I am going to Las Vegas for the first time in a couple of weeks with my wife. I want to make the most out of it so if anybody has any recommendations or tips let me know. Thanks

Depends what you are looking for:

Ongoing shows - you really should see one of the Cirque de Solei shows. There are 5-6 of them now. They are bizarre, but very entertaining. I have seen 4 of them. O is probably my favorite right now, but I haven't seen the Beatles one at the Mirage.

Dining - take your pick. There is virtually anything you want. If you are downtown, the best steakhouse I have found is Hugo's Cellar. There are good steakhouses all over the strip. For a good time while you are eating, try Kahunaville at Treasure Island, Toby Keith's I love this Bar at Harrahs, Marguaritaville at Flamingo, Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay, etc.

Bars - one of my favorite to sit and drink at is Carnival Court outside of Harrahs. The bartenders there are "Flair" bartenders (think Tom Cruise in Cocktail), and are very entertaining. They have live bands there all the time too. Scenary is usually pretty good.

Attractions - make sure you see the fountains at Bellagio, the Fremont Street Experience at night (Downtown), ride the roller coaster at New York, New York; Botanical Gardens at Bellagio. My family also really likes the Stratosphere at night (if you are daring, there are 3 rides up at the top.

If you want to do tour type of stuff, there is Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon close.

If you are a golfer, I would check with your hotel to see if they can get you on a good course. THere are some incredible courses down there.

Finally, there is the Richard Petty Experience at the speedway. You can drive a race car, or ride with a professional driver.

Oh yeah. You can drink down there. A lot!!

Enjoy!!!

YourFather wrote:I am going to Las Vegas for the first time in a couple of weeks with my wife. I want to make the most out of it so if anybody has any recommendations or tips let me know. Thanks

Don't bring your wife.

Toby Keith's is great and the waitresses are worth the trip.

I always eat a Jerry's Gold Nugget a few miles north of the old strip, they have great prime rib. I always order the King Cut that is around 50 oz. and then eat cheese cake afterwards, it's great.


Grizpack gave you a great list and much of what I would have said is already on there.

I prefer the old stip (Fremont St)

Cirque de solei is cool, so is the Blueman Group.

I really enjoyed the Hoover Dam tour, very cool if your a tech geek/history/engineering type of guy.

I just got back Sunday. Grizpack said a mouthful!

Don't waste your time on the buffets, most of them all taste the same.

I went to a convention at the Hilton so I stayed at the Stratosphere. A must is to take your wife 103 stories up and have lunch (or dinner) on top of Vegas. The place rotates so you can see it all. Reservations for lunch not required, for dinner they are needed.

Expect to spend $8-$10 per drink on the strip. I like to hang out at The Orleans, Gold Coast and, like Alpha said, downtown. Cheaper gambling and drinks (drinks are free when gambling). Vodka/Tonic was $3.75 @ The Orleans, FYI.

If your hangin around the strip, the Duece--a double decker bus-- runs up and down the strip, as well as, downtown 24/7. A 24 hr pass is $5, use it as many times as you wish. Of course cabs are quicker, but more $$$, too. I rented a car this time-Valet is free at most, if not all, casino's. Just don't drink and drive in NV, they'll hang ya!!!

Whatever you do, catch a show while you're there. Last Saturday, the wife and I got to see Dana Carvey at the Orleans--what a riot he was.

Being a virgin, like you said, you'll hang around the strip. There are blocks of Casinos. But Vegas blocks are like 5-6 of ours, wear comfortable shoes!!!! You will walk your tail off. What looks like 200 yards is really 600.

If you have a car, google Torrey Pines Pub and go check it out. It's THE Griz bar in Vegas, but it's a ways out of the way. Easy to find, but I would guess it's a $30-$40 cab ride each way. I met Bob (I believe it was Bob) the owner. Real nice guy from Philly. I asked him who his "major" college FB team was and he said The GRIZ. Real nice guy, as was, Billie the bartender.

If you want a romantic dinner, most of the Big Casino's have such a thing. Most require business casual. The Palms has a very nice Italian restaurant, Nove. It sits some 55-60 stories up w/ a good view. Very nice place w/ very nice eye candy, too.

For show lists and schedules, I go to either of these:

http://www.lvol.com/lvoleg/lvshows.html

or

www.vegas.com

Good luck and have fun!!!

Also, where you staying?

Orleans is a great off-strip Casino. So are the Red Rock and Green Valley, but they are a ways off the strip.

Also, if you want to check out the concerts that will be there, go to www.pollstar.com, and look at Las Vegas. There are concerts almost nightly. Even if they are booked, sometimes your consiegre (sp?) at your hotel can get you tickets if you tip them.

For exceptional scenary, you should check out the Rio and the Palms. Sometimes the Hard Rock. And the Hooters Casino has a pit where the Hooters girls are the dealers.

There is also a tram now that goes from the Sahara to the MGM. Once you get to the Excaliber, there is a tram that goes to Mandalay Bay.

A couple of cautions for you. First, all along the strip, there will be people trying to hand you cards. Unless you are looking for a hooker, I wouldn't grab one. Your wife may object.

Second, everyone in Vegas expects a tip. Your service will improve greatly if you tip well.

Finally, what was said above is correct. You will look down the strip and say, "Oh, let's walk down there." The casinos are designed to look closer than they are. Where ever you are walking to, it is a long f#$king way.

As you might have guessed, it is one of my favorite places to go.

I was a Vegas Virgin until last spring, and it was a blast.

Like GRTFTBL said, take comfortable shoes.. I thought I had some comfy ones.. I was wrong. My feet were KILLING me.

Check out the Blue Man Group.. seriously. It's probably the best show in Vegas, IMO. You'd be missing out if you didn't go.

We ate at a nice Mexican joint inside of Treasure island.. name escapes me, but great food.

Go hit the In N Out if you've never been to one. It's across the interstate from the strip, but the best fast food burger you'll ever have.

Someone else said it, the drinks are DAMNED expensive. Prepare to shell out a lot of money on them. One night we had dinner at the Rio.. we spent as much on 4 drinks as we did on dinner.

Take the cards people hand you. They're amusing to look at. And ask random cab drivers about the Chicken Ranch.. amusing.

Don't go to Coyote Ugly.. WAY over priced and pretty much sucked.

Definitely check out the Irish Pub inside of New York New York.. great time in there.

$1 Miller Lights are pretty easy to find. Casino Royale has $1 Michelobs (Grizo's favorite!) and $1 margaritas.

Definitely hit the Pirate Show at Treasure Island, fountains at the Bellagio, volcano at Mirage.

That's about it... I think. If you want to mix your own drinks, there's a convenience store type of place at Fashion Show Mall that sells the shooters pretty cheap.

At the Flamingo there's usually nightly preformances by Second City. It's an improv comedy show, not hideously expensive either. A lot of top name comedians came out of Second City (there's a bunch of Second City clubs around the country). Went there last time I was down there, real funny, and it's a smaller setting so you're not in an ampitheater with 500 people, more of a lounge setting.

Right off the old strip there's one of the older hotels in Vegas - El Cortez, you can get all the Crab Legs you want for something like $20. Not the best crab I've ever had - but it was great for the price. They've also got really good steaks there.

If you're having a beer at almost any casino there, play the video poker at the bar, play slowly, take your time. The bartenders will make sure you've always got a cold one in front of you for free, as long as you keep gambling. Best time I had there was at a bar in the Sahara, there was a stage nearby that had an Earth Wind & Fire cover band playing. I bought a Corona, and for the next hours on $10 in the video poker machine at the bar I listened to some good music and had 4 free beers. Not bad...

Also - skip the Wax Musem, my wife liked it ok, I was bored stupid. And it's something like $35 per person.

Re/MaxGriz wrote:Also - skip the Wax Musem, my wife liked it ok, I was bored stupid. And it's something like $35 per person.

If you get your Blue Man tickets from the Venetian, you get into the wax museum free.

lots of great suggestions here....

would agree with these:
-take in all the free shows vegas is known for. the best in my opinion is the fremont street experience.
-cirque du soleil is incredible and worth the $$. blue man is cool, but not in the same league as CDS.
-drinks are a rip-off. catch a buzz at your hotel room prior to going out.
-too many great food options to recommend anything specific.
-yeah.....the casinos are not as close as you think. i've been there several times and have had to learn and re-learn this lesson each time. the tram(s) are awesome and a great value. they do unfortunately exclude a few casinos, however.
-don't drink and drive. you don't stand a chance.
-don't rent a scooter unless you have a death wish
-take the cards, collect them, and start a collector's album with them.
-take in a comedy club show. not that expesive, but quite fun.


a couple new items:
-most beautiful casinos: bellagio and caesar's palace.
-check out the live disco band at the house of blues in mandalay. go-go dancers in cages. delicious.
-i would worry more about the price and location of my hotel room than the quality of the room. this is vegas, dude.....you'll get back to your room at about 4:00 a.m., so don't plan on spending a lot of time in your room.

...it's been said..there's a curse...
...on the luxor...
...be careful..if you go in there...

...viva las vegas...

Imperial Palace is a great (cheap) place to stay if you're not worried about slummin' a bit. Center of the strip, across from Caesar's and next to Harrah's.. decent enough.

Oh yeah, the dueling piano's inside the NYNY. Funny chit. Not too far from the Irish Pub MrTitleist mentioned.

The Wynn, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio and Ceasars are very nice places, but too many ties and suit jackets for me.

Someone mentioned tipping. I used to be the guy who would tip a $1 chip when playing tables. They'd rather be tipped w/ cash. From now on, I don't leave the room w/o singles. I tip $2 cash per drink and I never have to ask for one.

You could be there a week and not see it all. Google all of the suggestions here and make a plan for an evening show. For everything else, just wing it. There will be just as many people out at 2am as 2pm. Before you know it you'll be yawning and the sun will be coming up. You'll be like .

I just got back and can't wait to get back...March 19-23.

zengriz wrote:...it's been said..there's a curse...
...on the luxor...
...be careful..if you go in there...

...viva las vegas...

Huh???

I stayed there a year ago, broke my foot searching for my obelisk.

Three years ago I stayed there and got another week off when
I got home with norovirus.

Five years ago I stayed there and lost $20K with full house-kings over jacks.

But no big deal....right?

Thank you for all the information. We will be staying at the Circus Circus. We got a good deal on rooms there and will be there 4 nights. I see eveyone say that drinks are free when gambling. Is this the same concept as here in Montana? Is it all drinks/mixed drinks or just beer? keep the good infor coming in. Best type of tables to play? etc....

Circus Circus is far away from everything!

We will just use the Duece to get use around. No worries.

Any kind of drink while gambling. I've had beer, booze, shots but nothing w/ an umbrella so I don't know if those drinks are free.

The higher priced motel, the higher stakes. For example, on a slow time of year (this time of year) you can find $5-$10 (minimum bet)blackjack tables at some of the lower class joints, whereas Mandalay Bays minimums are probably $15. Circus Circus has a casnio called Slots O Fun onsite. They have $5 tables, as does downtown and the off strip casino's.

Not only blackjack tables but tables in General. Minimum bets of $5. Roulette, 3-card Poker, craps, etc.

They have plenty of slot machines...100's of thousands of slot machines. My wife won, unfortunatly, a $900 jackpot on a penny slot machine about 4-5 trips ago. I don't think she's ever won again. But she keeps pumping away and I just . Thank God it's just pennies.

YourFather wrote:We will just use the Duece to get use around. No worries.

The Duece stops right out front, by the Slots O Fun I mentioned earlier!!!

GRZFTBL wrote:Circus Circus has a casnio called Slots O Fun onsite. They have $5 tables, as does downtown and the off strip casino's.

Slots O Fun has a $7 plastic football you can get filled with beer.

MrTitleist wrote:

GRZFTBL wrote:Circus Circus has a casnio called Slots O Fun onsite. They have $5 tables, as does downtown and the off strip casino's.

Slots O Fun has a $7 plastic football you can get filled with beer.

Now that is what I am talking about. Anytime you can mix beer and football you have a winner.

Slots O Fun is the worst name ever.......I knew some girls in High School that went by that name.

I know I know bad joke

Definitely check out the Carnival Court at Harrahs. The piano bar just inside Harrahs is fun too.

Our favorite restaurant is Fusia at Luxor.

I tried to talk my wife into going here, but she was having none of it.

http://www.vegasredrooster.com/















I'm kidding.