Vegas Trip Info.?

Question

I'm heading off to Vegas next month right after X-Mas and i was wondering what are some good places to go like shoping, able to take some good pic's, go see a show, and so on and so forth. Any ideas?

Answer 1

It's been a few years... I used to live in Vegas, my family is still there, but I haven't seen them in a while.

The usual reasons for visiting Vegas are 1) tourism/sight-seeing and 2) gambling. The amount of money you have budgeted for your trip (and your gambling habit) will usually define what kind of stuff you'll be able to do. If money was no object for your trip you wouldn't have bothered asking this question, since you can do whatever once you got there. As such I'll try to save you what money I can, but you'll still need to do your homework and plan accordingly.

SAFETY REMINDER
With the bright lights and festive nature of Vegas a lot of people tend to fall under a false sense of safety. If you've lived there, like I have, you'd know that Vegas is just like any other town when you start moving away from central tourism zone around The Strip.

The basics:
1) Try to avoid drinking/drugs, so judgement isn't impared.
2) Don't carry large amounts of cash.
3) Be aware of where you are and your surroundings.

Off the Strip - Vegas still has all the same problems with criminals, gangs, and delinquents so keep an eye out and try to be back in your hotel (or on the Strip where there's lots of people) by the time it starts getting dark.

On the Strip - When your in the "tourism zone" of The Las Vegas Strip it's alot like being a tourist in a foreign country (with people targeting visiting tourist) and the same rules tend to apply: 1) guard your wallet/purse from pickpockets, 2) avoid low/no traffic alleys and side streets away from the main streets, 3) don't travel alone, and 4) things can be dangerous at night so it's better to be off the streets then.

In the Casino - If you've never seen those shows on Vegas cheaters and criminals then a little extra stuff to keep in mind when you gamble, granted casino surveillance is a huge deterant to thieves, there are still people stupid enough to try and steal from other patrons. 1) When you play Craps use one hand to hold or cover your chips on the rail. That way a "rail bird" standing next to you can't swipe a couple of chips as you throw the dice. 2) Never turn your back on the machine you've been playing that still has your money (or your bucket of coins) to pick up stray coins on the ground. Thieves can snatch your winnings when you aren't looking. 3) Guard your wallet/purse. Focusing on the game and chips/money in front of you sometimes makes people forget about their wallet/purse where the rest of their money, ID, and credit cards are.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Vegas has a fairly decent bus system and you can pretty much get from one end of the city to the other on a couple of bucks and transfer slips. If you're willing to plan some of your activities around the bus schedule you can save a bit on car rental and taxi fares. In Vegas the public transportation are known as CAT (City Area Transit) Buses. The few main routes are centered around the tourism aspect of Vegas and run to/from the main airport and all along The Strip. The rest of the routes are primarily used for "regular commuting" to and from various residential and commercial/business areas.

CAT Fare Costs
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/fareinfo.htm

CAT Routes Map
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/sysmap/

CAT Route "The Duece" on The Strip
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/routes/deuce/Deuce_strip(06-03-07).pdf

There are several stops in/near shopping centers, malls, and businesses both on and off The Strip so the buses can get you to/from places to do things the trick is figuring the closest route(s) that will get you there.

TOURISM/SIGHT-SEEING
The major themed hotel/casinos on The Strip are of course a highlight when visiting Vegas, but you might be able to save a bit of money staying at a smaller hotel, then sight-see and tour the larger themed casinos without actually paying the higher cost to sleep there.

There used to be a fairly decent place off The Strip not far from where I use to live called the Santa Fe Hotel & Casino. It was a bit of a down-home "family-type" place with two restaraunts, a bowling alley, ice skating rink, and a small video arcade and was actually a regular spot for alot of the locals. It got bought out years ago by the same people that owned the Palace Station and Texas Staion hotel/casinos, and it became Santa Fe Station after that.

http://www.santafestationlasvegas.com/hotel/

Like I said, it's been a few years, so I don't know if it still has the original down-home "family-type" setting. It may have gone through some major remodeling since then. The current rates they show are a little higher than what I remember. I think it was $30-$35 a night, but that was years ago in a much better economy, so the $50/night they got is not that unusual, it's still lower than the main casinos on The Strip from the ones I took a look at (Excalibur, Luxor, Bellagio, Treasure Island, and MGM Grand).

I know there are a lot of "cheap" places to stay in Vegas, but the Santa Fe is the only one I'm familiar with and that I know isn't a "roach motel" and still affordable. The link to the Bellagio has hyperlinks to almost a dozen other hotels on The Strip and you can check out the shows and entertainment at these hotel/casinos to get an idea of what you might want to get tickets to see.
http://www.bellagio.com/?CMP=KNC-Google-Bellagio_Corp
But you can search easier for the specific types of shows and entertainment you might want to see on this site here:
http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/play/shows/index.jsp

As far as shopping goes it really depends on what you want to shop for. If you were looking to shop for typical "Tourist Souvenirs" then you pretty much would need to shop at the various hotel/casinos to get whatever themed T-shirts, trinkets, and gifts you had in mind.

But if you're looking to shop for "normal stuff" (nothing from a specific hotel/casino) then DON'T SHOP AT THE STRIP! The malls on the strip (like the Fashion Show Mall near the Flamingo Hotel/Casino and Treasure Island Hotel/Casino) have higher prices on "normal stuff" to cash-in on the heavy tourist traffic along the strip. My mom used to work at the Fashion Show Mall.

The two regular malls that I can remember going to in Vegas (that are "normal" with the same kinds of average prices you'd find in any other mall in the states) are Meadows Mall and Boulevard Mall. If you're planning on saving money using the CAT buses, just remember to shop light, it won't be easy carrying a bunch of stuff on the bus.

Boulevard Mall is off CAT Route #109 (Maryland Parkway), there's no direct stop into the mall, but Stop "D" at Desert Inn Road will put you right on the corner near the area.
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/routes/109/109(11-5-06).pdf

Meadows Mall is off CAT Route #103 (Decatur Blvd) and it has a stop ("G") that takes you right in front of the mall.
http://www.rtcsouthernnevada.com/cat/routes/103/103(10-28-07).pdf

GAMBLING
The way I see it there are 2 styles of gamblers: Machine Players and Table Players.

Machine Players stick to the classic slots and video poker and prefer the simpler paced atmosphere of gambling against technology. If this is your style then you can find machines anywhere in the denomination you're comfortable playing at. Granted lower denominations (penny/nickel slots) are more prevalent off The Strip, while the opposite is true for the higher denomination (1 or 5 dollar slots) machines.

Table Players are the ones that prefer the more exciting atmosphere of games involving other people: Craps, Poker, Keno, Roulette, Blackjack, etc. The only way to stretch out your money and make it last is to find tables that have lower "minimum bet" limits. In this case you need to play at the smaller "family-type" casinos away from The Strip, since the major casinos there have a more expensive "minimum bet" on their tables.

I tend to play the machines, but the main table game I like to play is Craps. Whenever I gamble I always set aside a specific amount as my "Gambling Allowance" for the day. Since, I know I'm going to lose that money anyways, I just play as long as possible and make a game out of seeing how long I can make it last. I had a system... (yeah, I know... everyone has a "system" when it comes to gambling =P) when I played Craps at the Santa Fe (already mentioned) and could make $20 bucks last about 60-90 minutes on average. They used to (not sure if they still do) have tables with a minimum bet of $2 and the "High Stakes" table had a minimum bet of $5 and I'd play the $2 tables. I think the worse I did was losing my $20 in 30 minutes, but the best I did with my system I was able to make my $20 last almost 4 hours at the Craps tables... Granted I would have been "up" if I quit sooner, but where's the fun in that? =P

You'll of course have plenty of things to take pictures of in the city and along the Strip, but another place you may want to check out is Red Rock Canyon. There's some awesome scenery out there and if you're into biking or hiking there are trails out there you can explore, or you can just drive though and sight-see that way in case the weather gets too cold by the time you go there. Here's the site if you want to get more info on it.
http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/

You can pretty much find a bunch of entertainment on the Strip among all the major hotels, but a trip out to Red Rock Canyon could be a nice change of pace away from the city.

Have fun, stay safe, and set a "gambling allowance" for yourself so you won't end up spending more than you originally planned.

Answer 2

the strip is the best place to get pics taken and inside the hotels, shopping you might wanan go to the malls that are outside the strip, those malls have cheaper things i heared, as for shows you could go see cirque du soleil, or if you wanna see an adult show in the luxor im not if they will still have it when you get there but if they do in the luxor you could check out the fantasy show. And if you walk threw the ceaers hotel they have this show every half hr with fire and lights, and there is an exotic car place where you can get you picture taken in a ferrari and they had a back ground in the back of your photo, and you can rent an exotic. Anyways hoep this has helped and i hope you have fun.

Answer 3

Here is a list of Vegas free attractions. Everything from Bellagio fountains to Fremont Experience.
http://www.lasvegas-how-to.com/free-attractions.html

Answer 4

103 Decatur Bus Schedule

Answer 5

be sure to go to Fremont Street, too. They have an outdoor neon museum including Vegas Vic which makes a great photo. If you have a car you take your photo at the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.

Answer 6

just the Vegas strip, it's nothing much else. just walk Vegas blvd back and forward. one way will take like 40 - 50 min to walk. been there many tI'mes and im also gonna be there for after Xmas, see you there..

Answer 7

www.vegas.com
one of the top sites

Answer 8

the strip