I noticed that everywhere you turn, you need a $100 in your hand. LOL

I was there in November, perfect weather. Try to find a place in the middle of the strip, not a big gambler myself either. I say in the middle because the walking distances are mind boggling. This way you can branch out in different directions.
They still have not really recovered from Covid. The buffets are no longer like they used to be, used to be like 24hrs now most of them were closed really early and some of them never reopened. Did breakfast at the Wynn fair price and really awesome selection. I spent a whole day just walking the malls, venetian, Caesar and the fashion mall and I bet I still did not see everything. Transportation wise get a day pass for the DEUCE its the bus that runs the length of the strip from the airport all the way to the old part of Vegas, think it was only $8.

The Wife and I were out there in the spring.

I'll give another vote for Cirque! We watched the "Love" show.
I can listen to the Beatles, not my favorite band, but I enjoy them.
As far as the show set to their music: DAMN!!!! Incredible!

Food? Like Hound Dog said, there's a bunch of well known and great restaurants in the Casinos, but $$$!

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
We saw the Cirque show Mystere @ Treasure Island. I would describe it as someone's fever dream. But it was awesome and some of the bits were really funny.

I have seen a dozen Cirque shows and this is still my favorite. I had seen it with my wife before. But then in 2013 when my Dad was on his way out of this world with cancer I took him to Vegas for a bucket list trip. This was one of the shows we saw. He leaned over during the show and said, "I do not know what I am watching, I could not describe it to someone if asked, but it is AMAZING!"

During my working life, I was in LV twice a year for 30 years. Loved to gamble. Blackjack was my go-to and switched to mindless 3 card when my brain stopped working. Never did understand why anyone who didn't gamble would spend a vacation there but, I hope you have a great time anyway. Sorry I can't help but I was either in the convention center or a casino. (usually a Harrah's property)

Lived there 10 years.
Weera Thai on Sahara is great and inexpensive.
In addition to Red Rock and Valley of Fire there is good hiking up at Mt. Charleston.
The Dam tour is worth doing.
The Pin Ball "museum" is pretty cool. Play vintage games at vintage prices.

Get a bus or monorail pass for the week on the strip. It’s worth twice the price if you ever thought, “Oh that looks close, I’ll just walk.”

I think it was here, a few recommended this steakhouse.

herbs & rye steakhouse


Or ‘The Golden Steer’.

If you like cars check out the Shelby Museum.
There are plenty of jaw dropping Shelbys there.

Bob

My wife and I have visited Las Vegas pretty regularly over the past 25 years or so, As noted above, it has gotten more expensive. Fall can also be pretty warm (we would routinely go in early December).

The Cirque shows are great, and we have seen most of them over the years. If I could pick my favorites, without a doubt, it would be Ka at MGM Grand and O at Bellagio, Tickets are not inexpensive but worth the cost. Both shows are literally mind-bending. For a cheaper, first time look at a Cirque show, try the oldest one, Mystere at Treasure Island. It has in past been significantly less expensive than the newer Cirque shows.

We learned a valuable lesson many years ago concerning food -- get off the Strip! Food prices in the "name chef's" restaurants in the casino's are obscene. We ended up talking with the staff in the hotels about where they like to eat. Not surprisingly, absent going to work, they rarely patronize anything on the Strip -- it is just too expensive. They gave us lots of suggestions for great Mexican, Chinese, Thai and Italian places. I now love In-N-Out Burger, something unavailable to those of us from the eastern half of the U.S. The place we always have dinner when in Vegas is Nora's Italian Cuisine on Flamingo (they always have arancini!), as a result of a recommendation from a hotel front desk staffer. For breakfast buffets, look at the off strip casinos. Their breakfast buffets are usually a bargain when compared to any Strip casino/hotel Off the strip, there are a number of really good breakfast places. We usually hit Egg Works, or their other identity Egg & I. They have multiple locations around the area. Prices are likely higher than your usual breakfast spot at home (depending on where you live), but for Vegas, they are pretty good. They are open for breakfast and lunch. If you want to try something different and you like BBQ, try John Mulls Meats and Road Kill Grill. You will be driving through residential neighborhoods looking for the entrance, thinking how could this place be in residential development (John Mulls was there first). You order inside and eat at picnic tables outside (really good BBQ!). Last time we were there, we had to wait in line, because there was a large group of fighter pilots from all over the country who were at Nellis AFB for an event.

If you are so inclined, the Clark County Shooting Complex is amazing. They have 20 combined trap & skeet fields, sporting clays, 5-stand, rifle and pistol ranges. I have not shot there in few years, but at that time you could rent shotguns and buy ammo. To do that, you had to watch a five minute safety videos (if you were an ATA member, you could skip the video).

As noted above, Las Vegas is way more than the strip. Be like a local!

I'm an outdoor person and have explored a bit around that area. Definitely put Valley of Fire on your list, it's beautiful. Zion is a little far for a day trip, we did it from Vegas once. With the crowds you'll have difficulty parking and a shuttle is required to see the scenic drive.

Another interesting place is the "ghost town" of Nelson, about 45 minutes from LV. You could include the Hoover Dam for a full day. You then could come back to LV on Northshore Dr, taking Lake Mead Blvd back to I-15.

Check out the Neon Museum, it is fantastic. If you like craft beer, there are several breweries in the Arts District.

If you like Thai food, Lotus of Siam was easily our favorite LV restaurant experience, and one of the best Thai restaurants period. It been years, but I hear they are still top notch.

I have been going to Vegas since 1995, so the number of things "that aren't there anymore" grows exponentially each time I go back. I really use Vegas as a jumping off point a lot to explore the area, and so it depends on how much vacation time that you have to spend to kind of put together an itinerary or else you end up hopping from one place to another and spend more time getting to places than actually enjoying them. Since I know I am going back again, if I miss something that I wanted to see, I just mark it down for the next trip. I was just there in June, and probably will go back in September for a conference or October otherwise.

It's really a big place, and like so many have said, you don't need to justify the trip with gambling. Overwhelming number of choices in everything from food to attractions and things not related to the strip area. While I have gone with friends and family, of a girlfriend, I usually go alone these days.

I prefer the mid-late October window but since the Raiders moved there, a lot of fall trips over weekends get much higher hotel rates if they are in town. Knights hockey games are super fun too, and I have used the Gametime app to grab last minute seats cheaply. If you're really thinking of going to see Las Vegas, then I would do as some have recommended and stay mid-strip so you can plan your days going in different directions each day to cover things if you do not want to worry about renting a car and travelling off-strip. There is enough available transportation to get around when your feet have had enough, and you can get a cab, Uber of Lyft everywhere. If you rent a car, be aware, some of the worst drivers and traffic I have seen outside of LA and NY.

So the "typical" Vegas first time vacation I would second many of the recommended options. Stay mid-strip in a Harrah's or MGM branded property, plan a day or half-day out to see the Hoover Dam, take the tour and head back to town for a nice meal. I recommend Battista's for Italian, right across from the old Bally's (now rebranded as The Horseshoe). Any of the Cirque shows fit the bill, Bellagio fountains and Paris Eiffel Tower mid strip gives a great view.

If you want to explore, I'd break my day into heading downtown for a trip to Fremont St., but I personally think it's quite =dirty, stinks like dope, and is overrated. Or I would head out toward Summerlin, check out Red Rock resort and the canyons car loop as well. I have shot at the Clark County Shooting Center, and it is very nice, but a lot farther out than you think.

If you like outdoor activity, you can do anything your wallet can imagine. I have kayaked from the foot of the Hoover Dam downstream 12 miles on a day trip, shot my first full-auto weapons there, driven exotic cars out near the speedway (Ferrari and a Porsche GT3RS), toured the Shelby Museum and manufacturing facilities in both the original and current locations, and drove a NASCAR stock car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In between, I gambled a little bit.

It's a place to have fun, so make it the trip that you do the things you think you would enjoy in case you don't make it back.

My favorite hotels are the Venetian and the Cosmopolitan. Last June had a Cosmo 47th floor Bellagio view suite that was the most incredible view ever, a true postcard view. But I have stayed in virtually almost every property that I have wanted to over the years.

Great info from you all. I will consider and plan accordingly.

We went years ago and didn't gamble but wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Some of the hotels were engineering feats and quite amazing in person. I was surprised at how close the hotels were to each other, compared to seeing them in pictures.

Trips there are not cheap any more but some of the older places had a some nice buffets on the cheap. We went for our anniversary and had a nice gondola ride but made the mistake of doing the one in front of the Venetian hotel and not the one inside. We thought it did both. We still had a nice dinner in one of the restaurants inside.

One thing we learned was if you want to see a show, get the tickets in advance. We went in August, thinking that there wouldn't be much of a crowd and would be able to get in to seeing a show or two but everything was booked solid in advance.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we weren't able to go to see the older side of Vegas like Fremont Street. The Treasure Island outside show was down for repair and now it is totally gone. Kind of sad to see it gone.

We did get to see the Grand Canyon and did some hikes. It's hot but it's very beautiful in the surrounding areas. We were able to see some wild horses and burros, roaming free and got some pics feeding a donkey.

Vegas has a good "Chinatown" area not far from strip if you like Asian food of all types and cuisines for good prices (compared to strip food prices for anything at all). Plus Asian gift junk stores are always fun to browse.

^^^ That would be on Spring Mountain Rd.

The entire place is designed to take your money. Everything there is expensive now (it didn't use to be), so plan for that.

I don't gamble, so that side of it has no allure to me.

I have been there a couple times for SHOT, for bachelor parties, and with my wife and some of her co-workers once.

Honestly, for a party atmosphere, I enjoy New Orleans a whole lot more. It is waaaaaay cheaper, better food, and there is neat history around there and the WW2 Museum.

I'll probably go back to Vegas for SHOT again some year before I retire or for a work conference, but I'd have to have a very real purpose for going there and it be on my work's dime. There are just too many nicer places in this beautiful country I'd rather go.

quote:

Originally posted by PghPI:
...
If you like outdoor activity, you can do anything your wallet can imagine. I have kayaked from the foot of the Hoover Dam downstream 12 miles on a day trip...
...

I did that as well, got some great photos of Emerald Cave: