Fun facts about Las Vegas
The entertainment capital of the world that we know and love as Las Vegas is a hotbed of urban myths and all manner of exciting stories. Yet if you dig a little deeper, beneath the glitz and glamour there are some surprising bits of trivia to pick up. If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas, take a few of our pointers ahead of your holiday – you never know when this kind of knowledge could come in handy.
Landmarks of every size
In Las Vegas, some of the world’s most famous landmarks have been recreated among the bright lights of The Strip.
For example, the Sphinx of Egypt stands here in all its majesty, being painstakingly replicated and, in fact, larger here in Vegas than the original. On the other hand, the replica Eiffel Tower outside the Paris Hotel was intended to be the exact same size as the real Eiffel Tower, but had to be made half its size due to the nearby airport. It’s still a majestic sight though.
Bright lights, big city
The Las Vegas Strip is internationally famous for its glitzy lights, with every building illuminated. It gets so bright you can often forget it’s night-time at all while wandering from one venue to the next. In fact, over at the Luxor resort, simply operating the striking beam light on the top of the massive pyramid there costs $51 per hour. It’s no surprise that the Las Vegas Strip is the single brightest point on our planet when observed from space.
International outlooks
Las Vegas entices holidaymakers from every part of the world, and it’s given the city a multicultural flair. As one example, there are enough Hawaiian visitors and expatriates visiting and living in Las Vegas that the city’s become nicknamed the ninth island of Hawaii. What’s more, many of the hotels in the city respect the superstitions around the number four, characterising many Far East Asian cultures, and won’t feature that number when listing the floors of their high rise resort complexes.
The great outdoors
The Las Vegas Strip is far from the only way to spend time here. Although this is a desert city, they’ve come to make the most of the natural terrain of the Mojave. Biking, hiking and dune buggy driving are among the outdoor pursuits you can undertake, and there’s even leeway for some skiing action around the peaks of Mount Charleston. If that’s not enough, Las Vegas features companies who rent out diggers, bulldozers and other fun heavy duty vehicles that you can drive around a specialised course.
Tall tales of fortune
There is likely no other city in the world quite as capable of spinning a sensational yarn as Las Vegas. Tales of rags to riches, and the other way around, are in abundance at every turn. One example of that is the famous story of Frederick Smith, Founder and CEO of FedEx. When his company was facing closure, he took the last of its money, just $5,000, to Las Vegas and managed to win $27,000, which was enough to cover his expenses as he raised the capital to snatch the company out of bankruptcy. Of course, stories like that don’t happen every day, so we advise that you enjoy your time in Vegas responsibly.
Bigger is better
It’s safe to say that this is a city that loves to show off. Many of the largest structures and edifices in the United States are to be found in Las Vegas. Two good examples there are the bronze lion statue outside the MGM Grand Hotel, which weighs 50 tons, or the Stratosphere Las Vegas, the tallest observation tower in the USA, looming large at 350 metres.