After an already tiring day with some last viewpoints in Zion National Park and hikes in Valley of Fire, we arrived in the city of Las Vegas around 3pm. A bit earlier than originally planned. And thank god for the extra time because driving on the motorway along the city already made our eyes bulge. We would never have enough time to discover this all.
We first stopped at the Las Vegas sign on South Las Vegas Boulevard for thé tourist picture. People were nicely queuing and there was a man accepting tips to take a picture of your entire group. Well organized so everyone can get a perfect picture; just the way I like it.
And then as we drove into the actual city center for the first time, our roadtrip CD chose the perfect moment to randomly play Elvis’s ‘Viva Las Vegas’. It couldn’t get any better.
After quickly checking in at our amazing Stratosphere Hotel, we took our car and parked under The Palazzo hotel. Right at the beginning of the most exciting part of the Las Vegas Strip. There you can find all the amazing hotels, each with their own theme. Marvelous.
My favorites were definitely the Venetian, Excalibur, Paris Las Vegas and Luxor. It’s also worth it to go check out the lobby of these hotels. It’s not just the outside that’s really beautiful. The lobbies are usually pretty damn brilliant as well.
For those seeking just that little extra; after dusk every fifteen minutes there is a fountain show in front of the Bellagio Hotel. It’s a must see whenever you’re in the City of Sin. Once again Elvis’s ‘Viva Las Vegas’ made it pretty memorable for us.
Also every hour after nightfall , there is the volcano show at Le Mirage which I heard is pretty spectacular. Sadly we weren’t able to make it to one of those shows as we sucked at time management. We wanted to be everywhere at once and managed to miss out on most of it because of that. We also missed the Swarovski Stardust at Bally’s Las Vegas. At 9pm and midnight a crystal-bedazzled starburst drops 55 feet creating a beautiful light spectacle.
Other than that there are also plenty of shows at the many hotels as well, so check out what’s going on at the time you’re visiting the city. Since we were only there for one evening/night we were already pretty busy just checking out the strip so we decided to skip all that.
Another thing typical of Las Vegas are their buffets. We spent a great deal of time trying to find the best buffet for the best price. You can already find ones for ten euros, but those are located outside of the main part of the strip. Be aware that they can be more expensive when you want to eat at the famous hotels. We ended up enjoying a generous and delicious buffet at Monte Carlo for $24,99. I don’t think I have ever been that full.
Even though it was already well past 10pm when we had seen the main parts of the Las Vegas Strip, we still decided to drive back north to the Freemont Street Experience. And I’m glad we did. The 450 meter long LED-screen roof is just too impressive to miss out on.
Dead tired we then returned to our hotel room, but not before climbing to the top of our hotel for a view over the city. You can read all about that in my blog post about Stratosphere Casino, Hotel and Tower. And then it was finally time to catch some sleep even though at first I was unable to rest because I felt like there was so much more to see.
If I ever go back to the City of Sin, I’m definitely staying a few nights longer. Las Vegas is more a theme park for adults than an actual city but there is so much to do and experience. It’s amazing. Bombastic. Overwhelming. Unforgetable.
Ellen's Travel Stories 