17 Best Sights in Las Vegas, Nevada

This attraction is perfect for individuals and groups of adults who like to play in a life-size sandbox—and use big toys to do it. In this case, the toys are heavy construction machinery: bulldozers, excavators, backhoes, mini-excavators, and skid-steer track loaders. Guests don hard hats and spend about 90 minutes driving the equipment on a big dirt lot, moving around giant tires, digging holes, and more. You can even crush a car, in an Aggression Session. There are 15-minute experiences for kids as well.

This neon-and-incandescent sign, in a median of Las Vegas Boulevard south of Mandalay Bay, is one of Sin City's most enduring icons. The landmark dates back to 1959 and was approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Young Electric Sign Company leases the sign to Clark County, but the design itself was never copyrighted and currently exists in the public domain. (This, of course, explains why you see so many likenesses all over town.) The parking lot in the median just south of the sign was expanded in 2015. If you prefer to go on foot, expect a 10-minute walk from Mandalay Bay.

The list of ALWWC alums is impressive: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, and Frank Sinatra. Patty Duke liked it so much, she got married here twice. Try the Hawaiian theme, where the minister plays a ukulele and blows into a conch shell to close out the ceremony. Or, get hitched in a pink Cadillac while an Elvis impersonator croons. One of the five chapels is a drive-through, for the ultimate in shotgun weddings.

Enjoy a brief facsimile of a traditional ceremony at this venue, designed to be a turnkey wedding operation, with two chapels and an outdoor garden, as well as on-site flower shop, photography studio, and wedding coordinators. It's still Las Vegas, so an Elvis impersonator is available for all ceremonies.

A no-wait marriage certificate can be yours if you bring $77 cash (there's an additional fee for credit cards), identification, and your beloved to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. Unless the office is unusually busy, the process normally takes less than an hour.

Just next to the pool area at the Flamingo Las Vegas, a flamboyance of live Chilean flamingos lives on islands and in streams surrounded by sparkling waterfalls and lush foliage. Other animals on-site include swans, ducks, koi, sturgeons, brown pelicans, hummingbirds, and turtles. The 4-acre habitat makes for a fun, brief stroll. Learn more during the Keeper Talks at 8:30 am and 2 pm.

The massive Harley-Davidson dealership on the south end of the Strip is mecca for hog lovers. You can shop, rent, or even buy a bike right off the showroom floor. There’s also a specialized service department and a riding academy for newbies. And if you’re looking for Harley merchandise—from vests to T-shirts to onesies for babies—you aren’t likely to find a better selection anyplace else. Check out the Recharge Zone, a convenience store within a store.

Standing more than 100 feet taller than the London Eye, the 550-foot-tall High Roller is the largest observation wheel in North America. The giant Ferris wheel at the east end of the LINQ features 28 glass-enclosed cabins, each of which is equipped to hold up to 40 passengers. One full rotation takes about 30 minutes; along the way, riders are treated to a dynamic video and a music show on TV monitors in the pod, as well as one-of-a-kind views of Sin City and the surrounding Las Vegas Valley. The experience begins and ends in a state-of-the-art wheelhouse, where visitors can read about the engineering behind the project as they wait in line, buy drinks to take with them on the ride, or pick up souvenirs commemorating the spin. (There's also a Happy Half Hour option, which includes drinks.) The best time to ride the wheel is nighttime, when 2,000 LED lights on the wheel itself create an otherworldly vibe.

Tucked just inside the main Strip entrance to the MGM Grand resort, this expansive space is essentially an arcade for hipsters, combined with a great bar. Games include everything from Pop-A-Shot and foosball to shuffleboard and more; most cost about $1 apiece. There also are three virtual-reality experiences for teams of up to eight: Zombie Survival (about the inevitable apocalypse); the military-space challenge Singularity; and Engineerium, set in a world of oversize floating mythical creatures. Plus there are live sports on giant screens, theme nights, and live music or a DJ nightly.

This cedar-and-redwood chapel on the South Strip is one of the city's most famous. The kitsch is kept under control, and the setting borders on picturesque (it's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places—ah, Vegas). Since it opened in 1942, the church has been the site of more celebrity marriages than any other chapel in the world.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the rustic Little Church of the West, where wedding ceremonies have been performed since 1942, is a landmark on the South Strip. Its doors are often thrown open to provide views of the candlelit interior. Regular packages range from the few-frills Ace of Hearts to the Supernova Love (with a dozen roses, classic wedding music, and a walk down the aisle), and you can have the ceremony performed by a minister, an Elvis impersonator, or a Johnny Cash impersonator. Premium packages include a limo, video broadcast, and more.

Swanky nightclub meets gun range in this only-in-Vegas addition to the scene. In an industrial neighborhood just west of the Interstate, "MGV" (as it's known) offers 10 indoor shooting lanes, including two in an ultraexclusive VIP area, as well as a number of outdoor lanes. Visitors have dozens of firearms to choose from, and you can be part of "Seal Team 6" or a "Femme Fatale." If you have the time, they will even take you out into the Mojave Desert to shoot outdoors. Package deals all include multiple guns and supervised instruction. 

If you don't want to be married by Elvis or a Klingon, head for the Office of Civil Marriages downtown, where a commissioner will do the deed for $77.75 on a credit card. The catch: you must call ahead to make an appointment. At least one witness is required.

It's hard to miss this place; the "Pinball" sign is so big, we swear it can be seen from space. This fun facility has more than 25,000 square feet filled with games created between the 1950s and the 1990s, including old wood-rail models. Though it may sound more like an arcade than a museum, the local club is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to preserve these pieces of Americana and share the joy of the silver ball with as many folks as possible. All excess revenues go to nondenominational charities.

Frustrated after a losing streak in the casinos? This Town Square spot offers a “rage room” (in which customers pay to smash stuff to smithereens), axe-throwing, and splatter-paint experiences. Talk about a way to work out a bit of aggression. You can smash for as few as 10 minutes or as many as 25, or organize smash parties for four, six, or more. The one-hour axe-throwing sessions (no experience necessary!) incorporate projected targets, and up to six people can splatter-paint canvases in two sizes. There's also an Airsoft training course, and you can bundle activities.

Travel down to the bottom of the North Atlantic where the "ship of dreams" rests after grazing an iceberg in 1912. The 25,000-square-foot exhibit inside Luxor Las Vegas includes a replica of guest compartments, the grand staircase, and a promenade deck that movie fans will recognize from a little film by James Cameron. Among the 350 emotionally arresting artifacts: luggage, clothing, a bottle of unopened champagne, and pieces of the ship, including a massive section of the iron hull, complete with bulging rivets and portholes.

An endless variety of wedding themes and add-on shtick is available, ranging from elegant to casual to camp. You can say your vows in the presence of Elvis, the Blues Brothers, or Liberace. Live webcams stream nuptials on the chapel's website in real time. Of the four chapels, one has a Doo-Wop Diner theme.