Before the first trip to Las Vegas, it seemed like a murder of time, money and mood. Nighttime fun wasn’t about me, and the city looked like an expensive and endless party from the movies. But they were passing by anyway, so it was impossible to ignore it.
In fact, Vegas is a place where escort ladies wear between untidy ludomans, and you want to open a beer, shove twenty bucks in the machine and forget about everything. I haven’t relaxed so much even in Bali: there were fears that now my bike will hit a rock and fly right under the sightseeing bus. And it wasn’t until Vegas that Zen finally happened.
Come on weekdays
Americans don’t travel much, but Las Vegas does. They come here for the weekend by families and big companies, so from Friday to Sunday prices for hotels are higher – cheaper than $200 per night you just can’t find anything. On weekdays, pilgrimages are reduced and hotels throw away super deals – you can easily snatch a near luxury Mandalay Bay for $100 and a simple Excalibur for $50.
Just not in summer
It’s spring or fall to Las Vegas. It’s sunny and warm, with temperatures approaching 30 degrees. The city is fresher in winter, around 15 degrees, but that’s nice too. And there’s nothing worse than Vegas in summer – especially in July. It’ll be 40 degrees in the shade, and the windless desert adds to the hottest sensation. You’ll only have to move through the labyrinths of air-conditioned casinos – otherwise you won’t survive.
How many days does it take
A lot, definitely not. Of course, everything can’t be avoided in a week, but a couple of days at the casino, walks and all sorts of shows like dancing fountains and pirate war on the ship will be enough. If it’s more, first of all, you’ll get bored, secondly, you’ll really go broke. To stay in Las Vegas longer than two days, you need a slightly different program.
Optionally, go to the outlet. Or you could guess the trip so you can get to the Vegas Golden Knights local hockey team’s game.
Yes, there are replicas of all the sights in the world – Eiffel Tower, Venice Canals, King Arthur’s Castle, Egyptian Sphinx, Colosseum and so on.
How to get from the airport
By the way, you won’t be able to fly in for the weekend without any complications and transfers: Aeroflot has direct flights only to New York, Los Angeles and Miami. And it’s unlikely you’ll go to America for one Vegas – it’ll be part of the combination. The easiest way to get out of L.A. is five, six hours by car or an hour by plane. Las Vegas airport is the best place to take Uber. $20 – and you’re on a main street called the Strip. You can, of course, save money and look for shuttles and shuttles, but why bother when you come to relax?
You live on the Strip and you walk
The Las Vegas Strip is the street that the city is made up of. There’s also a downtown, but it’s a little later. The strip is seven kilometers of hotels, casinos, restaurants and shops connected to each other. At first it’s even hard to believe the scale, but in a few hours you get used to the 24-hour traffic, and it all seems like a kind of turned on TV for the background noise.
Basically, it does not matter what point of the Strip to live in, but if you do not want to stomp to the center of the street a few kilometers, then your options Caesar and Venetian – really, it is expensive there. If walking marathons do not scare you, it is better to consider something on the bend.
Have breakfast in the cafeterias
Las Vegas is lured by relatively low hotel prices, but everything else has to be paid for. It takes a lot of effort to get dinner cheaper than $80. Plus, don’t forget the tip: Las Vegas tourists don’t even burn in July like people who don’t leave 20% of their tea bill to an American waiter. That’s the way it is, and you’re not gonna do anything about it.
Fortunately, the food issue is easy to solve – your salvation is the word Buffet. Translated into Russian, it’s the legendary all-inclusive. Breakfast will cost $25-30 per person, Buffet is available in every hotel, and you can pay at the vending machine – an ideal chance to do without a tip, which is sure to ask at the cash desk.
For a small amount of money you get a buffet and the opportunity to eat as not in yourself. This is the wisest money investment in Las Vegas that exists. You can have lunch and dinner in the cafeterias. Really, it would cost $10 more than breakfast, and you’d have to pay extra for endless alcohol. So in case of lunch or dinner you can go to a restaurant, and if you want to save money – go to supermarkets and fast food.
How do you get out of the casino?
Las Vegas is the only place in the world where I played casino. There’s nowhere else to go, and there’s a special atmosphere and it’s impossible to pass by. It’s very simple – you put the bill in the machine and you play. If it’s a lot of bills, try poker. I allocated no more than $100 for the game each time, so I didn’t even pry into the cards – there was enough one-armed gangster. Something to win in the big machines, where a lot of lines and any combinations. Especially good went to Buffalo – in the first trip flew 200 $, in the second – 100 $.
How it works is not clear: just at some point you tear down a successful combination, the chair starts shaking, and the winnings grow on the screen. You don’t know the exact sum and just get high from increasing numbers – experiencing these emotions, you even understand why there are so many ludomans in the world.
Except the defeat disorder is more devastating than the joy of victory. So do not try to play back and leak all the cache you brought on vacation.
And once again: play only machines with many lines and combinations. In simple with three sevens I could not win a dollar.
Fly over the Grand Canyon
It’s a little out of line with the idea of not spending millions, but one of Las Vegas’ main attractions is a trip to neighboring Arizona’s Grand Canyon. There are four options for excursions: just take the bus and see this beauty ($100), take the bus and fly in the canyon by helicopter ($300), fly to the canyon in a small plane and break in by helicopter ($450) or go all the way by helicopter (about $700).
Yes, flight prices seem daunting, but it’s a lifelong impression. The helicopter flies so steeply into the canyon that you feel like you’re the hero of those very American movies about the Vietnam War, that right now you’ll be dropped off with a sniper rifle and given a mission. The feeling of flying inside the canyon can’t be compared to anything at all! Not to mention the canyon itself – this miracle of nature must be seen. Excursions usually involve a transfer from the hotel and back, and take you to the western part of the canyon – the Indian reservation. It’s atmospheric, too.
Forgotten Las Vegas
Everyone associates Vegas with the Strip, but it started somewhere else, on Fremont Street (this neighborhood is called downtown). It’s twice as cheap and trash-cheap – a wide pedestrian street full of tourists, animators, and freaks, and it’s a big country party.
In the mood it’s no worse than on the Strip, and in some places even brighter and more fun. On Fremont, you can live in peace on the night from Saturday to Sunday for less than $100, and on weekdays – probably almost for free. There are also endless casinos, and beer in the bars is priced like in the shops. Of course, you shouldn’t limit yourself to Fremont, but you can definitely spend one night here.