New York has Times Square at Broadway where the neon lights astound visitors. Paris is appropriately nicknamed the City of Lights. But Las Vegas is exclusive. Nowhere outside Asia can you come across such a dazzling array of sights and sounds, with crowds to match.

Housed under a permanent canopy, the casino-lined street has over two million lights and a state-of-the-art sound system. The combined impact is, nicely, electric. Under the $70 million canopy walk a million visitors a year, if 'walk' is the proper term.

On quite a few nights, it is much more like becoming the ball in a pinball game. Not that it is overcrowded, it's just that you invest so a lot time attempting to take in all of the sights, you've to bump shoulders fairly regularly.

Ninety feet above your head you'll find 12.5 million synchronized LED lights producing millions of color combinations, accompanied by animation and video. One second it might be a Television broadcast, the next an indefinable kaleidoscope that pops your pupils. Among the greater identified signs is Glitter Gulch's Vegas Vickie, exemplifying every thing that's Las Vegas. Kitsch, fun, carefree and silly.

Videos are projected onto the canopy, too. Some last numerous minutes and run the gamut from 'The Drop', a psychedelic 'happening' ala the '60s, to 'Area 51', showing earthlings in battle with aliens. 'Above and Beyond' gives visitors a view of the Earth from outerspace, while 'Fahrenheit at Night' displays some of what Vegas is finest identified for: stunning girls.

You'll find dozens of shops, every thing from little indoor venues to free standing kiosks. Several of the offerings are just what you'd expect - little trinkets which will break the first time your child goes to play with it. But there is certainly the odd interesting item here and there. If absolutely nothing else you may grab a doughnut at Krispy Kreme and take pleasure in the sights from the outdoor patio.

The canopy is 1,400 feet (about 1/4 of a mile), so you will have a lot of chance to miss something interesting. Superior program to go twice, at least as soon as when you are sober.