7 Casino Cities to See Before You Die
Our most popular list of all time is the 20 craziest places to see before you die. This is its glittering cousin: seven cities where gambling shaped the skyline, each worth visiting whether or not you ever sit at a table.
1Monte Carlo, Monaco
The original. In the 1860s the Grimaldi princes, short of money, licensed a casino on a bare rock, and within decades Monte Carlo was the playground of Europe's aristocracy. Today it is a tiny world of yachts, gardens and grand hotels. Beyond the casino: the Oceanographic Museum on the Rock (with its famous jellyfish, see our jellyfish story), the changing of the guard at the Prince's Palace, and the Grand Prix street circuit, which you can walk.
2Macau, China
A former Portuguese colony on the Pearl River Delta, now the biggest gambling market in the world, with yearly gaming revenues that overtook the Las Vegas Strip in the 2000s. The Cotai Strip has replicas of Venice and Paris; the old town has a UNESCO-listed historic centre, egg tarts, temples and the Ruins of St Paul's.
3Las Vegas, USA
Nevada legalised wide-open gambling in 1931, and a railroad stop in the desert became the entertainment capital of the world. Walk the Strip at night, see the Bellagio fountains, watch a show, and visit old Las Vegas on Fremont Street, under its canopy of lights. The giant spherical arena that opened in 2023 is the city's newest landmark. Use it as a base for Antelope Canyon and the desert wonders.
4Singapore
Singapore allowed casinos only in 2010, in two integrated resorts: Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. Even non-gamblers go up to the sky park, then explore Gardens by the Bay, the hawker centres and the shophouses of Chinatown and Kampong Glam.
5Baden-Baden, Germany
A spa town in the Black Forest where the rich and famous of the 19th century took the waters by day and played roulette by night. The Kurhaus casino is a jewel box of gilt and velvet. Combine it with the thermal baths, the Lichtentaler Allee park and the Black Forest hills.
6Reno, USA
The "Biggest Little City in the World", as the famous arch over Virginia Street has proclaimed since the late 1920s, was Nevada's gambling capital before Las Vegas grew up. Today it pairs casinos with the outdoors: Lake Tahoe is under an hour away, the Great Reno Balloon Race fills the sky each September (see our balloon festival story), and Fly Geyser is a desert road trip north.
7Atlantic City, USA
America's first boardwalk opened here in 1870, and the city was the original setting for the Monopoly board. New Jersey voters approved casinos in 1976, and the first opened in 1978, making Atlantic City the only legal casino destination on the US East Coast for years. Walk the boardwalk, eat saltwater taffy and visit the beach.
Casino cities at a glance
| City | Casino era began | Don't miss |
|---|---|---|
| Monte Carlo | 1860s | Oceanographic Museum, Prince's Palace |
| Macau | Gaming since the 19th century; boom after 2002 | Historic Centre, Cotai at night |
| Las Vegas | 1931 | Fremont Street, Bellagio fountains |
| Singapore | 2010 | Gardens by the Bay, hawker food |
| Baden-Baden | 1830s heyday | Thermal baths, Lichtentaler Allee |
| Reno | 1931 legalisation | Lake Tahoe, balloon race |
| Atlantic City | 1978 | Boardwalk, beach |
Want the casinos themselves? Read 12 of the Most Amazing Casinos in the World. Going to Venice? It invented the public casino in 1638, as our Venice guide explains.
