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By Car

Though you can get around Las Vegas fine without a car, the best way to experience the city can be to drive it. A car gives you easy access to all the casinos and attractions; lets you make excursions to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and elsewhere at your leisure; and gives you the chance to cruise the Strip and bask in its neon glow. If you plan to spend most of your time on the Strip, a car may not be worth the trouble, but otherwise, especially given the relatively high costs of taxis, renting or bringing a car is a good idea.

Parking on and around the Strip, although free, can require a bit of work. You'll have to brave some rather immense parking structures. Valet parking is available but can take a while at busy times and requires that you tip the valets ($1 to $2). Still, it's usually less expensive to rent a car and drive around Vegas, or to use the monorail, than to cab it everywhere.

Las Vegas is an easy city to navigate. The principal north-south artery is Las Vegas Boulevard (I-15 runs roughly parallel to it, less than a mile to the west). A 4-mi stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South is known as the Strip, where a majority of the city's hotels and casinos are clustered. Many major streets running east-west (Tropicana Avenue, Flamingo Road, Desert Inn Road, Sahara Avenue) are named for the casinos built at their intersections with the Strip. Highway 215 and I-15 circumnavigate the city, and the I-515 freeway connects Henderson to Las Vegas. Because the capacity of the streets of Las Vegas has not kept pace with the city's incredible growth, traffic can be slow at virtually any time, especially on the Strip, and particularly in the late afternoon, in the evening, and on weekends. At those times drive the streets parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard: Paradise Road, to the east, and Industrial Road/Dean Martin Drive, to the west. The Industrial Road shortcut (from Tropicana Avenue almost all the way to downtown) can save you an enormous amount of time. You can enter the parking lots at Caesars Palace, the Mirage, Treasure Island, Fashion Show Mall, the Stardust, the New Frontier, and Circus Circus from Industrial Road. Exit Frank Sinatra Drive off I-15 North, and you can access the hotels from Mandalay Bay to Bellagio.

Visitors from Southern California should at all costs try to avoid traveling to Las Vegas on a Friday afternoon and returning home on a Sunday afternoon. During these traditional weekend-visit hours, driving times can be more than twice as long as during other, nonpeak periods.

Gasoline

It's easy to find gas stations, most of which are open 24 hours, all over town. There aren't any gas stations along the main stretch of the Strip, but you will find them within a mile of the Strip in either direction, along the main east-west cross streets. Gas is relatively expensive in Las Vegas, generally 30¢ to 40¢ per gallon above the national average. There's no one part of town with especially cheap or pricey gas, although the stations nearest the airport tend to charge a few cents more per gallon -- it's prudent to fill up your car rental before returning it a few miles away from the airport.

Parking

You can't park anywhere on the Strip itself, and Fremont Street in the casino district downtown is a pedestrian mall closed to traffic. Street parking regulations are strictly enforced in Las Vegas, and meters are continuously monitored, so whenever possible it's a good idea to leave your car in a parking lot or garage. Free self-parking is available in the massive garages and lots adjacent to virtually every hotel, although you may have to hunt for a space, and you can wind up in the far reaches of immense facilities. You can avoid this challenge by paying for valet parking (charges vary greatly from property to property). Parking in the high-rise structures downtown is generally free or inexpensive, as long as you validate your parking ticket with the casino cashier.

Road Conditions

It might seem as if every road in Las Vegas is in a continuous state of expansion or repair. Orange highway cones, road-building equipment, and detours are ubiquitous. But once the roads are widened and repaved, they're efficient and comfortable. The city's traffic-light system is state of the art, and you can often drive for miles on major thoroughfares, hitting green lights all the way. Signage is excellent, both on surface arteries and on freeways. The local driving style is fast and can be less than courteous. Watch out for unsignaled lane changes and turns.

For information on weather conditions, highway construction, and road closures, visit the Web site of the Nevada Department of Transportation (www.nevadadot.com/traveler) or call the department by dialing 511 in Nevada or 800/427-7623 from outside the state.

Roadside Emergencies

You can call 911 from most locations in Nevada to reach police, fire, or ambulance assistance. Otherwise, dial the operator. If you have a cellular or digital phone, dial *647 to reach the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Rules of the Road

Always strap children under age five or under 40 pounds into approved child-safety seats. In Nevada children must wear seat belts regardless of where they're seated.

The speed limit on residential streets is 25 mph. On major thoroughfares it's 45 mph, though drivers often get impatient with people who obey the speed limit and pass on either side -- in part because radar detectors are legal and widely used. On the interstate and other divided highways within the city, the speed limit is a fast 65 mph; outside the city the speed limit is 70 or 75 mph. Police officers are highly vigilant about speeding laws within Las Vegas, especially in school zones, but enforcement in rural areas is fairly rare. Similarly, the Las Vegas police are extremely aggressive about catching drunk drivers -- you are considered legally impaired if your blood-alcohol level is.08% or higher (this is also the law in neighboring states). California's speed limit is 70 mph. Right turns are permitted on red lights after coming to a full stop. Nevada requires seat-belt use in the front and back seats of vehicles. Chains are required on Mt. Charleston and in other mountainous regions when snow is fresh and heavy; signs indicate conditions. Nevada has no restrictions on handheld cellular phones.