Welcome - Already a member? Sign in

 Site Map My Trips My Profile Customer Support Feedback
TRAVELLER TOOLS
Airport Guides
Arrivals/Departures
Flight Timetables
Currency Converter
Destinations
Weather
Get deals via email
Health & Safety
Passport/ Visa

The World  
North America  
Las Vegas  
Nightlife

  Las Vegas, Nightlife

Nightlife is Las Vegas’ best‐known pastime. The casinos and hotels may be open by day but only under the cover of night does the city’s burst of lights set the atmosphere buzzing. Casinos, restaurants and bars are packed with tourists from all over the world, most in a friendly and genial spirit. Casino hotels tend to house not only the best‐known stage shows but also all the late‐night bars, nightclubs and live music. Once again, the city is split between the Strip and Downtown, both of which offer an overwhelming assortment of evening activities. Downtown offers smaller, sometimes more charismatic, venues, while the enormous hotel complexes of the Strip offer a wide variety of entertainment options at each individual complex. Las Vegas is a 24‐hour city. Alcohol can be bought at any time of day or night, in restaurants, bars and shops. The legal drinking age is 21 years. Dress at most casinos is casual, however, some lounges do impose a dress code. Mixed drinks generally cost between US$4.50 and US$8, although they are usually on the house while gambling. Drinks that come in a souvenir glass may cost more.

Listing of virtually every kind of entertainment that Las Vegas has to offer can be found online (). Another good website (www.vegas.com/nightclubs) has a selection of the more popular nightclubs in the city, along with a listing of upcoming events.

Bars: All night‐time entertainment happens within the hotel–casino complexes. Most bars in Las Vegas feature such extravagant entertainment that they rival the largest nightclubs of other cities. Nevertheless, in Las Vegas, they are simply bars when compared to the lavish shows put on in the theatres and clubs there. The Bellagio’s Baccarat Bar, 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South, serves luxurious cocktails against a backdrop of live piano music, while the Petrossian Bar, also at the Bellagio, aims to take visitors back to pre‐Revolutionary Russia and the days of ‘fantasy and indulgence’, serving champagne, tea and caviar. The Bar at Times Square, New York‐New York Hotel and Casino, 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, aims to recreate the feel of an old New York city pub with polished wood floors and nightly entertainment.

Casinos: To gamble, visitors must be at least 21 years old and have proof of age and identity in the form of a driver’s licence, passport or other photo identification. Most casinos in Las Vegas do not impose a dress code, although shoes and shirts are required. Some casinos worth visiting (not mentioned in the Key Attractions section) include the Arabian themed Aladdin Resort and Casino, 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South, and Excalibur, 3850 Las Vegas Boulevard South, a medieval‐inspired castle. The slightly dingy but intimate Gold Spike, 400 Ogden Avenue East, offers low table limit and penny slots, giving a taste of what the city was like in the 1970s. The Golden Nugget, 129 Fremont Street East, has been a fixture of Downtown since 1946, and features the largest gold nugget in the world, weighing in at 23 kilograms (61 pounds). New York‐New York, 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, is a recreation of New York, while Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South, aims to import a touch of European class and sophistication.

Clubs: A number of state‐of‐the‐art clubs are offered by the major hotel–casinos. The minimum age for entry is usually 21 years and a dress code is also often in place. One of the best‐known clubs is yet another Las Vegas recreation of somewhere else – Studio 54, MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Modelled on the legendary New York nightclub of the 1970s, Studio 54 features live dancers, dance music and a collection of photographs taken at the original club. The Luxor’s Egyptian‐themed club is called Ra, 3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South, where visitors are entertained by touring DJs who play a variety of dance music. It was voted by Las Vegas Weekly in 2002 as ‘easily the best club in Las Vegas.’ It also tends to have long queues, so visitors are encouraged to arrive early.

Live music: Live music is another one of Las Vegas’ legendary forms of entertainment – the city is the former home to superstars like Sammy Davis Junior, Frank Sinatra and Liberace. The Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, Aladdin Casino, 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South, headlines major touring rock and popular acts, while the Blue Note Jazz Club, also at the Aladdin Casino, features jazz acts. The Orleans Showroom, The Orleans Hotel and Casino, 4500 West Tropicana Avenue, has hosted touring pop acts such as Willie Nelson, Neil Sedaka and Jerry Lewis.