There you have it - I’ll be visiting Vegas at the end of November for a week, what sights/places/events shouldn’t I miss? I won’t have a car and I’ll be with a group of friends so any recommendations for group activities would be good too.
Don’t know if you’ve ever been here before, but I can make some suggestions.
Without a car, you’ll be limited to the Strip and Downtown, which is a shame, because there’s a lot to see off the Strip. Cabs are pretty expensive here, especially on weekends when you’re stuck in traffic. You might want to consider renting a car for a day or two just to see some of the more distant attractions.
No trip to Vegas is complete without just taking a day or two to walk the length of the Las Vegas Strip. It’s one of the best people-watching experiences you can have. (In November, the weather is on the cool side, but usually not too cold. A moderate jacket or sweater should suffice at night.) There are lots of great sights to see, also. The volcano at the Mirage , the “Sirens of TI” show at Treasure Island , the observation deck and rides at the Stratosphere , the acrobats at Circus Circus , the lion habitat at the MGM Grand --except for the Stratosphere, all these things are free.
If you want to see a show, there are many to choose from. That far in the future, it’s tough to say what will still be playing, but I’ll give you a bit of advice. On weeknights, most shows aren’t sold out, and half-price tickets are sold day-of-show at several locations on the Strip. The easiest one to find is the giant Coke bottle in front of the MGM Grand. Just inside the door is the half-price ticket office.
Another thing to consider: check out some of the older properties, since they may be shut down eventually. We just lost the Stardust ; the next ones to go may be the Riviera and Sahara . Not as ornate and high-tech as the newer resorts, but a good window into Las Vegas’ past. I’ve always regretted arriving here too late to see the Sands or the Landmark, so try to get to the vintage places and pick up some souvenirs before it’s too late.
Check out the downtown hotels. Go to the Fremont Street Experience and check out the 4 Queens , Fremont , Plaza and any others. This is where Vegas began.
If you or any of your friends are Star Trek fans, go to the** Las Vegas Hilton** and see the interactive Trek shows. It’s off the Strip, but the Las Vegas Monorail runs right there. Monorail tickets are $5, but they sell a weekly pass that’s well worth it if you plan on using it several times.
If you do rent a car, see Red Rock Canyon. Breathtakingly beautiful and a good place for hiking, if you’re into that. Just go west on Charleston Blvd and you’ll drive right into it.
I’ve just scratched the surface here. There’s a SDMB member named DMark who runs a tourist website. I’m sure he’ll chime in soon enough, but you may be able to link to his site through his profile.
Have fun!
We were just in Vegas last week and saw KA at the MGM. Highly, highly recommended.
We’re on a semi-organised trip (25 of us) so the guy in charge is already fixing us up with tickets for two Cirque du Soleil shows and one other show, probably La Reve, which leaves us a couple of free nights and several free days.
Hmm… this might be a stretch, but consider gambling a little…
I’d say if you have maybe $300 disposable, for gambling alone, and you play it smart, keep it spread out, and don’t go crazy, you WILL have fun.
Don’t play too many slots (certainly never more than a quarter, and screw the progressives (maybe $5 tops, whole trip), don’t play roulette, don’t play poker (unless you know what you’re doing)…
Craps is fun and it has a minimual casino advantage, but it’s too quick, and the variance is too high for the $300 I quoted… Blackjack is very fun, the casino advantage is second only to craps, but do play the absolute minimum every hand, anywhere you can find it, and DEFINITELY spend the dollar on the “card” showing what to do in every situation… and FOLLOW it. Every time. Talk to your table mates… they usually have interesting stories. You might even come out ahead, and then your trip is free.
If you do gamble though, the key is moderation. If you pay for your trip, that’s a good stopping point. If you lose the the $300 you brought to gamble, that’s a definitely stopping point. Otherwise, you’ll have ANTI fun… so be smart and spread it out.
Cheers
If you have a few hundred spare dollars… consider the helicopter trip to the bottom of the grand canyon… only takes a few hours.
My wife and I enjoyed a champagne brunch there, along with flybys of the Hoover dam and the strip, and several extinct volcanoes. That ruled.
Blue Man Group at the Venetian.
Indoor skydiving. It’s about 50 bucks pp for rented gear, a 15 minute training, and three minutes of being semi airborne. Fun for groups, and a few minute walk off the Strip.
Skip “Sirens” at TI. Total waste of time. Even the tourists walking by on the sidewalk don’t stop for this charade anymore.
There’s a place way out on Tropacana where you can rent and fire machine guns…
Can I piggyback?
I’m going to Vegas for a conference in late April. I’ve been before, although only in mid-winter. I’m not a gambler and I’m not into shows, and I’ve stayed on the strip. I don’t much see the point of going to Vegas if it’s not Rodeo season, but there I’ll be anyway. I’m staying on the old strip this time, at the Golden Nugget.
Since I’ll have my truck, I was planning on driving in to Red Rock Canyon on the weekend after the conference. How bad of a drive is the Grand Canyon? Would I rather see that? I’m more of an outside person than a casino person anyway, and I’ll most likely be alone, but I’m not afraid to go off walkabout on my own. I’ll be dragging my camera along, as well as at least a day-pack, but on this trip, I fully intend to sleep in a bed and have a shower every night, so I’ll continue to use the hotel as a base when I go wandering. Does anyone have any good, off the beaten path suggestions?
I’m doing an operator’s tour of the Hoover Dam on the last day of the conference, so I’ve got that covered.
:: the faint sound of chimes is heard in the distance, and gradually gets louder ::
Hi there! Did I hear someone mention my name?
Good suggestions, want2know!
Clothahump, glad to hear you liked KA - I haven’t seen it yet, but there is a special 1/2 price ticket sale running now (for locals), so if any Dopers are interested, see about meeting up with one of the local Vegas Dopers to go get tickets with you and save some money - and considering those tickets can jump over $100 each, 1/2 price is a deal!
And ScareyFaerie, you are in luck! La Reve is closing for a month for big-time renovations costing millions, and when it re-opens in April, the theater is supposed to be even better! I saw the show and loved it, so I can only imagine how cool it is going to be after the upgrade! Plus, the Broadway show, Spamalot, is opening at Wynn in April as well. The Producers just opened at the Paris Hotel.
As far as what to see? Well, there is so much it is hard to say - plus, most tourists come armed with a long list of must-sees, and then wind up not seeing anything on their list as they just sort of get carried away with wandering around and gawking and eating and drinking and the next thing you know, it is time to go home.
Must sees? Well - the fountains out front at Bellagio, by day and by night, is the number one tourist attraction (for free!) and is quite spectacular. Also, inside the Bellagio are the botanical gardens and a cool (if pricey) shopping area worth walking through - and speaking of shopping areas, do not miss the canals at The Venetian or the shopping areas at Caesars - and I say this as someone who hates shopping, it is still something to behold just to wander through those areas.
The best suggestion is to go see one or two big shows (sounds like you have already planned on doing that) and then hit at least one pricey buffet (Paris, Wynn or Bellagio are the best, in that order) and if you are a foodie, maybe one expensive restaurant owned by a celebrity chef (there are dozens of them).
You don’t need a car here, but a word of warning - without realizing it, you will wind up walking 349 miles per day, so wear very comfortable shoes, and when you suddenly realize you are too pooped to make it back to your hotel room, spring for a taxi or take the cheaper trolley bus that goes from one casino to the next down The Strip.
On my site, I list some “cheap thrills” that lets you know some of the other things to see and do (for free or cheap) during your jaunts up and down the boulevard.
And for nightlife, you might want to gussy up and check out at least one night club as they are not your father’s disco palaces anymore - some of them have cost $20 million to build and are amazing places to party for a night, especially with a group of friends. Usually a cover charge ($20-40), and get there early to make sure you can get in and don’t have to wait in line.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions and I will try to help if I can - have fun!
Red Rock is a nice choice, and you might consider Mt. Charleston - about 45 minute drive with a nice lodge at the top where you can get something to eat, park your truck and do some hiking (or skiing in the Winter months).
Grand Canyon is a bit of a schlep - my guess about a 4 hour drive to get to the South Rim - so there and back in a day is quite a bit of driving. If you have the money, you might want to take the helicopter there (about $250 or so for that trip). However, if you did drive and spent the night, you would be very close to Sedona, Arizona and that alone might be worth spending the night on the trip down there.
There is also the Valley of Fire a bit north of Las Vegas that is a nice area to drive through and hike. Death Valley is also about an hour or so from Las Vegas and would be very nice to visit in April. There is also Lake Mead (30 minutes or so from the Strip), but without a boat, not a lot to do other than wander along the shore.
Hope that helps.
That does help, DMark. Death Valley is on the way home, more or less, so if I have time on Sunday, I may detour thataway.
If the Grand Canyon is four hours, I may pass, and make it it’s own dedicated trip when I can devote more time to it. Although I’d love to see Arizona, going in that direction just adds too much to my trip home, which will be back to California. I don’t have the money for a helicopter tour; the conference is wringing me dry as it is.
But this Valley of the Fire sounds intruiging; I may look into that a little more.
Thank you!
Now, if you want to get as much bang for your buck as possible at table games, try Pai Gow Poker
If you can find a $5 table with a $1 “Bonus Bet” (a side bet which pays extra for 3 of a kind or higher), you could potentially play a long time for not a lot of money. I usually buy in for $40 and play a minimum of 1 hour on that original stake. One time, I “pushed” every hand for a full hour, but kept winning the bonus bets, so I came out ahead. Not a lot ahead, but the key is to have fun, not pay off your mortgage.