There are actually some travel guides that don´t cover Las Vegas and restrict themselves to the Californian border (e.g. my travel guide from Beadeker (https://www.amazon.de/Baedeker-Reisef%C3%BChrer-Kalifornien-GROSSER-REISEKARTE/dp/3829713975) which is actually a shame, because you HAVE TO GO to Vegas, if you visit California. Just do it! If you don´t drink, then gamble. If you don´t gamble then see a show. If you don´t like shows, then eat. If you don´t like to eat too much then just book a nice and for the service (comparing to the rest of California) very cheap hotel and enjoy a spa day.
You can have a drink at any hotel on the strip and you can gamble in any hotel, but I would really recommend the Ceasars Palace and the Planet Hollywood. In the latter we saw Britney Spears and it was just worth it. Even my boyfriend, whose music taste is totally different from mine, said it was an amazing show and event and totally worth the money.
I lost 30 $ in the first 15 minutes of my arrival. So if you want to gamble, you should know some of the rules. Standing by and watching others play is never as much fun as to join in. And even if you have seen the Hangover movies a thousand times it doesn´t help to win.
A MUST SEE or better a MUST DO in LAS Vegas is:
- Go to the Strip and look at the beautifully ligthen hotels and casinos at night
- Take a cab and take a picture at the „Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas“ Sign
- The fountain in front of the Bellagio Hotel is beautiful and even romantic at night
- Downtown Las Vegas has some old Casinos which are also very nice
- The Hoover Dam is only half an hour away from Las Vegas and a nice spot to visit during the day
- If you have a lot of time and energy and didn´t already spend the last days in a car you can go and see the Gran Canyon. It is beautiful, but it takes you more or less 2 hours just to get there and two hours back. Another option is to go directly by a helicopter from Las Vegas and see it from above (70$ and more). This might even be not as expensive as you think, if you count the money for the gas and the entrance fee to the Gran Canyon. The area is restricted and believe me there is no way to get close enough to the Gran Canyon without paying the 50$ for the bus (each ticket). And then you are still not on the Gran Canyon Skywalk which is at least another 50$ per person. You might find some cheaper offers online or at the ticket offices in Las Vegas.
Here are some tips for your Las Vegas Trip:
- Maybe start your US trip at Las Vegas, because sometimes there are very cheap flight to Las Vegas and you might be in a good party mood in the beginning of your trip
- Don´t take your boy-/or girlfriend to Las Vegas or go in larger group. I don´t want to say that you have to cheat on each other, but it might be more fun to have a „girls night out“ or to be with the boys and go to a strip club or something
- There are coupons for everything in the US, but especially in Las Vegas – use them, its worth it!
- Don´t be cheap – the hotels are already not very expensive, but take a hotel on the Strip so you don´t have to drive and can have more fun drinking and partying! (we went to Old SAM Town or something, which was cheap and still very nice, but as I said…I would do it differently now)
- You can park for free in almost every hotel on the strip – only the valet parking is quite expensive
- Know your limit! Don´t drink and don´t play to much. You are still in a foreign country – try and be safe
- It can get very very hot in Las Vegas – you are in the dessert – so drink a lot and always have enough water in your car, if you go and visit the Hoover Dam or the Gran Canyon (it was 47 degrees outside when we visited Las Vegas)
- Go three days and at least 2 nights, you might think its much, but it´s not;)
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