day. The State Capitol Complex is a lovely place for a stroll and a look inside the political history and workings of the state. A tour of historic homes and the personalities behind them can be taken by following the blue lines on the sidewalks, beginning from downtown.