Las vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada. A place most people only go for the weekend, but I had the opportunity to go for five days. My husband, Owen, and I decided this would be where we would celebrate our second anniversary. We plan to take a trip every anniversary instead of buying each other gifts, this way we can do something new together and have new experiences to look back on throughout the years. We always look forward to this trip. Owen has been to Las Vegas once as a child, while I have never been. This was our first time travelling together where we would be in a city for the entire trip-which is a bit out of my element and out of my comfort zone. Originally we discussed staying in Vegas for a couple of nights and then renting a car and driving to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Arches National Park which would be one great road trip and something we plan to do in the future! We did a big road trip last year on our anniversary and decided this year we would relax a bit more and not have every day scheduled out. So, I will not be providing a strict itinerary for this trip, but rather some tips and recommendations to help make your Vegas trip great!

Keep reading and let Destiny guide you...

Stay: August 27-September 2, 2023

Flight:

I did not want to have a layover, especially with how frequent delays and cancellations seem to be currently. I looked for direct flights to Vegas, which led to Spirit Airlines. We flew out of Louisville, KY where the flight was 4 hours long. Spirit Airlines gets a bad rep from many people, but hey it got us there cheaper than any other major airline and in the shortest time. We didn’t have to worry about missing our next flight or finding our gate. To help save money on the trip, we had only one checked bag (you don’t get a free carry on or checked luggage and checked luggage is cheaper than paying for a carry on…). Since we shared one suitcase, we each brought a backpack for our personal item that was free to bring on the plane. This worked out perfectly. As the flight was approaching, I received an email to bid on seat upgrades. I thought why not? And bid on the lower end of the scale for exit row seats and even the Big Seats in the front. For our flight there and back our bid was accepted for the exit rows!

Hotel:

The night before we left for Vegas, we stayed at Courtyard Louisville Airport. Staying at a hotel with a free shuttle is the way to go when you have a super early flight the next morning. Parking for the week at the hotel is cheaper than paying for parking at the airport. We had zero issues with the free hotel shuttle to and from the airport. Don’t forget to bring some cash and tip your driver! AND make sure you have the number to call the hotel front desk when you return for shuttle pick up.

While in Las Vegas, we stayed at MGM Grand. Choosing a hotel was a difficult decision and I worried I was going to wish we picked a different hotel. Fortunately, we did not regret our decision to stay here. I do think it does depend on what you want to do or how you like to vacation if MGM Grand is the right choice for you. With this hotel, you are pretty much at the end of the strip so getting to The Bellagio or the Venetian is not a short stroll. We are very comfortable with walking and we did walk down the strip quite a few times. Yes, at the end of August it was hot and even after the sun went down you could feel the heat radiating off of the concrete.

Tip: if your flight is arriving before your check in time at the hotel, use the app and check in early. We arrived in Vegas at 7am and were able to check right into our room which was amazing. Otherwise, they do have a free service where they can hold your luggage for the day. We used this on our check out day, since our fight wasn’t until 11pm. We did purchase a late check out as well so we would have access to our room through the afternoon.

MGM Grand Perks: extremely convenient to get to the monorail, multiple pools and a lazy river (bring your own tube to save some money, but we didn’t use one at all), restaurants, nightclub, and a big casino, and “Ka” Cirque du Soleil show. With the use of MGM Rewards, which applies to any MGM owned resort, you can use your rewards card at the casinos to earn points, you can charge food and drinks to your hotel room, and get a small discount at some restaurants.

MGM Grand not-so-great things: further away from the center strip and it is very large hotel where your walk to your room might be quite long

Getting Around:

Plenty of cabs, ubers, and lyfts. Ubers and Lyfts you need to find the pick-up location for the hotel you are at. The Deuce is a popular choice for many and it is the bus that runs along the strip and to Freemont. Our favorite way of getting around was the Monorail . Visit their website for updated times and prices. Purchase your tickets online for a discounted price and scan your phone to hop on whenever! I do not recommend renting a car unless you plan to get out of town-most places have paid parking and traffic would be a pain.

Note: With the monorail, it only runs down one side of the strip and along the back sides of the hotels, so you will still need to walk some to get to your destination unless it is at that stop. Go to their website to see a map of every stop along the way. It was running every nine minutes and everything went smoothly for us. Bonus is you don’t have to worry about traffic!

Fun Things to Do:

Vegas offers a variety of things to do and see for such a wide range of ages. You don’t have to party and there were so many activities to do with kids as well. Whatever interests you, I recommend doing a bit of research before you arrive so you have an idea of what you’d like to do and where you would like to be. We took our mornings slow and spent them at the lazy river at our hotel and ordered snacks and drinks right from our lounge chairs. In the afternoon, we would head out and grab lunch and walk around. Since we did not plan out dinners for the week, we kind of got stuck and had to scramble a bit. Some restaurants have a dress code so you will need to look that up on their website and if you don’t have reservation, then you will need to arrive early especially if you are there on the weekend. There is an abundance of places to eat from delicacies from all around the world and it can be overwhelming deciding where to eat. Before our trip, I joined a Vegas Travel page on Facebook and it was helpful with finding recommendations for food.

Some of our favorite places to eat:

-Rock N’ Potato for lunch. You can get a whole lobster tail on your baked potato!

-Prime at Bellagio. This was where we celebrated our anniversary. Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and a view of the fountains while we dined!

-Lemongrass at Aria. Upscale Thai with large portions of food.

Be sure of walk around and check out all of the hotels, seeing the themes and walking through them was very interesting! We loved the fountain show at the Bellagio and watched it multiple times during the week and evenings. If you are someone who loves to people watch, then you will not get bored here! We did a World of Coke tour, did the Flyover experience, Stranger
Things Gift Shop, and walked in many stores such as Hershey and M&M. If your forgot to pack something on your trip, then CVS and Walgreens are right on the strip-this is also a good option for some more budget friendly drinks and snacks.

Clubs: If you plan to go to a day club or night club, then download the DiscoTech app. You can easily add your name and guest to the list for easier access to any events!

Show: We saw “O” by Cirque du Soleil. This was stunning and it is wild everything they were able to do. This show features a huge pool that can fill up or become a stage, we really enjoyed it! We sat front row of the balcony and they were great seats and we were able to see everything without people directly in front of us.

Freemont Street:

This area of Vegas has an entirely different atmosphere. The evenings offered free live entertainment, multiple stages with DJs and bands, a light show on the ceiling, and some of the most interesting people. The energy is high here and people are having a good time! Once you are here, everything is easily walkable since it is all on one street with foot traffic only. There is a zipline that goes from one end to the other, bars, dining options, hotels for gambling, and shops all right in one area. Plan to arrive earlier in the evening and you will need to get a cab or uber to get here. We sat at the bar at Whiskey Licker and ordered appetizers and drinks while watching the street below as more people began to arrive. The Golden Nugget had lower minimums on their table games, so Owen played some roulette. There was an 80’s band, a country band and a DJ at different stages, so we walked around and hung out at those and enjoyed the live music.

Getting there: since we had a pass for the monorail, we took it all the way to the other end where it stops at Sahara hotel and from there, we took a cab to Freemont. This cut down on cost and traffic.

Adventure:

Always gotta do something new and have some extra fun, so we did a four-wheeler tour with Adrenaline ATV. They picked us up from our hotel and took us to the tour location about an hour away. You have the option to rent a four-wheeler or a side-by-side when booking online. This tour takes you into the Valley of Fire State Park on some trails. You will get dirty since the trails are dirt, rock, and sand. The dust will be flying everywhere! They provide water and lunch from Subway. They will stick with the skill level of your group so our group went flying through the trails! Wear pants and sunscreen, we also wore long sleeves. Bringing a bandana or neck buff would also be ideal to block the dust from your airways. It was 111 degrees when we went, so hydrate like no other! Only times we had shade was during the water break and lunch. There was no place to put your belongings, so pack a small waist pack. They also provided helmets and eye wear.

Other options would be a Grand Canyon tour, Hoover Dam tour, kayaking, day trips, or even a helicopter tour. There is something for everyone!

Questions?

Send me a DM on Instagram @letdestinyguideyou and I would be happy to help or guide you in the right direction for your next trip to Vegas!