Viva Las Vegas

Everyone has an opinion about Las Vegas, whether they have been or not. It's an easy place to have an opinion about so we thought we would add our opinion 'Vegas is a place for everyone'. That's right it's a place for couples, for singles, for families, for large groups, small groups, celebrations, parties, nights outs, days out, lone travellers or those just passing through.

It's not just us that think so either. In the week we spent in Vegas we saw at least one person from every category. On our row of sun loungers one day we had a Dad who was 'introducing' his 21 year daughter to Vegas for the first time and a family with two young children who were loving the pool. Completing the row were members of my family ranging from 28 - 68. And everyone was loving it.

This time we spent a full week in Vegas. We were apprehensive that it may be too long but by Thursday night we once again had the feeling that there was still so much left to do. I guess when the city never sleeps it means there is plenty of time to offer a huge variety of entertainment.

This time we did try a few new things, as well as revisiting our favourite highlights. So in order of our days this is what we got up to:

Day 1: Neon Museum / Pool time / Welcome dinner at Cheesecake Factory

Day 2: Early morning 7am start to watch Reading vs Huddersfield in the Championship Play Off / Pool day / Walking the hotels / Visit to Fremont Street

Day 3: Walk to New York New York / Ride the NY NY roller-coaster / Dine at a NY cafe / some of our party went to Celine Dion, some to Blue Man Group we went to the 7 Magic Mountains / Ended the night zip-lining in Fremont Street

Day 4: Grand Canyon

Day 5: Pool day / Red Night - Limo up and down the strip / Photo shoot / Dinner at Sugar Factory / Catch up with Laura's old school friend who just happened to be in town styling J-Lo for a photo shoot!

I will do further posts on the Neon Museum, Fremont Street and the Grand Canyon because they were all amazing and are highly recommended.

The Neon Museum or sign boneyard is unlike anything I have seen or am likely to see again. So many signs, so many things to see and a great way to learn some of the history of Las Vegas.

Fremont Street is old Vegas, it's the Vegas I first thought of way back when, it's like Vegas in a time trap. The old, big hotels sit either side of a street, rather than a large strip, with their neon lights filling the now pedestrian area. In side streets bandstands are set up where bands spend the evenings blasting out tunes and over head is the worlds largest and longest video screen. Just below the video screen roof you will occasionally see people flying out of a giant slot machine, known as SlotZillla. You can zipline sitting up or as we did fly superman style - 10 stories high, 1,750 feet long with speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.

Grand Canyon. It certainly is grand and deserving of it's 7 wonders of the world status! It is as breathtaking as you think it will be and more beautiful then you can imagine. The colours, sights and quietness are unexpected and mesmerising. It is a must see even if it is a 4-5 hour drive from Vegas to see one small 22 mile part of the 277 miles of canyon!


Vegas: The Summary!
We stayed at The Mirage as it is fairly central, opposite The Venetian, between Caesars Palace and Treasure Island and less than 15 minutes walk to the Bellagio. Also shout out to the mirage concierge who were AMAZING in helping us plan things from abroad. They made dinner reservations, called car hire companies for us, booked a lime and made suggestions whenever we asked. Seriously great service!

We mainly drunk iced cocktails as the weather was mid 30's (degrees C) on the daily, we even discovered Dole Whip iced and with rum, it was SO good. Unfortunately places kept selling out but we seemed to time it just right when getting our supply. I thought Dole Whip was a Disney special until now.

We made sure to not over plan or pack too much in. The heat can be tiring and nothing on Vegas Strip is 'close', even popping to get our Vegas treat of Panda Express orange chicken with chips from Maccy's over the road would take 20 minutes. The Mirage drive is a 5 minute walk alone and the traffic lights needed to cross the street take AGES to change.

Oh and it was a holiday so downtime and relaxing was key!

One thing we did find out was that if you really want to see a show BOOK AHEAD. It will help you plan your time but it was also hard to find last minute tickets that weren't super expensive. On the flip side if you are open to waiting then check out the Vegas guides or ticket stands as soon as you arrive as some shows are only on at certain times.

It was another awesome trip filled with amazing memories. We LOVE VEGAS!!!

I also read an announcement that Vegas has just been voted Number 1 Hen Party destination - turns out we are trendsetters.....or more likely followers :) That's according to Red7 (hen and stag do party specialists), the rest of the list is:
The top five hen destinations for brides:
1 Las Vegas, 16 per cent
2 Barcelona, 12 per cent
3 New York, 10.5 per cent
4 Amsterdam, 9 per cent
5 Benidorm, 8 per cent