upperwestside

I just returned from my first trip to Vegas, staying at the Mandalay Bay. I almost considered not staying here, for all the hemming and hawing I read in this forum about how terribly far this hotel was from everything else and how miserable it was to have to walk to everywhere else. But you know what? The Strip is not that long. I am not in super-fabulous shape and I had no problem walking from Mandalay all the way up and down the Strip (OK - to be fair, never went to the Stratosphere - never wanted to) every day. I just don't get what all the complaints are about - have we become that dependent on our cars? To those of you considering staying at Mandalay Bay (which is a great choice, by the way), please don't pay any attention to the complaints about the distance to other casinos - unless you are disabled, walking anywhere on the Strip is no problem.

Jean_Valjean

I completely agree, unless you go during the summer... At 110F, 15 minutes in the sun are 14 too many.

Ryan

UpperWestSide, your name gives away your perspective on Vegas. My sense from reading these boards, and having been to a fair part of our country, is that people simply don't walk as much as those of us who may live in a large city, particularly those of us who live in NYC.

I've walked many time from Bellagio to Venetian and never thought it was all that far. Frankly, if the tourists would just get out of my way and let me walk my regular NY pace, I'm sure I could do the walk in about 15 minutes.

lenleigh

I have to disagree. Your feet might not have hurt but plenty of people (not disabled) have had there feet hurt. You simply can't tell people that there feet won't hurt because yours didn't. How do you know how often people walk back and forth between hotels or for how long they walk. For all we know, you walked once down the strip and back. That's not difficult.

HowardR

The two previous posters a correct...up to a point. If you're planning of stepping inside the hotels, you'll never make it all the way in one trip!

Scarlett

I agree with Ryan, we always walk on the Strip. From the Bellagio, to Ceasars, through Ceasars to the Mirage, across the street to the Venetian. Lunch, back down that side to Ballys, over the walkway-your feet will hurt if you are not used to walking. But you will have such great exercise with so much entertainment along the way-who knew exercise could be so fun?

FainaAgain

It all depends on the weather, how far can you go if it's hot outside, and the air conditioning is only inside

And on what you want to see: let's say you walked from Mandalay to Venetian, took a gondola ride, checked out the Guggenheim and Tussaud, and the inerior is beautiful, and you want to see everything... after that how far can you go? Only to the nearest bus stop!

gotribe

I only wear tennis shoes, but I still always get sore callouses on the bottom of my feet from walking on the pavement. That makes it miserable to walk even short distances. It has nothing to do with being lazy.

placeu2

Hey upper..you finished in Boston quick enough today to post on the forum...good to see! ;-)

To each their own, weather, meandering, etc all make a difference. If you wander into a few properties and the door is 3 blocks from the strip, that adds up. What I find challenging is the sidewalks teeming with gawkers, OK sometimes I gawk too. Want to do power walking on the strip??...get started around 6AM.

travleis

To upperwestside: here's a comparison for you. Walking the length of the Strip is exactly the same distance as walking from the south end of Central Park (59th) to Battery Park near the very southern tip of Manhattan.

If you walk 5 miles an hour (including stops for traffic lights etc) the trip takes nearly an hour. For a person who doesn't walk a lot that's a hike! In summer it's not pleasant (I once walked from Luxor to the LV Convention Center in summer just to see what it would be like. It made my feet sore and I'm a very avid runner).

Maggi

I make a habit of doing a brisk walk one hour every morning, but absolutely hate walking in Vegas. Shuffling along with the smelly traffic, and the crowds in the heat with hawkers thrusting porn in my face is not my cup of tea. Hiking Red Rock on a seasonably mild day is more like it. I like the convenience of getting dressed up, picking up my air conditioned car from the hotel valet and driving door to door to whatever hotel I'm going. All it costs me is a few cents for gas, a couple bucks for a tip and I've saved a lot of my valuable vacation time to gamble, see a show, have dinner, or whatever.

gotribe

Walking five miles an hour is brisk even with no obstacles. Don't see how that could be done on the strip with traffic lights, crowds, etc.

HowardR

gotribe is quite right. A 5-mile-an-hour rate is very, very fast, and very few of us would be able to maintain it for very long!

LilyLace

Here we go again, let's all try to remember that we are all different. I don't live in a big city but I do walk alot. I am 39 years old and fairly healthy. Walking the strip, visiting each casino etc, can be quite a task if the sun is out or if I've been out too late the night before and especially when I've been on my feet all day at a trade show! Sometimes the walk is quite pleasant. So even one person can have many experiences.

ellen_griswold

It comes down to the ole cost / benfit ratio....

I'm a serious runner and while i could easily walk the length of the strip many times, there's no reason why i would want to. That would COST a huge chunk of the time that could be spent doing something else....like shopping or eating or playing!

IMO vegas is designed to give our wallets a work out, not our feet!

ellen_griswold

ummm....that would be cost / BENEFIT ratio....

stinkin typos.......

tcreath

I'm going to have to agree with the first poster. I stayed at the Luxor, which is next to Mandalay Bay. I have no problem walking during normal conditions, but walking up and down the strip in August is not my idea of fun! I'm sure at times it is actually quite pleasant to stroll along the strip, but I think it depends on when you go.

Rocky

As a first timer to Vegas (5/9-5/12), I have no idea about transportaion. We are staying at the Venetian ($129/nightand assumed we would be walking everywhere. We're coming from Chicago and don't own a car so we are walkers, but what if we want to go to Mandalay? Do we take a cab or is there public transporation (bus/shuttles)?

suzanne

I don't see what the problem is with walking on the Strip either. We walk from Riviera to Luxor, no problem. Of course, not in the heat of midday...either in the AM for breakfast or when it's dark out. It's a fun way to get a bit of badly-needed exercise. After all, the rest of the day you're getting ZERO exercise sitting by the pool, sitting in a show, or sitting at a blackjack table.

gotribe

Rocky, you could take a cab back and forth down the strip, but it will get expensive. You can get a 24-hour bus pass for $5.00.