Wacky and Fabulous Attractions in Las Vegas

If you thought Las Vegas is all about gambling, weddings and top notch hotels, you’re wrong. The city has it’s wacky, weird parts that a first time comer won’t get to see, but for those coming back to Vegas it’s a must to see what’s beneath the mantle. So book your Las Vegas hotel and check out these five quirky sights if you’re looking for some wonderfully peculiar and offbeat attractions.

1. Pinball Hall of Fame

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I bet you didn’t expect Vegas to have a Pinball Hall of Fame. After all, who did? Well folks, they do. Starting with the old wood rail models of the 1950s and getting to modern, complex machines, the Pinball Hall of Fame looks more like an arcade room as it has more than 140 games to stare at. Entry is free, but if you want to donate keep in mind that all the money goes to the local Salvation Army organization.

2. Haunted Vegas

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There’s a reason why Las Vegas is known as Sin City, and it’s not only about gambling and sex. For those of you who want to know more, hop on a Haunted Vegas tour (two and a half hour) to learn all there is to know about the city’s other side. Guides, usually dressed as morticians, will give you a glimpse of the notorious murders, suicides, and ghosts (including Bugsy Siegel, Elvis, and Tupac Shakur), or a bit about Sin City’s gangster past.

3. Liberace Museum

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Liberace was a masterfully flamboyant pianist known for his music, charisma and dazzle — which is why a Liberace Museum in Vegas sounded like a great idea for the legendary entertainer who founded it in 1979, eight years before he died. Some call it the kitschiest place in town, but others think it’s a great sight as it features “Mr. Showmanship’s” amazing jewelry collection and the rare antiques he owned, his trippy wardrobe, the pianos (one of them was actually played by Chopin) and his custom car collection.

4. The Guardian Angel Cathedral

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You came to Vegas for gambling but you’re not really hitting the jackpot? Head to the Guardian Angel Cathedral and pray for luck — at least that’s what people do in here on Saturday afternoons. If that’s not weird enough, sometimes there are some special tourist mass when people drop casino chips into the collection cups, and a priest known as the “chip monk”, collects them and tries to cash them in. Sounds like … God wants you to gamble in Vegas, eh?

5. Amazing Auto Collection at the Imperial Palace

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Did you know that the largest and finest classic car showroom in the world, is in Las Vegas? Basically a used car lot going by as a museum, the Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace has more than 250 antique, muscle, famous and historically significant automotive treasures that will amaze every automobile buff there is. All automobiles are available for sale, and that includes Mussolini’s 1939 Alfa Romeo, Hitler’s 1939 Mercedes or the ‘39 Chrysler the late Johnny Carson rode in to his senior prom. All there for your eyes.

So how `bout it folks, you keen on visiting Vegas once again?

Top Things to Do for Las Vegas

Shimmering from the desert haze of Nevada like a latter-day El Dorado, Las Vegas is the most dynamic, spectacular city on earth. At the start of the twentieth century, it didn't even exist; now it's home to two million people, and boasts nineteen of the world's twenty-five largest hotels, whose flamboyant, no-expense-spared casinos lure in thirty-seven million tourists each year.

Las Vegas has been stockpiling superlatives since the 1950s, but never rests on its laurels for a moment. Many first-time visitors expect the city to be kitsch, but the casino owners are far too canny to be sentimental. Yes, there are a few Elvis impersonators around, but what characterizes the city far more is its endless quest for novelty. Long before they lose their sparkle, yesterday's showpieces are blasted into rubble, to make way for ever more extravagant replacements. A few years ago, when the fashion was for fantasy, Arthurian castles and Egyptian pyramids mushroomed along the legendary Strip; next came a craze for constructing entire replica cities, like New York, Paris, Monte Carlo, and Venice; and the current trend is for high-end properties that attempt to straddle the line between screaming ostentation and "elegant" sophistication.

While the city has cleaned up its act since the early days of Mob domination, it certainly hasn't become a family destination. Neither is Vegas as cheap as it used to be. It's still possible to find good, inexpensive rooms, and the all-you-care-to-eat buffets offer great value, but the casino owners have finally discovered that high-rollers happy to lose hundreds of dollars per night don't mind paying premium prices to eat at top-quality restaurants, while the latest developments are charging room rates of more like $300 than $30 per night.

Although Las Vegas is an unmissable destination, it's one that palls for most visitors after a couple of (hectic) days. If you've come solely to gamble, there's not much to say beyond the fact that all the casinos are free, and open 24 hours per day, with acres of floor space packed with ways to lose money: million-dollar slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette wheels, and much, much more.