Three days in Las Vegas

Three days in Las Vegas

Have you ever seen the movie Hangover? Yes, the one with a few dudes that decide it is a wise idea to party so hard in Las Vegas so they do not remember anything, and they even lost the future groom! It also involves a tiger in their hotel room and other shenanigans.

To be honest, that movie perfectly sums up Las Vegas - crazy and unreliable. You have probably heard of the following saying before: ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. ’ Well, not everything, because I loved that place so much that I decided to share my experience there with you.

I visited Las Vegas last October as a birthday gift from me to myself. The original purpose of my trip was attending a Rolling Stones concert, which was unfortunately cancelled. And everybody that knew why I went there, said they feel bad for me because I flew all this way for a concert which was cancelled at the end.

But, the truth is that the city of Las Vegas was so awesome for me that I was not even sad about the cancelled concert. Well, maybe a little bit because I love Rolling stones, but as I said, Las Vegas was one of the most breathtaking places I have ever visited. And I travel quite a lot, so that should tell you something.

A stretch of the famous Las Vegas Strip during the day, as seen from the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The place looks deserted during the day, but at night, the streets are filled with people.

Getting to the City of Lights, or the City of Sin, also known as Las Vegas

It is incredibly easy to teleport yourself into Las Vegas. Well, if you do not own a teleport, you still have quite a few transport options to choose from that will take you to the city of sin. If you are taking a road trip, it depends on where you are, so I cannot really give you directions on how to get to Las Vegas. One of your options is a Greyhound bus.

Greyhound is a company that will literally take you to any big city in the United States of America. They even have coast to coast buses, but to get from one coast to another probably takes multiple days. And the fares are incredibly cheap. So what is the catch? It takes a loooooong time to get to your destination. But if you prefer to travel on the cheap, and to actually see some scenery on the way to your destination, the Greyhound buses are a perfect solution for you.

The easiest option is, of course, to fly there. And just about any airline company flies to Las Vegas. I flew with Frontier Airlines. The flight from Cincinnati to Las Vegas took four hours, and the seats are not very comfortable, but I only paid seventy dollars for a round trip ticket, so why would I complain?

The flight was extremely scenic, and it is interesting to see a green, lush landscape transform into a yellow desert. And Las Vegas is literally situated in the middle of the desert. I also have to mention that the flight to Las Vegas was my most turbulent flight so far and after that, I am not very comfortable in planes anymore. Before that, I used to love a little turbulence because it added excitement to my flights, but not anymore.

Maybe I am just getting old. Just before the turbulence, the pilot announced that we will be flying over the Rocky Mountains and there might be a little turbulence. Well, that ‘little turbulence’ was the biggest understatement I have ever heard. I was almost crying. And I have around 50 flights so far, none of them was not even remotely as scary as that one.

The Las Vegas airport is one of the most confusing airports I have ever been to, but I was too excited to see the city already to care about walking in the wrong direction through the whole airport and then having to walk all the way back to get to my airport shuttle.

Where to stay?

Before going to Las Vegas, I have always (mistakenly) thought that everything there is extremely expensive. But I could not be more wrong. For example, you can get a hotel on the Strip for forty dollars per night. Of course, do not expect a five - star luxury for that money, but hey, all you need is a bed to sleep in.

Of course, Las Vegas also offers the luxurious hotels, which are a little bit out of my price range, but what I am trying to tell you here is that staying in Las Vegas will not necessarily break the bank. Unless you decide to gamble, of course. So what are some of the Las Vegas hotels that you can stay at?

Cheap hotels: The cheapest hotel right on the Strip is probably the Flamingo. You can also find cheap rooms at the Stratosphere Tower and Hotel. The hotel that I stayed at, was called Palace Station, and it was situated off the Strip (therefore it was incredibly cheap) and it offered free shuttle from and to the airport and from and to the Strip. Bingo!

Moderately priced hotels: Most of the hotels in Las Vegas fit into this category. Just a few examples: Circus Circus, New York-New York, Excalibur and so on.

I - will - never - be - able - to - afford - to - stay - there - priced hotels: The most famous example of this category is definitely the famous Bellagio, closely followed by the nearby Venetian, Mirage and Mandalay Bay. Someday, I promised myself that I will stay in a luxurious hotel, just to see what all the hype is about. But right now, I simply cannot force myself to spend five hundred dollars per night on a hotel room. I can take a week of vacation for that money!

Las Vegas also has a few youth hostels, but they are either situated far off the Strip, or in the shady parts of Las Vegas (or both). Well, if you are willing to take a taxi every time you want to go out, this option would work for you, but for the money you would spend on taxis, you could easily get a room in one of the hotels on the Strip.

Where to eat?

There is too many restaurants in Las Vegas. Seriously, during my vacation in Las Vegas I had a very hard time picking restaurants I wanted to eat at. And just like hotels, you can find restaurants in Las Vegas in all the price ranges. The best suggestion I can give you, is just walk around, and once you get hungry, just stop at the first place that interests you. And this is exactly what I did when I was there.

Two of the must - try things (that are not really food) in Las Vegas are the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 (close to the Caesars Palace) and Fat Tuesday (which is basically a slushy with quite high alcohol content - do not drink more than two because you will get tipsy really fast under the hot Nevada sun).

What to do - Day 1

During my first day in Las Vegas, I decided to check out the right hand side of the Strip (starting at the Fashion Show Mall and working my way towards the famous ‘Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas’ sign) and I also checked out the Fremont Street at night.

Some of the sights that I passed during my exploration of the right side of the Strip, were the futuristic looking Fashion Show Mall, Treasure Island Hotel (which will make you feel like you were teleported somewhere to the Caribbean), The Mirage (with a volcano that erupts every once in a while), Caesars Palace (with some cool statues, and you might recognize it from the Hangover movie), and Bellagio (it looks so expensive even on the outside, and I was afraid that they will charge me money just for looking at it).

Then, there is the infamous New York-New York (that represents the New York skyline AND it has a roller coaster, and the coolest thing is that the casino inside looks like the streets of New York), the Excalibur (which looks like a castle from a fairy tale and it is one of the ugliest hotels I have ever seen), the Luxor (with a sphinx, an obelisk and a pyramid) and the Mandalay Bay.

Luxor is one of the coolest looking hotels in Las Vegas. The green landscape in front of it does not quite give the impression that you are in the desert, but it is a cool place for a picture.

Another part of the Strip, and a street, called Flamingo Avenue.

This is the Fashion Show Mall with upscale shops inside. Looks like an UFO to me.

If you would like to take a picture with the famous Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas sign (well, who wouldn’t? ), you have to keep walking a little past the Mandalay Bay - the sign will be on your left. And just to warn you - there will be a line to take pictures. Me and an older woman decided that we do not want to wait in line, so we just stepped to the side and took a picture from a different angle - it looks just as fabulous, and we did not have to wait on the hot Nevada sun for twenty minutes just to take a picture with the sign.

I was quite exhausted after a long walk on the Strip, so I decided to take a taxi, go back to my hotel, take a short nap, and then go to Fremont street. To get to Fremont street, I would suggest you to take a taxi there because you would have to walk through a shady area. Yes, almost all the areas off the Strip are considered shady, it is not just me who is paranoid.

How would I sum up the Fremont street experience at night? With one word - trippy! The whole street is covered in an interactive roof and there is a whole light show going on. Other than that, you can also admire the SlotZilla, also known as the world’s biggest slot machine, or, if you are more adventurous, you can zip line across the Fremont street. I told you Las Vegas is crazy!

What to do - Day 2

Since Las Vegas is surrounded by amazing desert sights, I would recommend you (if your trip lasts at least three days) to reserve one of these days for a side trip from Las Vegas. The ones that seemed especially interesting to me, were the Red Rock Canyon (not nearly as magnificent as Grand Canyon, but it is situated much closer - tour operators even offer half day trips there), Area 51 (apparently connected to aliens and supernatural activities), and of course the Grand Canyon.

What to do - Day 3

During my third (and unfortunately last) day in Las Vegas, I checked out the left side of the strip and the Stratosphere Tower during day and night. I started the day with the visit to the top of the Stratosphere Tower, where I wanted to do some of the rides - you can read more about it in the Stratosphere Tower post that I wrote a few weeks ago.

After the visit to the top of the Stratosphere tower, I started walking towards the Strip. I passed the futuristic looking Wynn and Encore hotels, then checked out the Palazzo and Venetian. Venetian actually has canals that are the replica of the ones in Venice, and you can even take the gondola ride there.

And they look pretty real. I jokingly sent a picture of them to my mom, with a caption ‘Hello from Venice’, and she was pretty alarmed and texted me: ‘What are you doing in Venice? I had no idea you are coming home! ’ I will tease her with that for the rest of my life.

Then, there is LINQ with an exhibition of old cars inside, which is pretty cool, and some of them are even for sale! Well, we are talking some pretty high prices here - hundreds of thousands of dollars. The admission to the exhibition is free, if you print a coupon that you can find on their website, and present it at the entrance.

Behind the LINQ, you will see a big panoramic wheel, called the High Roller, but I decided not to ride it because I think it is not worth the price, and besides, I already saw Las Vegas from high up in the air earlier in the day, when I was at the top of the Stratosphere tower.

Almost 200. 000 dollars for an old car? Well, maybe, if you just won the jackpot in one of the casinos.

Then, I checked out the interior of the Flamingo hotel - they have an exhibit with real flamingos inside! Then, there is Paris with an Eiffel Tower replica. Yes, you can go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and yes, you have to pay for it. For the end of my day, I went to the Stratosphere Tower again at night to admire the city lights in the dark. All I have to say is that it was truly breathtaking.

You can walk through the exhibit, which is themed like a tropical garden with a lot of bridges and small ponds. And flamingos.

This is the view from the Stratosphere Tower observation deck at night. I was speechless.

A few other suggestions on what to do

Unfortunately, three days were not enough for me to be able to see and do everything that this amazing city has to offer. The following things were on my list, but I decided to do them next time I visit Las Vegas:

I decided to check out more of the nightlife, visit more casinos and see at least one show, preferably the famous (and expensive) Cirque du Soleil. Of course, there are many more things, but you can tailor your visit based on what interests you the most.

Smoking

I really cannot stand smoke, and I am glad smoking is banned in all restaurants and bars here. Well, in all of them except the ones in Las Vegas! For example, the hotel I was staying at - Palace Station, had a casino downstairs, and to get to my room, I had to walk through it. And there was literally a cloud of smoke in the air. And imagine how I felt after finally taking a shower after an four hour flight, just to smell like I just smoked two packs of cigarettes after walking out of the hotel.

But that was just a part of the whole Las Vegas experience, and even my room faintly smelled like smoke. And I do not think you can complain about the smoke odor in your room like you can in every other hotel elsewhere, because it is completely legal. But I did not care, I was on vacation and I was able to survive and breathe smoke for three days.

Safety and a few tips

Wear sunscreen, sunscreen and more sunscreen. Oh, and did I mention sunscreen? If you do not use it, you will look like a leather bag after your vacation. Sunburns can easily ruin the good vacation mood, and skin cancer is no joke either. Having a hat is also a good idea. Well, not just having it. You have to wear it.

Make sure you drink enough. And I do not mean alcohol. It is easy to get distracted by the beauties of the city and forget to drink, but do yourself a favour and carry a bottle of water with you.

Do not walk by yourself during the night, except on the Strip. There are some shady areas just off the Strip, so if you are staying there, take a taxi. Uber and Lyft are great options - cheap and reliable, and promoters in front of casinos often give away discount cards for free rides.

A short conclusion

For me, it was very mind-blowing and unrealistic to see the city that is featured in thousands of movies and books with my own eyes. When I travel, I usually make sure that I see everything I want to see, so I don’t feel like I have to return to the same place again - I prefer to explore new places every time. But I must say that I will definitely return to Las Vegas. I have seen most of the sights, but I feel like this city has some magical power that is dragging me back there.

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