There is one unmissable attraction in Las Vegas beyond the spectacle of the strip itself... the Neon Museum.
Over on the outskirts of town is graveyard collection of signs from Vegas's past. It's not free to explore, instead requiring a perky 45 minute tour. They run during the day and evening, we went at sunset which is really the best time to see the signs in all their glory.
The truth is, a tour around the Neon Museum is a great way to understand the history of Vegas, which is, admittedly short and simple. It starts with the Golden Nugget and ends with Steve Wynn owning everything 50 years later.
Somewhere along that timeline is a curious mobster called Benny Binion who escapes to Vegas after a Texas murder or two and turns the strip into the experience we know it for today: free drinks to gamblers, evening performances, carpeted floors and no horses at the tables. ha.
The museum is rather proud of the signs it has recovered from demolition sites and liquidating auctions across Nevada. Of course, they are much larger than they appear when 50 feet up. Whilst most of them are too dilapidated to be working, they're super-impressive and incredibly photogenic.
So, when the glamour of one thousand slot machines, venetian canals and ropey pole dancers has become a little dry - the Neon Museum is a fitting reminder of where Vegas began.
