Filming locations in Las Vegas

Visiting Las Vegas: a set-jetting guide. No city plays itself with quite this much swagger. Las Vegas is built for the wide shot, a desert mirage of neon, fountains and casino palaces, and the screen has always known it. Two very different films pin the Strip to the map for fans: the cool, choreographed caper of Ocean's Eleven and the morning-after wreckage of The Hangover. The remarkable thing is how close together their landmarks sit, close enough to walk between in an evening.

Start where Ocean's Eleven ends. The Fountains of Bellagio, the dancing jets on the lake in front of the hotel, are the backdrop to the crew's final, wistful gathering after the job is done. The shows are free and run every fifteen to thirty minutes, more often once the sun is down, and the sidewalk along the Strip is the place to stand. Come in the evening, when the water lifts against the lit facade and the whole scene tips into the romance the film was reaching for.

A short stroll away is the other half of Vegas on film. Caesars Palace is where the doomed bachelor party of The Hangover checks in before the night comes apart. It is a working casino-hotel, free to wander whether or not you have a room, with the Forum Shops and their own fountains tucked inside. You can trace the lobby and the grand sweep of the place at your own pace, no stay required.

What makes the Strip such an easy set-jetting day is its density. The headline screen landmarks line up along a single long, dazzling boulevard, so you can drift from the Bellagio lake to Caesars between dinner and a show without ever calling a cab. The heat is real, though, so save the walking for the cooler evening hours.

Treat it the way the films do, as one continuous nocturne. The Strip is at its most cinematic after dark, when the fountains, the marquees and the desert sky do the work the location scouts came for. Wear comfortable shoes, pace the casinos rather than rushing them, and let the night build the way it does on screen.