Lonely Planet - Las Vegas

6. Joining the low rollers in the land that taste forgot

Some critics lament that everything in Las Vegas is in outrageously bad taste, and, of course, that's almost 100 per cent true. But that's actually something to celebrate. It's as much fun to dive into the city's unbelievably campy depths as it is to aim for its snobbish heights of luxury.

You could spend all day watching the gob-stopping free casino spectaculars and inhaling the (almost free) food and drinks. Did you know they'll serve you free booze even if you're just playing the 'Penny Alley' slot machines? It's true.

If you're rarin' to go for a low-roller's ride through Las Vegas, there's no better place to start than downtown's Fremont St. Grab a 99¢ electric-blue-colored margarita in a souvenir 3ft-high plastic glass, buy a tacky T-shirt from a 'Sin City' souvenir shop and stagger around dive casinos while the Fremont Street Experience's cheesy laser-light show flashes overhead. Fight for a seat next to the blue-haired grannies inside the Plaza bingo room or quaff cocktails inside the casino's glass-domed Center Stage bar, where you can pretend to rise above the hoi polloi.

On the North Strip, a few kitschy casino hotel hold-outs from the 1950s and '60s still survive. Circus Circus, which Hunter S Thompson thought was best experienced while high out of one's mind, wins the prize for the cheesiest casino theme. Pick up a 'fun book' full of discount coupons to redeem at laughably bad Slots-AFun next door. Across the street, grab a tiki drink at the neon-lit Fireside Lounge inside the Peppermill casino. Are you soused enough yet to keep enjoying this? Moving down the Strip, nothing could be tackier than the new Sirens of TI show, where curvaceous pirates are outfitted in Victoria's Secret-esque lingerie. Keep the fantasy mindset going inside the live action Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, where you can pretend to marry movie stars or match skills with a sports legend. Or you can snap a photo of yourself with a celebrity impersonator at the Imperial Palace, then sweet talk a toga-clad cocktail waitress at Caesars Palace or a showgirl at Bally's into posing for one, too. Ladies, your knight in shining armor awaits at Excalibur, surely one of the Strip's most ridiculous casino hotels.

Last but not least, don't forget to pay your respects to the maestro of flamboyant kitsch, Liberace, at the off -Strip museum where fanatical 'Red Hats' keep the candles of his outrageous shrine burning bright.

7. Taking a break at a desert oasis

Now more than ever, visiting Las Vegas is about much more than mere gambling. A stopover these days is about the headlong, hedonistic pursuit of pleasure in all of its myriad varieties, so it was inevitable that fantastic spas would blossom here.

Las Vegas (Spanish for 'the meadows') has been an oasis in the Mojave Desert for millennia. Although its springs don't directly feed any of the city's 21st-century spas, that hardly matters. You can still find rejuvenation in just about any casino-hotel spa. Competition among the mega resorts is fierce, with indulgence ante happily being upped by every new spa on the block ...er, the Strip.

Seeking Hawaiian hot stone, Indian ayurvedic or Thai massage? Classes in rock climbing, kickboxing and sunrise yoga? Cocktail-flavored body scrubs and floral facials? Or 'aromapothecary' showers, blissful hydrotherapy circuits and co-ed tropical waterfall hot tubs? Nothing is too exotic. If it can be imagined, it can be experienced here. Some spas are even open 24 hours. Others specialize in tempting 'detox' treatments for the morning after that midnight madness.

So what are you waiting for? Treat yourself. You just might feel reborn.

8. Hitting the nightclubs and dancing till you drop

Booze, bodacious bodies and booty are what many come to Vegas for, since a drunken crawl along the Strip is just what the witch doctor ordered. The beautiful thing about Sin City is that you don't have to wait until a civilized cocktail hour to start carousing. Champagne brunches can start the morning off with a bang, some bars stay open 24/7, nightclubs rev up even on weekdays, and after-hours parties keep going strong until oh, about noon.

The launching pad of choice for a wild Vegas night is a svelte 'ultra lounge' on the Strip, where cocktails are mixed tableside by models, eye-popping burlesque dancers shimmy or sky-high views are the specialty of the house.

But these are mere stepping stones to Vegas' premier nightclubs, pure fantasyland environments where sin is back in style.

DJs as gorgeous as deep house mixes, go-go girls covered by little more than flower petals, and plush VIP bottle-service booths are all indulgently over-the-top. Or catch a famous rock star's show at The Joint or House of Blues.

There's no sleep for the wicked, of course, not even after 4am. Some choose to escape into the arms of G-string babes at off-Strip strip clubs, while others head for hipster watering holes at the edges of downtown. Wherever you wind up, feasting on a steak before dawn is a late-night Vegas must.