A sceptic’s guide to Las Vegas from someone who ‘hated it’ the first time

If the name “Las Vegas” conjure visions of stale cigarette smoke, endless pokies and bachelor parties in matching t-shirts, you’re not alone.

The first time I went to Las Vegas I was there for one night and I hated it so much I swore I’d never go back. Yet somehow, seven years later, I found myself back in Sin City. I was there to research for my new book. And this time, I was charmed.

Beyond the neon and excess is one of America’s most surprising destinations: a city of remarkable architecture, world-class food, desert landscapes and genuinely strange history.

Here’s how to enjoy Las Vegas even if you think it’s not your kind of place.

The Strip is a must-see but also a must-leave

The Strip is Las Vegas’s main street. It’s where you’ll find all the casinos, all the bright lights, all the bachelor parties and all that gaudiness.

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It’s an architectural marvel – there’s a hotel shaped like a pyramid, there’s one that’s a big tower, one looks like New York and another has canals like Venice.

There’s a fountain that squirts and dances in time to music.

It’s ridiculous and fascinating. It’s stressful and busy and hot.

Spend a day walking from casino to casino (you can walk between many of them through malls and tunnels to avoid the desert sun). Check the shops and food courts, the different themed gaming rooms.

Then never go back. Once is enough.

Beyond The Strip

Once a pocket of warehouses and workshops, the Arts District began attracting photographers, painters and sculptors in the early 1990s.

They were drawn by the cheap rents and creative energy, and they helped transform the area into one of the city’s coolest districts.

Today, its low-rise mid-century buildings are home to contemporary art galleries, independent boutiques, live music venues and theatres, alongside a thriving mix of bars, actually good coffee shops, breweries and great restaurants.

Vegas’s hottest attractions

It’s easy to forget amid the neon lights, but Las Vegas sits in one of the most spectacular desert landscapes in North America.

Just half an hour from the Strip, the towering red sandstone cliffs of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area offer scenic drives, hiking trails and rock climbing, providing a complete change of pace from the casino floor.

Venture a little further, and you’ll reach Valley of Fire State Park, where fiery sandstone formations, ancient petroglyphs and rust-coloured rock formations create an almost Martian landscape.

Whether you have a few hours or a full day to spare, escaping into the desert is one of the best ways to experience a side of Las Vegas that many visitors never see.

Visit one of the world’s great wonders

If you’ve always dreamed of seeing the Grand Canyon but don’t have time for the long drive to the national park, Grand Canyon West is an easy day trip from Las Vegas.

About two and a half hours from the Strip, it’s home to the famous Skywalk – a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends over the canyon rim, giving you the sensation of hovering high above the canyon floor.

While it’s a different, more confined experience to Grand Canyon National Park (a further two hours’ drive), the views are extraordinary.

Hire a car or book a bus tour (approximately $275 including entry fee), all journeys from Vegas will also take you past the magnificent Hoover Dam. 

Las Vegas’s unexpected art world

Las Vegas has quietly become one of the most surprising art destinations in the US.

The standout is the ARIA Fine Art Collection, a free, museum-quality collection featuring works by internationally acclaimed artists including Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Henry Moore, Claes Oldenburg and Frank Stella.

Beyond the city, the Mojave Desert has become a canvas in its own right. About 30 minutes south of the Strip, Seven Magic Mountains, seven towering stacks of neon-painted boulders by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, has become one of Nevada’s most photographed landmarks.

Together with the region’s other large-scale land art, it’s proof that some of Las Vegas’s most memorable masterpieces aren’t found inside casinos at all, but beneath the vast desert sky.

One of America’s great food cities

One myth about Las Vegas is that you need to spend a fortune to eat well. The Strip is packed with celebrity chef restaurants where dinner can cost more than your hotel room.

What they don’t often tell tourists is that the city’s best meals are often found far away from the casinos.

Head downtown for smoky brisket and ribs at Soulbelly BBQ or Rollin Smoke BBQ, experience some of America’s best diner cuisine at Winnie & Ethel’s Downtown Diner, or join the regulars at the wonderful 24-hour Blueberry Hill Family Restaurant for oversized diner classics.

When it comes to Mexican food, skip the tourist traps and follow the queues instead. El Norte Taco Shop, Los Arcos Birrieria y Taco Shop and the ever-popular Tacos El Gordo serve some of the city’s best tacos, burritos and birria for just a few dollars a plate. 

A weird and wonderful history

Las Vegas contains a surprisingly rich lineup of museums and offbeat cultural stops that sit just beyond the casino floors.

In downtown, the Mob Museum traces the history of organised crime and law enforcement through immersive exhibits housed in a former courthouse.

Nearby, the Neon Museum preserves the city’s glowing visual history in a “boneyard” of vintage casino signs and restored neon relics, offering a hauntingly beautiful walk through Las Vegas of the past.

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The National Atomic Testing Museum explores the era of nuclear testing in Nevada and the scientific and cultural legacy that followed. And for something more surreal, the mythos of nearby Area 51 draws travellers out along the Extraterrestrial Highway into Cold War secrecy and UFO folklore.

The verdict

Much of people’s scepticism about Vegas is aimed at a caricature of the city built from neon clichés and casino stereotypes rather than the living, breathing city beyond the Strip. 

Spend even a little time outside the casinos, and a much more complex and interesting city will emerge. One of neighbourhood diners and desert silence, world-class art and unexpected history. 

So while not everyone will love Sin City, those who give the real Las Vegas a chance might just be pleasantly surprised.

Victoria Hannan is the author of ‘I Love the Whole World!’, out now (Penguin Random House Australia), find out more here. She travelled at her own expense.