Fly to Las Vegas

No other American city looks like Las Vegas. Running 4.2 miles across the desert, the Strip is lined with enormous resorts that rebuild Venice, Paris, ancient Rome and the Manhattan skyline at life size. Away from the gaming floors, Vegas has also turned into one of the country's top places to eat, with star chefs running flagship dining rooms in almost every big hotel.

The Strip delivers the Vegas everyone pictures: the fountains at the Bellagio, the pulsing nightclubs of Resorts World and the Sphere, whose outer screen has to be seen to be believed. Downtown, around Fremont Street, the mood is grittier and more old-school, with vintage casinos, the Fremont Street Experience canopy and a lively cocktail scene in East Fremont.

Many visitors never realize how much lies beyond the city limits. Just 30 minutes from the Strip, Red Rock Canyon has superb hiking and climbing plus a 13-mile scenic loop. Lake Mead and Hoover Dam are 45 minutes out, Valley of Fire State Park and its Mars-like sandstone make an easy day trip, and the Grand Canyon West Rim is roughly two hours away.

Harry Reid International (LAS) is only 5 minutes from the southern end of the Strip, which makes it one of the handiest big airports in the US, and hundreds of nonstops link it with almost every American city. The most comfortable temperatures come in spring and fall. Summer often tops 110 degrees, and winter nights can turn unexpectedly chilly.