My wife and I are hiking in southern Utah in April (Zion, Escalante, and Bryce) and have a 10:40PM flight home on Saturday. We’re planning to leave Zion fairly early the last day, maybe after a short morning hike, and be in Vegas shortly after noon.
What would you do with one afternoon/evening in Vegas before heading home? Right now we’re looking at catching the 7:00 PM Cirque du Soleil Beatles show at Mirage, which means we’re pretty tight getting to the airport and returning our rental car, but I think we should be able to make it. That means an early dinner and several hours to spend seeing stuff. Neither of us a gamblers, but we’ll probably spend a few pulls at the slots. I also like collecting $1 chips from casinos so we’ll at least try to see a few to get those.
As always, it depends what you’re into. If you’re engineering types, there’s Hoover Dam (a bit out of the city, and tours may sell out early) and the Museum of Atomic Testing (in town, off the strip).
Actually, it’s been a few years since I’ve been to Vegas, and attractions seem to change frequently. I’m pretty sure the dam is still there.
We plan on spending the whole time in Vegas, probably around the Strip. After a full week of desert hiking we’re looking for something completely opposite.
A few of the museums are cool looking. Anyone been up the Stratosphere?
I would rethink the Cirque Du Soliel show. It is definitely worth seeing, but I think you are cutting it a bit close with the time. You will be there on a Saturday, on the strip. Everything is more crowded on Saturdays, so the traffic will be bad. Also, the security at the airport (at least for the Southwest terminals) can be painfully slow.
As to things to do:
Mob Museum downtown is cool.
Atomic Testing Museum off the strip is really interesting.
Lots of shopping opportunities from the Forum Shops at Caesar’s, Miracle Mile, Fashion Show Mall, and even an outlet mall closer to downtown.
You can visit the Pawn Stars pawn shop past the Stratosphere
You may have had enough canyon scenery from the places you’ve just visited, but you could head out to Red Rocks (directly west from the strip). Very scenic.
If you are going to gamble (table games), I’d recommend heading downtown.
2 hours is the safe window at McCarran. From the time you are getting out of your vehicle, departure time should be about 2 hours away to guarantee that you get to your gate without running and worrying that you’ll miss it anyway.
But for a fun afternoon here, since you want to stay indoors, try the indoor skydiving, go play some pinball and check out the aquarium at Mandalay Bay.
Since you’ll have a car, I recommend dinner at Komol Kitchen or Lotus of Siam (I prefer Komol Kitchen, tbh), if only so you can stealth brag about having eaten there in some future conversation. It shouldn’t be a problem to eat there in the early evening, but there can be so many people at LoS on a Saturday night that they simply stop taking people’s names; whole tour buses pull up there.
If you want steak or something, I’m told the Peppermill is great (I don’t eat meat; sorry I can’t be more help here).
Not on the Strip, but the Pinball Hall of Fame and Museum is an easy way to kill an hour (or more) while spending very little money. Playable pinball machines and arcade games dating from the 50s to the present.
For your timing, be aware that the car rental hub is not attached to the airport. It’s an easily-navigable facility, and the shuttle buses are frequent, but time will be a factor if you’re already cutting it close.
Check out the Mac King magic show at Harrahs. His persona is a bit of a “hick” but the magic rivals anything I’ve seen. I think his shows are at 1 and 3 on Saturday.
The Freemont Street Experience(old Vegas strip) is well worth spending a couple of hours, tho probably moreso at night. There are a ton of restaurants to choose from (the BBQ place inside the Binion casino was pretty good) and the Mob Museum is only a couple of blocks away. The only downside is that it’s farther away from the airport than the “new” strip.
My wife and I enjoyed just walking through the newer hotels and casinos as well. The Bellagio lobby and conservatory are gorgeous, the lobby ceiling is covered in Chihuly hand blown glass flowers ($10MM in 1998). Pictures do it no justice. The lobby and shops area in the Venetian is absolutely incredible, as is Caesar’s Palace and Paris. Really, 5 hours will give you time to explore 2-3 adjoining properties, not much more.
That’s seriously pushing it, especially when you consider that the airport rental car facility is nowhere near the airport; you have to take a shuttle bus from there to the airport itself. Also, usually the check-in area is separated from the terminals by a light rail shuttle system of some sort.
I second the Mob Museum; note that it is downtown.
Good thing I haven’t bought the tickets for LOVE yet. It sounds like that won’t work for us, which is a bummer, I think we would have really enjoyed the show. There are several afternoon shows available, mostly magic, which may not be our cup of tea.
The Peppermill is a great time capsule of the old Vegas. My meal was good there and it was a lot of fun, but if you are going for a steak in Vegas you can do much better at many other places.
Another Las Vegas time capsule restaurant/bar is Battista’s Hole In The Wall. Great old-style Italian place with historic bric-a-brac covering the walls. My friend and I got turned on to the place by the owner Bastista Locatelli…we met in Zion on the Angels Landing trail. He gave us a copy of his self-produced CD “Battista Sings” and serenaded us when we reached the summit. What a character he is!
I should ask, what is it that you are hoping to get out of Vegas? If it’s just to get a sense of the place, spending a few hours on the strip will get you that. If you want to actually do a few things there, you’ll need more than a few hours to do it. Maybe leave Zion one day earlier or extend the trip by one day to take in a show and do the Vegas bits?
When I was in Las Vegas recently, I quite enjoyed the exhibit of Titanic artifacts at the Luxor. There are reconstructions of the various cabins, and actual artifacts brought up from the wreck. Now, I’ll have to watch the movie again.
Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience is–well–an experience. Plenty of buskers, bands playing on outdoor stages, and many opportunities to just people-watch, if that’s your thing. If you feel like a little gambling, downtown table minimums are low in the afternoons, so buying a $1 chip won’t raise any eyebrows. Slots are the same as anywhere else, though.
I agree with the others who say to leave yourself plenty of time to depart McCarran. I cannot speak to rental car dropoffs, but the security line at the airport can get long, and you don’t want to cut things tight.
Yes,and it was my favorite part of Vegas. I went late at night, so riding the amusement rides, way up in the sky with my feet dangling down over the lights of the strip? It was gorgeous. Truly.
It was raining when I went, so the street with the arch of lights overhead (Can’t think of the name?) wasn’t working. I was sorry I didn’t see that.
I loved the Chihulys at Bellagio. It’s not limited to the lobby ceiling either, they are in every shop and throughout the hallways. (Or were mmph-teen years ago.) They also have a small art museum with very exclusive showings. And the dancing fountain is really quite mesmerizing. I enjoyed it immensely.
The meal I had at Picasso was truly stunning. Really, it was food as an art form in every sense. If I were going again I would probably try either Sage or E (Jose Andres), but for your rushed trip Alize might be just the thing. It’s a little off the strip, but on the 56th floor (of The Palms) so the view of the strip is supposed to be amazing.
If you have time and budget for a fine lunch as well, Meat Bazaar sounds fascinating. If you are adventurous eaters and like innovation, then Twist is the place to try.
Having said all that, and all of it true, I’ll also say this: I didn’t like Vegas. It is a dirty, sleazy place where people feel free to reel around deathly drunk and hawkers on the sidewalks will try to foist upon you catalogs of human beings for sale. I tried to re-create some of the classic photographs of the various casinos, and honestly you’d need to be suspended from a cherry picker to make the place look nice. Thus the appeal of the Stratosphere view.
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