Visiting Las Vegas For The First Time? A Simple Guide

Visiting the "Sin City" for the first time? Here are a few tips to make your travel and stay at Las Vegas a memorable one.

I recently visited Vegas for the first time myself and I did a lot of research on the internet on what to see, what to do, what not to do, what to eat, what to wear etc so that I can have a comfortable stay while I am there. I would like to share some of those tips with you so that when you are doing your own research you can get useful information from my website.

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For those of you who are visiting Las Vegas for the first time, I want to start with how you can book your air + hotel package. Now this depends on your preference and the kind of deal you are looking for. If you are traveling with your family I would suggest you look for a hotel on the strip as this would be the safest option. There are many many hotels on and off the strip in Las Vegas which cater to different needs, from cheap motels to expensive resorts, so it does depend on how much money you are willing to spend on your stay.

I stayed at the New York New York hotel and casino which is towards the southern end of the strip and I liked it. It is a neat, family hotel with friendly staff. I booked my package directly from the New York New York website and I got a pretty good deal for a 5 day - 6 night stay.

Try to book your package directly from the website of the hotel you choose to stay in and not third party ones, only for reliability reasons. You will also have an option to choose transportation to and from the airport to your hotel while booking your package for a modest price. I suggest you to go ahead with that as you would not need to worry on how to get to your hotel after landing.

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You have your hotel ready.Now how do you get around in Las Vegas? Many options yet again.

Cheapest mode of transportation would be walking but could be pretty tiresome in the heat. So use the bus,monorail or the taxi.

The monorail has designated stops which cater to a bunch of casinos in the area. It runs from MGM Grand (southern part of the strip) to Sahara (northern part of the strip). Take a single day pass/multi day pass if you want to use the monorail for your travel. But I would like to warn you that although the monorail caters to a few casinos in a particular area you would still need to walk quite a bit while moving from one casino to another in that area. For example, to go to Stratosphere you would have to get down at the Sahara station and walk quite a lot!

I did not use the bus service in Vegas during my stay but would recommend finding where the stops lie on the strip. It could possibly reduce some walking.

Taxis again I did not use but surely would come to good use if you do not know where to go. I don't think they are very expensive as well.

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Vegas is HOT! Wear light, comfortable clothes, flip flops while you are outside. Use plenty of sunscreen and drink lots of water.

If you do not want to venture outside during the day stick by the poolside and relax. The Mandalay Bay has a wave pool and a beach. If you are going with kids you could consider staying there. Technically speaking you need to be staying at the hotel to gain access to the wave pool but I will tell you a little secret, for adults above 21 get to the Moorea Beach Club first and you are granted access to the wave pool after that. But with kids no other option but to stay there! If you would like to spend more for your comfort at the pool most hotels have Cabana rental options available. You can check their individual websites for more details.

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Of course the glitz and glamor of Vegas is best experienced at night.There are the free attractions and the ones for which you need to pay. I don't know how many free attractions are there but I think you have to pay for most of them!

Even to go up to the Stratosphere tower you need to pay even if you are not planning to sit on any of the rides up there. There are aquariums, exhibits, thrill rides to experience and you do need to pay for them.

Yes, the world famous Bellagio fountain show is free. I know that it is best viewed from the Eiffel Tower of the Paris hotel and casino but waiting times to get to the top of the tower can go up to one and a half hours! That's the maximum which was told to us on a Friday night and I don't know how much more it goes up to. My suggestion would be to try and see the show on a weekday. If you are going on a weekend get your tickets in the morning itself and try to get to the tower as early as you can but I seriously cannot guarantee you the wait time!

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I will list down a few do's and dont's while you are in Vegas:

1. If you are buying show tickets from any of the discounted ticket booths outside, they do not give you your seat numbers. You need to get to the Box Office of the casino where the theater is to get the seat numbers. Try to go to the Box Office as early as you can (best case as soon as you buy your tickets) so that you can get an option to select your seats.

2. Do not walk too far from the strip. Personally I felt that the southern part of the strip is safer than the northern part (towards Stratosphere). I would avoid walking in the northern part of the strip at night.

3. Be careful while crossing the roads and cross only at the crosswalks. Most of the casinos have over-bridges to ease walking from one casino to the other. Use them. Some casinos have trams running between them (free of cost). You can use them as well instead of walking from the outside.

4. Food is expensive if you plan to eat inside the casinos. But a safe option instead of venturing too far at night. There are other food courts on the strip and probably many cheaper places to eat in downtown Las Vegas as well. I am not aware of the ones in downtown but on the strip there are many options. You can choose for yourself while you are walking down.

5. Keep all valuables inside your luggage (for e.g. passports etc) and keep it locked at all times when you are away. All rooms are provided with an electronic safe and you can use that as well.

6. If you have specific things in mind (to do and to see) I would suggest that you make an itinerary so that you don't miss out on anything while you are there! That's because there are many many things to do and see in Vegas and you must have a priority list as to what you want to see and do. It will be difficult to fit in everything in a small amount of time.

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There are many other attractions in and around Las Vegas. Among them, the Grand Canyon is the most famous.

There are many tours operating from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. I booked mine from allgrandcanyontours.com. It was a very well organized tour. They have a pick up and drop facility from most of the hotels in the city. The guide was knowledgeable and entertaining. We got a good four hours to spend at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon and did not have to rush from one point to another. I would certainly recommend this tour to all who want to visit the Grand Canyon and are reluctant to drive all the way. There are many other attractions nearby to explore and I leave that you and the amount of time you have in hand to visit them while you are at Vegas.

I hope this will give you an idea of what to expect in Vegas on your first visit. Hope you have a safe and exciting stay in Las Vegas!

I have a very interactive map of the Las Vegas strip below with pin markers on the important casinos.

Do take a look!

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