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Las Vegas demands the suspension of disbelief - the moment you start to take it seriously you miss the point.  It's glitz for its own sake, over-the-top hustle and flash as means and end.  It's crowds of people in polyester pantsuits, big hair and gold chains, staring at neon signs and spinning lemons like deer hypnotized by headlights.  Not that Vegas doesn't have a serious side: billions are at stake on the craps and blackjack tables and in the battle of the theme parks - but you're given enough distractions to ignore it - until you lose.  If you tire of pulling the handle on that one-armed bandit and drinking watered-down (albeit free) screwdrivers, the surrounding area has some of the region's most beautiful scenery.

The only natural feature to account for the location of Las Vegas is a spring north of downtown.  Once used by Paiute Indians on their seasonal visits to the area, it was re-discovered by Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. T he area became known to overland travelers as las vegas - 'the meadows' - a place with reliable water and feed for horses. Las Vegas became a regular stop on the southern emigrant route to California, the Spanish Trail.  In the 1850s, Mormons built the town's first structures, a small mission and fort; the fort became a ranch house, but there was little development until 1902, when much of the land was sold to a railroad company.  The area that is now downtown was subdivided when the tracks came through, with 1200 lots sold on 15 May 1905 alone - a date now celebrated as the city's birthday.

As a railroad town, Las Vegas had machine shops, an ice works and a good number of hotels, saloons and gambling houses.  The railroad laid off hundreds in the mid 1920s, but one Depression-era development gave the city a new life.  The huge Hoover Dam (then known as Boulder Dam) project commenced in 1931, providing jobs and growth in the short term and water and power for the city's long-term growth.

Also in 1931, Nevada legalized gambling and simplified its divorce laws, paving the way for first big casino on the Strip, El Rancho, which was built by Los Angeles developers and opened in 1941.  The next wave of investors, also from out of town, were mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, who built the Flamingo in 1946 and set the tone for the new casinos - big and flashy, with lavish entertainment laid on to attract high rollers.

The glitter that brought in the high rollers also attracted smaller spenders, but in larger numbers. Southern California provided a growing market for Las Vegas entertainment, and improvements in transport made it accessible to the rest of the country.  Thanks to air conditioning and reliable water supplies, Vegas became one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.  In recent years, Vegas has bent over backwards to remake itself into a family resort destination, building theme parks inside its hotels.  Hotels have outdone each other with working volcanoes, million-gallon fishtanks and miniature Manhattans.  All of which - along with dozens of artificial lakes in the suburbs - has put a huge strain on the city's water supply, but it hasn't slowed the development juggernaut.

Glitter Gulch - The blocks around the intersection of Fremont and Main Streets in downtown Las Vegas are known as Glitter Gulch.  The first neon sign in the city went up here in 1929; now millions of light bulbs and miles of neon tubing bathe the Gulch in perpetual daylight.  This is where you'll find Vegas Vic and his pal Sassy Sal - two of the best-known neon icons in the country.  Some of the city's most famous casinos are in the Gulch, including the Golden Nugget and the Gold Spike, as are most of its strip clubs.  Aside from slowly cruising down Fremont Street and basking in the multicolored glow, there's little to do apart from gamble, drink or watch naked people slither around poles.  Shopping consists mainly of souvenirs.

The remains of Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park may pale in comparison to nearby Glitter Gulch, but this is where it all started. Beginning in the 1850s, this adobe quadrangle provided refuge for travelers along the Mormon Trail between Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Bernardino, in southern California.  Some of the original walls are still standing, and displays of artifacts and photographs illustrate mid-19th century life on the frontier. There's an ongoing archaeological dig outside. The fort is a mile north of downtown.

The Strip - The Mirage is interesting for the action going on outside: a fake volcano, surrounded by an artificial lagoon, erupts every half hour, belching smoke and fire, and 54 artificial waterfalls cascade down the exterior.  Not that there isn't glitz galore inside. You enter through a miniature tropical rainforest, complete with Siegfried and Roy's white tigers.  And for a small fee you can watch dolphins frolic in a giant tank. Should you actually check in, you'll do so at a counter backed by a 60ft (20m) long aquarium filled with over 1000 fish.  The Mirage is the bête noir of water conservationists; it uses over a million gallons of water a day. No wonder Nevada is running dry.

One of the original casino-cum-theme-parks, Circus Circus is tackiness incarnate.  You can take in free circus acts in the tent-like interior, a 'midway' with carnival attractions, and a roomful of video games.  Grand Slam Canyon is a mini amusement park in a giant dome behind Circus Circus. It boasts a roller coaster, flume rides, fake dinosaurs and a water slide. Circus Circus is located on the northern half of the Strip and attracts a lot of families (ie rambunctious kids), so either head for or avoid it accordingly.

Car buffs won't want to miss the Imperial Palace Auto Museum, which includes rare models and dozens of vehicles once owned by the rich and infamous. There's Czar Nicholas II's 1914 Rolls Royce, Japanese Emperor Hirohito's 1935 Packard and Adolf Hitler's 1939 Mercedes. You can also see the cars of several US presidents and Howard Hughes' 1954 Chrysler (the air purifier cost more than the car). About 200 vehicles are on display. The museum is located in the Imperial Palace Casino, on the Strip about 3 miles (5km) south of downtown.

Here's the plot: a crazy-in-love couple take a flying run down to Las Vegas and book into Cupid's Arrow Wedding Chapel (open 24 hours a day). She carries a wilting bouquet of flowers, he wears a borrowed tie.  A wheezing organist bangs out an off-key version of 'Here Comes the Bride', the celebrant speed-reads the vows, a witness (an old friend of three minutes standing) throws a handful of rice and - bidda-bang, bidda-boom - another couple off down the road of wedded bliss.

But these days Vegas is not just for the impulsive, the eloping and those giddy on love and free casino cocktails.  Many couples actually spend time planning their Las Vegas wedding and honeymoon because the number of ways you can tie the knot in Glitter Gulch is overwhelming.  You can do it in a hot-air balloon or in the stars-and-stripes helicopter; you can do it with French courtliness, western cowboy flair, 'Gone With the Wind' antebellum charm or Camelot-inspired romance.

If white silk, spring blossoms and black tuxedos are not your cup of tea, you and your honeybunch can take each other for better or worse dressed as the Grim Reaper and Dracula.  Then there's the wedding with the Elvis impersonator singing 'Love Me Tender' while a flock of hula girls cavort becomingly around the bride and groom, à la 'Blue Hawaii' style.  Or if all of this seems like too much glitz and kitsch you can pare the ceremony right back to the bare bones and just do it in the buff.

And after the wedding comes the honeymoon.  The Vegas wedding and honeymoon often has a whiff of show biz flim flammery, but not everything here is a bowdlerised version of a Hollywood version of something that used to be real. While you can still find honeymoon suites replete with heart-shaped beds, mirrored ceilings and velvet walls, you can also find hotels that offer a touch of sophistication.  These are the places you'll find hot and cold running jacuzzi, seriously famous art in the lobby, big-name chefs in the kitchen, renowned European entertainers in the club rooms and private golf courses on tap 24 hours a day.