[katkat05]

We are visiting Vegas for the first time, arriving next weekend (12-8) My question is what advice can you give small town people for visiting L.V?
We are staying about three miles off the strip for a week and have a free shuttle to get to the strip so that is not a problem. What about sights to see besides the casinos? I saw tours of Hoover Dam were $$$, would it be better to just rent a car? What about eating, the hotels or off the strip? If you could think of one or two things that is a "must do", while there, what would it be?

thanks so much,
Kat......small town girl.

[Chest Rockwell]

You might enjoy the "Cowboy Christmas" at the Convention Center and Mandalay Bay Hotel.

[Golfinnova]

Originally Posted by katkat05

We are visiting Vegas for the first time, arriving next weekend (12-8) My question is what advice can you give small town people for visiting L.V?
We are staying about three miles off the strip for a week and have a free shuttle to get to the strip so that is not a problem. What about sights to see besides the casinos? I saw tours of Hoover Dam were $$$, would it be better to just rent a car? What about eating, the hotels or off the strip? If you could think of one or two things that is a "must do", while there, what would it be?

thanks so much,
Kat......small town girl.

Best advice is to rent a car because they are so inexpensive to rent in town. That way you can drive to Mt. Charleston (which is snow covered right now), Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Red Rock, etc. Plenty of great restaurants both on and off the strip, great nightlife especially going to Fremont Street (downtown). A must-do would be to see the fountains at Bellagio at night time which is truly a wonder. (Ocean's 11 doesn't do it justice).

[toyojo]

yes renting a car is a much better option. inexpensive, if you find a place you can stay for as long as you want, (tours keeps schedules), and you visit any place you want. with the tour, they have set routes on where to go and how long to stay. with a rental car you have more freedom in where you want to go.

[jfkIII]

If you rent a car and want to do day trips, I recommend things like Death Valley NP (2.5 hours away), Hoover Dam (1+ hour away), Red Rock Canyon (1 hour away), The Ethel M Cactus Garden & candy factory (close by...Henderson). If you were going to do an overnighter, I would add Rhyolite (ghost town) to the Death Valley NP. And Hoover Dam could be combined with Laughlin for a nice overnight trip. LV Speedway is out towards Valley of Fire SP, which could also make a nice day trip.

Grand Canyon would be two full days, at least, and I would recommend maybe 3 for that, if you want to do it at a leisurely pace.

[katkat05]

The weather forecast is a little chillier than I was hoping it would be while we are there but we just couldn't get away sooner.
I am not sure what redrock is but will do a search on it.
Any advice on where to rent a car? We were just talking about it this evening. Mostly we will take shuttles and hoof it but at least once or twice we want to rent a car.
Kat

[jfkIII]

Please be aware that it may (and usually is) less expensive to rent for the whole week versus 2 separate daily rentals. I have used Alamo in the past (shuttle from airport to rental counter, as all rentals at the airport are) and have usually paid around $150 for the week. However, that is making the reservation in advance and using the discount coupon from my Entertainment book. Check all the major rental websites...some offer last minute specials, especially if its a slower week and their inventory is high. Good luck.

[BradS1]

I would try to see at least one show. I saw mystere last month and had a good time. Any of the cirque shows are probably good but you should research the theme behine them before deciding on which one to see.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by katkat05

We are visiting Vegas for the first time, arriving next weekend (12-8) My question is what advice can you give small town people for visiting L.V?
We are staying about three miles off the strip for a week and have a free shuttle to get to the strip so that is not a problem. What about sights to see besides the casinos? I saw tours of Hoover Dam were $$$, would it be better to just rent a car? What about eating, the hotels or off the strip? If you could think of one or two things that is a "must do", while there, what would it be?

thanks so much,
Kat......small town girl.

Where are you coming from? Is it cold or high elevation? What do you like to do? Do you like shows? Do you like scenery and outdoors attractions? Roller Coasters? Shopping? Gambling? Skiing? It was mentioned that you might want to drive up to Mt. Charleston. If you do be advised that it is very cold, very high elevation, and there is lots of snow up there. For that matter Red Rock Canyon will be higher and colder than town, but it is worth seeing, especially if you aren't from a beautiful area of the west already. It's only about 30 minutes from the Strip...45 at most. If you are flying you can rent cars at the airport. Best deals are Dollar, Budget, National, etc. Avis and Hertz are rip offs...not worth all the extra money they charge. It is chaeper to rent by the week than by a day or two at a time.

[ParkTwain]

I like to recommend stuff found in Vegas that you probably can't see in other places.

Don't miss either the Liberace Museum (on E. Tropicana) or the Atomic Testing Museum (on E. Flamingo).

Pay your respects at the Bugsy Siegel shrine found in the gardens behind the Flamingo hotel.

Have dinner at the top of the Stratosphere.

Drive up the west side of Lake Mead to Valley of Fire State Park -- you'll think you're on another planet.

Visit the amazing cactus garden and desert landscaping at the Ethyl M's chocolate (good stuff!) factory store on E. Sunset.

Take in the view of the Strip from the top of the Eiffel Tower replica at the Paris hotel, then treat yourself to a crepe at the shop found on the walkway behind the casino.

Visit the new Springs Preserve attraction found at the intersection of Alta and Valley View.

Drive downtown and look for the old Victory Hotel and El Sombrero restaurant on Main Street -- two of the older establishments found there.

(daytime) After walking through Fremont St., keep walking east several blocks beyond the canopy and check out the the signage of the old 1950s style roadside motels (Desert Moon, etc.).

Spend some time inside Binion's on Fremont St and the Golden Gate casino at Fremont and Main St.