Las Vegas museums: when culture becomes entertainment

After playing all the slot machines in Las Vegas and having fun all over the city, it's time to get cultured, but in true Las Vegas fashion. The city is full of original, sometimes interactive and unusual museums. It's a far cry from the traditional, boring museums we're used to.

There are many themes to explore, including the history of the city, celebrities and the lights and neon of Vegas. But there's also the history of crime and the mafia, and the history of nuclear testing in Nevada. In all, more than a dozen museums await you, offering a different take on Sin City.

Entertainment may be the order of the day in Las Vegas, but culture is no exception. It's not impossible to find a museum behind a crazy casino. Head for the Fremont East district, where you'll find a number of them, including the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, the Atomic Museum and the Discovery Children's Museum, all of which are ideal family activities.

Las Vegas has long been a den of thieves and a favourite playground for outlaws. It was in part the Mafia that built the city of Las Vegas, as revealed in the film Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty as gangster Bugsy Siegel, for example. All this history is told at the Las Vegas Mafia Museum, better known as The Mob Museum. There are some thrilling and incredible stories to be told. And objects that once belonged to real gangsters make for a highly immersive visit. A visit to The Mob Museum is like diving into the soul of Sin City!

Incredible but true! It was in Egypt that the most famous of ocean liners, the Titanic, ran aground. In fact, it's a grandiose exhibition set in the heart of the fabulous Luxor hotel-casino, in the setting of ancient Egypt. Now that the truth has been re-established, this immersive exhibition takes us back to 1912, on the liner's first and, sadly, last voyage. Scale models and objects brought back from the depths of the oceans leave no visitor indifferent.

Madame Tussauds, internationally renowned for ages, needs no introduction! The wax museum that has borne her name for almost two centuries has always been so well-stocked that it has had a following all over the world, and in particular in all the major capitals. Las Vegas could not do without this recognition, and its Tussauds Museum was opened in 1999 on the Strip.

In Las Vegas, it's the casinos that create the action and put on the shows! So it's no surprise that this museum is housed in one of the famous casino hotels. To visit Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, head for The Venetian Las Vegas. Here you can see the stars of your favourite US films, frozen like statues: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sandra Bullock, Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Lopez. A unique opportunity to see them all at the same time!

This first Madame Tussauds museum to be opened in the USA welcomes you on two floors with a host of stars from American showbiz. Actors, musicians, top sportsmen and women will all be there to cheer you on.

A visit to the Madame Tussauds museum is complemented by an exhibition devoted to characters from the Marvel universe such as Iron Man and Spiderman. It's called Marvel Universe 4D. Here you can see your cosmic heroes in life size!

The City of Sin is the stuff of dreams and never misses an opportunity to show off its diversity.

This museum offers a return to reality by detailing the history of the atomic tests carried out in the Nevada desert (at its dedicated test site). The museum is not sparing with geopolitical explanations, as it also aims to inform us about the impact of these tests on the global process of American nuclear deterrence.