lynn

Coming in from Mammoth Direction to Barbary Coast Hotel on Strip. Have heard driving can be a nightmare in LV. Any tips for some novice Brits? Anything welcome. Thanks

jlbl

Driving in Vegas? Don't. At least not in the evening. About the only time that's it's really safe to drive is around 7 or 8 in the morning. Besides being jammed with cars the pedestrians cause havoc. There is just too much traffic of both kinds. Park your car and take a cab or the strip trolley.

jlbl

Oh, I should add to my note that you can park your car in any of the hotels and walk the strip. It can be done. We usually will walk up one side one evening and up the other the next. We always walk from Bellagio to Treasure Island, not a problem. It does get warm, but just pop into a hotel to cool off. I wouldn't count on the mono rails since they are working on them and some hotels have shut theirs down. Enjoy! It's a fun town.

cnmiranda

Driving won't be too bad. The majority of roads run parallel and directions are pretty easy to follow. However, as mentioned above, driving in the evening up the strip is terrible & avoid it if you can. Keep your eyes peeled for jay walkers. Try a taxi if possible. Have a great visit

rwilliams

I will totally disagree with jlbl.
Unless you've never driven in traffic inyour life, LV traffic will not be a major issue.
All major cities have rush hours. LV is a major city. Nothing unusual there.

Driving on the strip is a pain most of the day and night, and should be avoided. But that's not difficult to do.

Here's your route:
--you'll be on I-15 south as you approach Las Vegas
--take the Spring Mountain Rd exit from I-15 (you'll be running alongside the center of the strip area), heading east
--take Spring Mountain Road east past Las Vegas Boulevard (the name of "the Strip") over to Koval Lane (about 500 meters past the Strip; Spring Mountain is renamed Sands Avenue between Spring Mountain and Koval)
--Take Koval Lane about 800 meters south and turn west (right) onto Flamingo.
--The entry for the Barbary Coast will be about 600 meters ahead, on Flamingo.

Using this route you'll avoid the strip, avoid the one ways, and turn right into the Barbary Coast without crossing traffic, then you can valet your car for free.

ltt

once you get to your hotel, just park your car and walk everywhere unless you are going out of town. makes life much more enjoyable. there are shuttles all along the strip if you get tired of walking.

loangalsal

We had a car for our trip in April to get to Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon, but avoided driving on the strip whenever possible, especially at night. There were two vehicle/pedestrian accidents when we were there, one was fatal. I repeatedly saw people crossing in front of cars against the light, amazing there weren't more people killed. That is what bothered me, not the vehicle traffic.

pegoode

loangalsal -
Any tips about Hoover and Red Rock Canyon? We're thinking of renting a car for a day to sight see a bit.

loangalsal

We really enjoyed our trip, and Red Rock was a real highlight for us. We don't gamble, so we did lots of other things in Vegas, not the casinos. Hoover was worth the trip, it was interesting but we did not do a tour (maybe we should have). You could do both in one day for sure unless you want to spend time hiking at Red Rock. Hoover took a while to get to, but Red Rock is right in Vegas. Here is a link to our photos, you can see how pretty it was at Red Rock:

http://community.webshots.com/album/70196644XDhctT

Postal

Now that there are elevated pedestrian crossovers at the busiest corners, driving in LV isn't half the pain it used to be. Besides, unless you WANT to crawl the strip, why drive on it? There are other ways to get evrywhere you want to go. I wouldn't be in LV without a car, especially when all parking is free!

lynn

thanks for all yor comments - useful. however, the option of not driving in LV isn't an option as we will have the hire car until we leave it at the airport for our flights. It will be mainly when coming into LV and leaving when we will drive. Is it easy to get to the car hire place to drop off (before going to airport)?

clarkgriswold

Which car company? It is a breeze to drop off from the Barbary Coast to the airport, but the directions are slightly different for Alamo/National.

If you are visiting Las Vegas during the week (Mon through Thurs), you will want to venture out in the car, it's no problem except during rush hours of 8 to 9am and 4 to 6pm. It's also the best time to visit Las Vegas because the room rates are half the price of Fri Sat Sun.

Maggi

Lynn, we always drive in Vegas. It's so much easier to pull up to a casino, drop it in front with the valet and waltz in. (A couple buck tip to the valet.) Much preferable (for me, anyway) the crowds and porn vendors on the sidewalks. Everything is much farther to walk to than it looks on the map. I would hesitate to drive in Athens, Istanbul, Africa, or some places in Central or South America. Compared to those places driving anywhere in the States is a total breeze.

Conners

Lynn,

Is there any way for you to drop the car off as soon as you arrive in Las Vegas? There's no need for a car to get around as you will be walking and can also take the city bus (#301 0r 302) along the Strip. You can easily take a shuttle to the airport when you leave.

lynn

thanks again - in answer to clarkgrisworld the car hire palce we will be going to is Hertz - how easy/hard is this in relation to Barbary Coast and getting to airport after drop-off? To Connors - no we can't drop the car off as soon as we get to LV, its paid for in full so we may as well keep it (there are 4 of us so it will also be cheaper than a taxi in and out.
We are going to be there on the Mon and Tuesday 15th & 16th October - so what do you think our chances are of an easy time driving? We plan to reach LV about lunchtime and we will be leaving to catch 10.00a.m. flights on the WEdnesday. Any more info like this is welcome.

gplimpton

Monday and Tuesday are the slowest days in LV for casino traffic and as such the strip area isn't quite as congested. You'll have no problem.
The main Hertz rental area in LV is between Tropicana Rd and the airport terminals. easy to get to. A 5-10 minute drive from the Barbary Coast.

joesorce

To return the Hertz car and catch your flight, ask at the hotel for directions to the airport. Traveling south on Paradise Road in the 2nd to rightmost lane, , you will cross Tropicana Blvd. Get in the far right lane immediately and the 2nd turn on your right will be Gus Guthrie. Turn right, and Hertz will be just ahead on your left.

Do not follow the "overhead" signs as you approach the airport. These signs point to a more difficult car return route (but one that is necessary for folks in the left lanes of traffic). Stay in the right lane after Tropicana and it will be a breeze.
It's a short drive and you could do a trial run the day before if you like. Instead of turning into Hertz, just continue to the stop sign and turn left to head back to Flamingo Road and the Barbary Coast.

I would depart the Barbary about 2 hours before your international flight, Hertz shuttle is quick and you should have no problems. On Sundays, maybe 2.5 hours is better.

lynn

thanks again - great info. I don't know what I was thinking saying MOn and Tues though, the 15th & 16th is actually Wednesday and Thursday (so we will be leaving for the airport on Friday morning early) - will those days be as quiet in LV as the MOn & Tues that someone mentioned above?