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The grandeur of Venice meets Las Vegas glitz, and the results are surprisingly spectacular. True, the Grand Canal is only 1,200 ft (350 m) long as opposed to 2.5 miles (4 km), but any lack of authenticity is more than made up for by the festive Las Vegas ambience.

Reproductions of frescoes framed in 24-karat gold adorn the domed and vaulted ceilings. Marble floors, classical columns, costumed courtiers, and a giant overview of the real Venice all serve to transport the imagination.

Push the boat out and hire the Venetian’s very own Wedding Gondola for your marriage ceremony! You can even sail under the Rialto Bridge.

So the geography isn’t exactly as per the original, but even if you notice you probably won’t care – the total effect is, aesthetically, extremely pleasing, perhaps more so than at any of the other new resorts.

The galaxy of goodies in the shops along the canal satisfy a wide range of tastes: there are magic tricks at Houdini’s and ice-cream cones at Haagen Däzs; there are pearls at Mikimoto and smart sportswear at Banana Republic. Travel by gondola or meander the (rather long) walkway linking the stores.

In a building fashioned after the library on St. Mark’s Square, the wax museum opened in 1999 and soon became a top attraction; some visitors say the figures are even more lifelike than those in the London original. (see Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum)

Completed in late 2001, this is the fifth of the world’s Guggenheim museums. The others are in New York, Bilbao, Berlin, and Venice.

Also established in late 2001, this is the first permanent museum outside St. Petersburg, Russia, to house treasures from the Hermitage.

Set in the Doge’s Palace, the vast casino has 110 table games and 2,000 slot machines. On the walls of the high rollers’ “Renaissance Room” hang works by Tiepolo, Tintoretto, and Titian. Costumed singers belt out arias in counterpoint to the cacophony of slot-machine bells and clanging coins.