Las Vegas has always been more than the slot machines and buffet lines. This four-day itinerary is built for travelers who want the genuine spectacle of the Strip alongside the strange, serious, and genuinely surprising things this city does exceptionally well. It works for couples, groups of friends, or solo travelers who like their days full and their evenings deliberate.

Start downtown: walk the Strip to get your bearings, then spend an afternoon at the Mob Museum — one of the best-produced history museums in the American West, full stop. Follow it with the Neon Museum at dusk, where the boneyard of old casino signs reads like a eulogy for a wilder city. Cap the night at the Fremont Street Experience, which is loud and absurd in exactly the right way. On day two, drive out to Red Rock Canyon in the morning before the heat builds, then push further to Valley of Fire and the surreal Seven Magic Mountains art installation on the way back — a full desert loop that reminds you the Mojave is the real show. Save an evening for Cirque du Soleil's O at Bellagio, still the benchmark for large-scale theatrical performance in this city, and watch the Bellagio Fountains afterward when the crowds thin. Squeeze in the Atomic Testing Museum for a sobering and fascinating look at Nevada's nuclear history, ride the Stratosphere for the skyline perspective, and end your last night the way Vegas deserves — feeding quarters into a vintage machine at the Pinball Hall of Fame.