Las Vegas is known for being an adult playground–drinking, gambling, and other adult-focused things we won’t get into. It is Sin City after all.

How long to stay?

I think a strong argument for how long you want to stay depends heavily on how much you want to gamble, if you’re watching any shows or entertainment, and if you’re taking day trips. We’ve been here for both a quick weekend trip and a week-long stay.

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas before, it could make sense to stay here for four or five nights. That would give plenty of time to check out casinos along The Strip, hit up Downtown, and take a day trip.

Perhaps more interesting is a discussion of when to go because I think it’s fair to avoid the crowds when possible. We like coming here in the winter. December isn’t as crowded as you would normally expect (aside from New Year’s) and January is fairly dead. It’s also legitimately chilly during those months. So if you can weather the cold weather, winter is best for us.

You probably don’t want to be here in the heat of summer with temperatures well above 100°F daily. With the A/C pumping nonstop in every building, going from the cold to the extreme summer heat and back to cold just seems to always get one of us sick.

What we did in Las Vegas

Visit the Bellagio

You could visit all the casinos–and, really, they all offer a little bit of a different flavor–but if you had to just choose one, our vote would be for the Bellagio. Stand outside and see the famous fountain show, running as frequently as every 15 minutes. This is what draws the crowds. You could dine at a restaurant that overlooks the show, but expect to pay more for the views. Ideally, you get a hotel room that overlooks the fountain so you don’t have to fight the crowds. If you do want to view it in person and don’t want to hang around others, try watching it earlier in the day.

Once you’re done with that, head on over to the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. It’s just beyond the front desk. There is always something beautiful up on display, with the theme changing every two months. This is similarly another attraction that draws huge crowds. If you want to avoid the crowds, like we did, going here first thing in the morning is a must. Everyone in town ends up fairly hungover, so you get free rein to do what you want.

Alternatively, if you want a nice panoramic view of the entire area and beat the crowds when there is one, there’s a little-known way to see it from the second floor. Just head over to the Spa entrance across the way and ask to go up to the second floor. Take the stairs up, and enjoy the view in peace.

If you continue just a bit farther, you’ll get to the chocolate fountain. It’s considered the world’s largest chocolate fountain, with over 500 feet of piping and 27 feet in height. There’s a mix of white, medium, and dark chocolate moving through the tubes. The kids always like watching it. And the food isn’t that bad either–but it is expensive.

Discovery Children’s Museum Las Vegas

If you are bringing young children, the Discovery Children’s Museum is worth a visit. We loved stopping by with Alex when he was younger. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how many little children are in the area. And before you ask, no, there are no slot machines inside. This is closer to the Downtown area, right next to the north outlets.

There are plenty of activities for kids inside, just like what Alex is modeling down below.

Some of his favorites include the kitchen and grocery area of the museum, but also this bed that had a seesaw on it. Go figure that he would eventually build an invention that took heavy inspiration from this design. Coming to children’s museums can help foster creativity that lasts years after visiting.

The Venetian Gondola Rides

One other mega resort that gets plenty of visitors is The Venetian. I’m not so much of a fan of the Hyatt integration here, which explains why we just haven’t stayed here in a long time. But, one thing that is always impressive to see is the canal. There are both indoor and indoor/outdoor routes and reservations are required. There still can be same-day reservations you can make, but don’t risk it if you want to do it. I’ve done it many years ago with friends, and it makes for a memorable experience. But watching it is free.

The Hoover Dam

Only half an hour outside the center of the city, the Hoover Dam is an interesting place to visit. I have to admit that I haven’t been here in many years, but it was neat seeing the boundary between Nevada and Arizona. Come here during the winter, and just walking across the dam will cause you to time travel (Nevada is in the Pacific Time Zone while Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone).

While you’re here, check out the dam tour (not the damn tour… sorry, I had to). It’s a nice change of pace from all the casinos and cigarette smoke.

The Grand Canyon

This is one of the longer road trips from Las Vegas. It’s around 5-6 hours to get to either the South Rim or North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s technically slightly closer to go to the South Rim, which is considered part of the National Park. The North Rim has the glass-bottom floor, which is on Native American land.

It’s going to be a lot to drive 10 hours roundtrip between Vegas and the Grand Canyon in a single day. You might be tempted to instead spend the night over there. Or, if you’re comfortable spending more money, you can take a helicopter tour. That’s only about four hours roundtrip, so it’s much more manageable time-wise. But you will pay for it (starting at about $600/person).

Death Valley

Of the potential day trips out of Las Vegas, this is the one that we haven’t done… yet. However, we do know others who have done it. You might initially think that Death Valley is just a big desert, but that would be incorrect. It’s a National Park that has amazing colors and diverse terrain. Sure, you could stay someplace closer to Death Valley, but the two-hour drive from Las Vegas isn’t that bad of a trip.

Where we ate in Las Vegas

We’ve been to quite a number of Las Vegas restaurants, both on and off Strip. We might need a separate post to talk about all the options, so for now we’ll just talk about a few of them.

New York Bagel N Bakery

Want a simple breakfast without needing to break the bank? Check out New York Bagel N Bakery, just a few minutes off The Strip. While you could eat something similar at any major Strip casino, prices are far more expensive there.

Once inside, you’ll find a large selection of bagels. True to its name, the bagels here taste closer to a New York bagel than other spots we’ve had in Las Vegas. I always am down for an everything bagel while the kids had more interest in a plain or pizza bagel.

There is a definite small business vibe with the restaurant. The employees were all very friendly and we enjoyed our meal.

Xiao Long Dumplings

In the Chinatown area of Las Vegas, Xiao Long Dumplings is a good place to go for xiao long bao. I find the need to compare everything to Din Tai Fung, since I consider that to be the gold standard, and it’s good but not quite at the flavor level. But it’s also marginally cheaper than DTF, so it works.

We were here with a large group, so they held quite a large section for us. To say it was a bit hectic and confusing with such a large group would be an understatement. Note that large parties are limited to just three credit cards and they claim there is no way around that.

There are other options here besides the xiao long bao. Take these rice cakes, for example. I wasn’t a big fan of the texture of these rice cakes–they tasted a little overcooked–but they certainly give a lot with each order. Overall, we might be tempted to return, but would probably come with a smaller group.

Off The Strip (The Linq Promenade)

If you happen to be at the Linq Promenade, one place we liked is aptly named Off the Strip. When we stopped in on a Sunday evening, it wasn’t crowded at all. Still, we had a reservation just in case and the staff was helpful even when we showed up a bit late. It takes a long time walking through all those Vegas hotels!

The regular menu has plenty of American dishes. But what I’d like to highlight at the children’s meals. In particular, the spaghetti meatball is one of the better options.

Just look at it–it’s quite massive. For $10.99, it’s not a bad deal these days. Quite flavorful and it more than filled up the kids.

The lighting wasn’t good, but one dish I really enjoyed was the beef short rib ravioli. Just like the spaghetti above, this one is also very flavorful with the juicy meat inside.

Primal

Everyone is going to have their own say on their favorite steakhouse in Las Vegas. I wouldn’t go quite so far to say this is my favorite since I haven’t tried them all, but the steak at Primal is pretty good. The crust is simply delicious and the steak is tender. If you’re here with a couple of others, I’d recommend getting a couple of different steaks and sharing them. Anyways, grab a reservation if you can and visit this off Strip steakhouse for a good (though pricey) dinner.

Giada

This was once the hot dinner spot in Las Vegas a number of years ago, but it’s still delicious. Located at The Cromwell, it can be expensive. If you’ve managed to get Caesars Diamond status, you can use your $100 dining credit here and make the price a bit more manageable. That’s what we did back in the day to make this dinner much easier to stomach.

Anyways, the plating here is on point. Who doesn’t like a petite steak on top of a bed of greens?

Or you could go for some fish and a small salad. The food is rather flavorful and the kitchen is most definitely above average. We’ve enjoyed every meal we ate here, but it feels more like a special occasion type of place given the price.

Where we stayed in Las Vegas

I need to just preface this by saying we’ve stayed in just about every hotel along The Strip. Yeah, Las Vegas used to be a very common destination for us before we decided to branch out and try different places. So, let me instead leave this as just talking about the more recent places we’ve stayed in that still exist (sorry, Tropicana, no point in roasting you now).

Mandalay Bay

The Mandalay Bay is at the southern end of The Strip, right across from the airport runway. Thankfully, you’re not going to hear any noise from the planes overhead. While it’s nice to be on The Strip, it’s not easily walkable to the other resorts. Yes, we’ve done it and it is possible, but it’s certainly not convenient to walk to others.

The rooms are dated but fine. The beds are comfortable enough and it works as a place to sleep. It’s not one of our favorite hotel interior designs, but room prices can be cheaper than you would otherwise expect. Room prices benefit from being isolated behind the bottom-tier Luxor and Excalibur hotels.

One of the main attractions for Mandalay Bay is the pool area. Many families would consider this to be the best pool on The Strip. That’s because in addition to regular pools, they also have a wave pool and a not-so-lazy river. That lazy river really whips you around quickly. It’s nice, but we find it hard to hang out here more than a couple of hours.

MGM Grand

The MGM Grand was the first mega resort I recall getting lost in. It’s huge, but that’s quite obvious. There was once a very distinct emerald hue to everything inside but that’s gone. Also gone are the live lions that used to hang out in a relatively small cage on the casino floor. The hotel has since lost some of its uniqueness over the years, but it’s not a bad place to be. It’s also located on the southern end of The Strip, and will be right across the street from the new baseball stadium. It will find new life soon enough.

Flamingo

The Flamingo is a bit rundown inside the hotel. It’s due for a refresh both on the casino floor and in their rooms. But, the location can’t be beat. It’s right smack in the middle of The Strip, across from Caesars and Bellagio. The pricing is actually pretty good and seems to be dominated by the state of the resort rather than its location. If you want a great, affordable option on The Strip with easy walking practically anywhere, this is a good choice.

One nice thing about the Flamingo is the chance to see actual flamingoes. They have a small outdoor area with some flamingoes, turtles, and fish. It’s a nice tropical area that the kids will love and it makes for a nice respite from the smoky interiors. It’s probably not worth a major diversion to come here, but if you’re in the area, stop on by.

Cosmopolitan

This was young Alex’s first trip on a plane. Yeah, back when Jenn was a heavy writer on the blog and Virgin America was still flying in the skies. It’s been a while, and we’d love to return. Why?

The Cosmo was very comfortable, with a very plush bed and plenty of space to stretch out in the room. The style was right up our alley with a modern look and bold colors that didn’t overwhelm.

When we last stayed at the Cosmo, it was an independent hotel right in the middle of a cluster of MGM-owned properties. Since that time, MGM purchased the Cosmo in 2022. We’d love a chance to return to see how it is now with them in charge. We’re hoping not much has changed because it worked so well before.

What is your favorite thing to do in Sin City?

Suggested reading:

• Other destinations we’ve visited
• Memorable Tesla Road Trips in a Model Y
• Quick Hit: Overriding The Hotel Thermostat In Your Room