A traveller’s guide to 72hrs in sin city.
Vegas is undoubtedly one of the coolest places I’ve visited. I really believe it is a must see if you like to travel. I went to the USA with the travel company Trek America and drove around the west coast, right in the middle of our trip we hit up Vegas. Beforehand I thought it would be tacky and hard to enjoy if you are under the legal drinking & gambling age. I was 19 at the time and wow was I wrong.
Yes, it is bright, the city buzzes in every direction and I do believe it is the city of sin however tacky is not the word id use to describe Vegas. Instead I’d go for extravagant, mesmerising and hypnotising.
We arrived in Vegas, Elvis was playing loud and my eyes were glued out of the van window. We stayed at the golden nugget hotel that has the largest nugget of gold on show and backs onto the infamous Fremont street. It had a swimming pool with a shark tank in the middle and a watershed that whizzed straight through and I thought that was extravagant. I was in for a shock.
The first thing we did after checking in was go straight back out. We went to eat at downtown container park behind Fremont street. There were an abundance of places to eat all set out in retro shipping containers and we ate at Stoned & Baked Pizzeria. After wandering up and down Fremont street taking in all the impersonators, street performers and neon lights we were picked up by our part bus for the night.
Our party bus had a stripper pole, free booze and whistle stop tour of the Vegas must sees. First stop, the Vegas sign. I don’t even remember taking in the Vegas sign because I has been enjoying the free drinks, but I have these lovely photos to remember the moment by. Next we went to the little love chapel where me and my friend had a short but sweet wedding ceremony. Our last stop was the Bellagio fountains, another must see. They were amazing to watch and just seeing the surrounding hotels towering above you was enough to make you feel like a drunk little ant. I loved it.
After finishing our night back In the hotel, I spent a good hour looking out of my hotel window at all the lights and feeling really sentimental about the fact that little me had made it half way across the world with a group of strangers and was now staring out at the Grand Canyon and Vegas strip.
On our full day in Vegas we crammed as much in as possible. First thing we did was wander around the hotels. We went to the Venetian, the mirage, Caesars Palace, the New York, New York, treasure island and the Bellagio. Each hotel was grand, captivating and engaging. There is so much to do inside them, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Out of the ones I visited my favourite was the Bellagio. It had flower installations everywhere, it was so colourful and immersive inside, it was like a dream.
We had a trip on the gondola through the venetian, we saw the aquarium and roman water fountains in Caesars Palace, we wandered around high end shops throughout the mirage and even rode the built-in roller coaster inside the New York New York. After all this, we stopped to eat, refuelled and then headed to the stratosphere.
Now I wouldn’t say I’m scared of heights and I love rides but when I eagerly arrived at the stratosphere, my mind had changed. You have to pay for your rides at the bottom and then take the lift all the way to the top. I said to myself, and my shaking knees, that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I will be doing it. I paid to go on the big shot which shoots you to a height of 1,081 feet above the ground - no biggie? I must admit, the view from the top is to die for, it was daytime when we visited and it was beautiful, I hope to see it at night one day. After some final persuasion me and my group did the big shot, it was terrifying but epic, if you can manage it then go for it.
Now my 72hrs in Vegas flew by and left me wanting more. Vegas was so much better than I expected and I only experienced half of what it has to offer. I didn’t attend a single club and I never got to show off my poker face however I rode some crazy rides, saw some mind-blowing views and got lost in some of the most magnificent hotels I’ve ever seen.
Vegas 2021… it’s happening.
JB x