Headed to Vegas, what to do?

Inna and I are spending 3 days/nights in Vegas at the end of March/beginning of April and I wanted to throw it out to the Dope as to ideas on what to do (other than gambling).

On the agenda already: Fremont St @ night, Cirque du Soliel, Sphere. These are scheduled during the evenings, so day suggestions are greatly welcomed.

And food suggestions. Can’t forget the food!

Thanks in advance, everyone! :grin:

See:

Some of the resorts are impressive architecturally, so they’re well worth a walk without shopping or gambling. My favourites in this regard are the Luxor, the Bellagio (with the fountains) and - somewhat tacky - the Venetian.

Oh, and riding the monorail is fun.

And Las Vegas is also home to two unusual museums, the National Organized Crime Museum and the Nuclear Bomb Test Museum. Well worth spending an afternoon that you have to kill before the evenings start.

Where are you staying? I’m going to be in town end of this month as well.

Your food choices will be dictated by your location. Fortunately, there is amazing food to be found all over the valley.

Which Cirque show? Some are great, some are…not.

My tradition when going to Vegas is to stop off at The Mad Greek in Baker, CA for a lamb-and-beef gyro. They used to have souvlaki gyros decades ago.

But unless you’re driving from California, you’ll miss it.

We are staying at the Linq.

OK, middle of the Strip. Still has the slowest elevators in town.

Ride the Wheel at night. The food choices are wide in that area, from chain places to really quite nice restaurants. Any particular cuisines you are interested in?

Here’s a thing not to do:

Stop on the pedestrian bridges.

Omega Mart.

Just look like a tourist - they won’t say a word! The law is aimed at all the water-hustlers that sprout up like weeds on every bridge.

Seconding Omega Mart. Also the rides atop the Strat, if that’s your thing.

We had a recent thread on The Sphere. Truly worth a visit if you can swing it.

I always go to Casa di Amore - but I think it’s best described as Italian- American food

The best Italian places IMO:

Cipriani - Wynn
Sinatra - Encore
Brera Osteria - Venetian
Bootlegger - South of Mandalay Bay a mile or so.

Old School Vegas:
Peppermill - On the Strip

Virtually every hotel has a decent steakhouse. For a pretty good variety, go across the street to Caesars and eat there.

There is a light-post on the Northeast corner of the Silver Bowl lot that I have fond memories of…

While the Mrs. and I do enjoy the shows and dining opportunities that Vegas offers, we really loved using Vegas as a base to visit Red Rock Canyon, Mt. Charleston, Valley of Fire, and similar natural areas. We’ve even road-tripped to the Mojave and to Death Valley from there.

Seconding @Qadgop_the_Mercotan that there’s lots to do within an hour-ish of travel that isn’t hotels & eating.

If your budget permits, a dusk or later helicopter ride around the valley is quite something. All the magic happens as the sun disappears and the lights come up.

Likewise air tours of the Grand Canyon can be had. That’s definitely better as a morning rather than afternoon activity. At end of March it’s not beastly hot and turbulent yet, but even on a mild day those tours can be a hard on weak stomachs or nervous fliers.

The temperatures then will still be cool enough that lounging at the pool will be mostly for Canadians only between noon and 3pm. Hot sun with cool to very cool air. Visitors in the winter or shoulder seasons are often surprised at how cool it is. And at the large temperature difference between overnight and midafternoon. Prior planning prevents urgent shopping trips.

I’ve seen about 6 or 8 Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas. IMHO the best one is Ka. I would definitely try to include that. Blue Man Group is fun too, but with only 3 nights you’re going to have to be selective in which shows you see.

Oh yeah! We did a heli tour of the Grand Canyon out of Vegas once, and it was so amazing! We even landed alongside the river on the Hualapai reservation, and strolled some. VERY memorable.

Seconding Omega Mart - if you’re not familiar, it’s a permanent interactive art exhibition made to look like a grocery store where everything is subtly wrong in a Lovecraftian sense. There are actors in character as store employees and a storyline you can discover through exploring the store and its backrooms, and some of the odd merchandise they sell (“Root Beer Flavored Vape Juice Flavored Root Beer” or “Dehydrated Saltwater” for example) is actually purchaseable, and there’s a hidden bar that serves themed cocktails.

It’s located in Area 15, a venue off the Strip that’s also home to a distillery and ax-throwing and several VR experiences.