19
votes

I've been told that unless you have a good plan for Las Vegas, you're not going to have a clue what to do when you get there.

I and my two brothers have a trip planned in October from the 2nd to the 16th. We're starting in Los Angeles and then driving to Vegas. We have things planned for Los Angeles so that part is fine. However, we're planning to stay longer in the Vegas area.

So far we have a single casino visit planned, tickets to see Penn and Teller and time at a gun range sorted. But we plan to be there from the 5th to the 14th so we need more to do.

This is a once in a lifetime trip for us and we don't want it to be too much of a tourist thing. We're looking to find some good places to head out and have fun. We're all in our twenties (24-28) and Irish, so somewhere we can get drunk would be great.

Top ideas or good tips for hanging out in Vegas would be greatly appreciated.

4
  • Hi, welcome to Travel.SE. Glad that you came here to put the question but as it stands, the question is vague and there isn't a single 'right answer' to such a question. Could you please edit it to make it more specific? I'll close the question for now while I wait for that. Sep 7, 2011 at 16:10
  • Is that enough information? Can you open the question please. Thank you.
    – Opyuse
    Sep 7, 2011 at 18:50
  • Thanks for the edit, reopened. I hope you'll get more useful answers with this. Sep 7, 2011 at 20:06
  • If this is actually a question for non-casino interesting things in Las Vegas then I think that is actually a really good expert travel question that not everybody could answer... Sep 8, 2011 at 7:18

3 Answers 3

14
votes

Sounds like you just want a list of more 21+ (not child type of guides) travel guides. I'm 27 and I understand what you're getting into. I've been to Vegas a lot for conventions (photography more specifically). Last time i was there was '09. Vegas grows so fast. There are already new hotels sprouting when I was there, like Aria (newest hotel / condo / loft / megaplex).

21+ Travel Guides

There are also excellent guides from the travel channel on 21+ :

If you get bored and those don't excite you, you may still want to do touristy things; so when people ask you can't just say you can't remember it:

Lodging

The best places to stay are around the middle of the strip. If you're in the middle then you're not too far from everything. If you're stuck on the north or south end you may do a lot of walking. That really sucks. Hotels include:

  • Planet Hollywood - Perfect spot and value. It used to be known as the Aladdin. The rooms have been remodeled and redone to fit the planet hollywood theme. They always have deals on hotel rooms. Probably the cheapest; I may be wrong.
  • Bally's / Paris Las Vegas - These two hotels are right next door to Planet Hollywood. They're connected and owned by the same group. Rates are a bit more but this is the best spot of the new strip. Bally's is the older of the hotels but their rates are a bit inflated.
  • New York New York - This hotel is a little farther south. Not too much extra walking and closer to the south end of things. Prices may be similar to bally's.

Walking Attractions

The best part of Las Vegas is the walking attractions. Walking around hotel to hotel can be very fun and a good way to walk off a hangover.

Here are some hotels you must visit:

  • NY, NY - Just walking through this hotel is great. They have lots of great sites that remind you of New York. It's the only roller coaster hotel on the strip.

  • Paris Las Vegas - worth a visit. They have a crepe shop and a restaurant on the top of the scale model Eiffel Tower where you can have brunch. Not sure if it's appropriate for bro-mance times. It's more of a romantic thing apparently. If you're lucky you may also catch the mime that appears near the convention center (toward the far back).

  • Palms - It's off the strip so I never went. But this is the home away from home of the Playboy Mansion. There's lots of great things here I hear.

  • Bellagio - Walk through the lobby. There's a fun garden and chihuly glass in the lobby. There's some fun attractions. The pool at the Bellagio is the most ridiculous sight. It's worth checking out. If you walk toward the back you'll be able to see the nice views. Make sure to watch the movie Oceans 11. You can catch the fun spots where they filmed it. You can also find the best blackjack tables. There's $5 minimum blackjack table that gets a lot of visits and i've won a lot of decent hands there.

Food

I have only been to the buffets. It's hard to find food around the strip that isn't a buffet. So here's a couple you should visit. If it's sit down in Vegas it's going to be really hard to find a decent meal for under $10 per person. If you do the food quality is very poor. They take advantage of the tourists.

  • Planet Hollywood's buffet - Go on a Sunday. They serve brunch and it's of the best besides the Bellagio
  • Bellagio buffet - Go right at the cutoff between brunch and lunch and you'll get a great deal. The price for the Bellagio buffet is steep. But by far the best buffet hands down. They have everything.

Bars/Clubs that you must visit

If you want more loungey bars New York New York may be the better place to be.

  • Coyote Ugly - Apparently a hot spot at New York New York
  • Tao - one of the most extravagent night clubs. The line at midnight is ridiculous. You may want to get there really damn early.
  • XS - Home of the most expensive drink

Shopping

  • Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace - Caesar's Palace offers lots of fun shops. There are several drink stands in Caesar's Palace that offer you 151 in a 711 type slurpie cup. It's a great value.

  • Wynn - The Wynn has some high end shopping stores. Nothing super exciting though. Everything is way too expensive.

  • Venetian - The Venetian has an entire mall. It's several floors. Some of it is interesting.

  • Las Vegas Premium outlets - Take a cab there. May cost quite a bit. But worth the adventure. You'll save on lots of great things. Everything on the strip is too expensive.

  • Shops at the Stratosphere - There's a mall here you can walk through.

3
  • Cheers, brilliant answer. You've hit the nail on the head. 21+ is pretty much what we're looking for. We've been looking over a lot of different things but I thought asking actual Americans would be a nice helping hand then just listening to a travel agent.
    – Opyuse
    Sep 10, 2011 at 3:16
  • Love the food ideas and not something I originally thought of (You forget you have to eat when planning a holiday) but is there any good places to eat that you can walk in on and order from a menu. If you've been there or live there, where was the best food you have had? Buffets will probably be where we go must nights but as a treat where would be good?
    – Opyuse
    Sep 10, 2011 at 3:24
  • Seriously the best food is off the strip apparently (did some research). I've only been to one place for lunch off the strip. Anything off the strip is a $20/30 dollar cab ride (each way). If you eat on the strip the great food places cost an arm and a leg. $30 per person.
    – chrisjlee
    Sep 10, 2011 at 5:02
11
votes

I am bit confused because you say "visiting las vegas" and "we don't want it to be to much of a tourist thing". Las Vegas is a tourist thing.

If you want to get drunk then visit the Hooters opposite the MGM. You find a lot of people handling out flyers for strip clubs on the main street (The Strip), and there is a place where you rent a ferrari or lambo for an hour or so, and recently some company opened where you can drive a bulldozer or digger and shovel some dirt around. "Sahara" had some ex Daytona racing cars set up as multiplayer racing game simulator, but the place closed down sometime in May 2011 - I blame the food.

Apart from that you can only really hang out in Casinos and watch the shows there, or the one shaped like a pyramid has the worlds largest Titanic collection inside. The casinos itself might all have a different theme, but at the end it's just plastic decoration around gambling machines and they are all the same.

I really recommend some day trips to either the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam or maybe Bodie, CA on the way from LA to LV.

2
  • 4
    Sahara closed down? Only place in America to give me food poisoning, I'll agree with that sentiment ;)
    – Mark Mayo
    Sep 8, 2011 at 10:49
  • Thanks. I guess it is very touristy. Bodie is one of the places we plan to visit. I suppose I'm being a little snobbish when I say not so touristy. I'm just looking to have a good time and come home with some epic memories.
    – Opyuse
    Sep 8, 2011 at 21:27
7
votes

In addition to the casino rounds, food, Grand Canyon day trip and other entertainment, don't miss out on the Cirque Du Soleil shows in Vegas. Expensive, but if you are making a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip, you can't afford to miss these. I would recommend O at the Bellagio and/or Ka at MGM

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