plan of action for Las Vegas
 

My husband, myself and grown up daughter will be staying at the Flamingo for 2 nights. We will arrive about 1pm on a Saturday from Grand Canyon and will be leaving after breakfast on Monday
We won't be gambling which is just as well given what there is to see and do in such a small time span.
My daughter would like to go on the rides at the Stratosphere and we also would quite like to see the lights at Freemont St which I know we have to do by midnight. Would it be best to go on the bus or take our car? If bus to Stratosphere can we walk to Freemont street afterwards? We would like to have a high quality buffet dinner on Saturday evening and a brunch/lunch on Sunday -other than that we will just grab food as we go. We don't need to go to bed early (2pm would be fine and get up about 9am). Sunday evening is spoken for as we are going to see Love. We would like to see a few of the hotels around Flamingo but I realise there is a limit - we are not very interested in shopping but one mall to gawp at might be nice. I will be very grateful for people's thoughts (their nice ones, anyway) as I find it impossible to guage how long it will take to get anywhere, how far apart each place is and whether we should walk, use public transport ie monorail, bus or taxi or drive our car. All suggestions gratefully received!

Caesar's Forum Shoppes, across the street from the Flamingo, is the "one mall" for you!

No you can't walk to Fremont Street from the Strat. Traffic from Strat to downtown won't be bad (valet parking at Fremont Hotel is probably your best bet)...but traffic back to the Flamingo could be bad. With such a short time in Las Vegas, I personally don't think the trip to Fremont St is worth the hassle. Go to the Strat sat afternoon and head back to the Flamingo by 7pm, park your car there for the night and walk to the surrounding hotels and attractions.

you can walk from the flamingo to the strat if you want. we left in the morning, had breakfast at a hotel 1/2 way then walked the remaining distance to the strat. lets you walk off the breakfast before getting on the rides.
i'd bus it from the strip to freemont street.

For the one mall experience go across the street from the Flamingo and check out Caeser's Forum Shops.

Driving in Vegas is a real hassle, honestly with such a limited amount of time you would be better off taking cabs rather then looking for parking downtown, etc. Distances seem closer then they actually are and you will waste much of your time walking miles. I agree also that with such a very short time in town you might be better off skipping Fremont St. and focus on the Strip, there is enough to keep you occupied trust me on that !!

We are not buffet people (I can serve myself at home is my theory :-) ), however the Spice Market Buffet at the Aladdin usually gets high marks from visitors.

As long as you will have a car, I highly recommend the Gourmet Feast Sunday Brunch at the Palace Station. $9 per person & it was great. Better than the brunch I spent $30 on at the Marriott in NYC.

For dinner, if you like Italian, I highly recommend Carluccios Tivoli Garden. A locals place. Not expensive & you need a car. When the entrees came out I thought it was Family Style it was so big.

If you do not plan to be in Vegas again soon, I think you can do the Fremont Street Experience & the Fountains at the Bellagio in one night.

I returned last night from a three night getaway to Las Vegas.

I agree - go shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.

We had the breakfast buffet at the Wynn and it was fantastic. I can highly recommend.

We didn't get down to the Stratosphere or Fremont Street, so I can't comment. However, I wouldn't walk to the Strat from the Flamingo. I'm not sure when you're going, but it was 100 in Vegas yesterday. Yes, it's a dry heat, but it's still plenty hot.

Have fun!

I recommend against trying to walk downtown. The area between the Stratosphere and downtown on Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly tacky, in poor condition, and at night dangerous. The new doubledecker buses run all the way up and down the strip, dropping you off at Fremont Street. The distance between the Flamingo and the Strat is deceptive. I'd save your legs for walking between and around the casinos. You can get a 24 hour unlimited ticket for $5 and take it to the Strat and then downtown. If your daughter likes rides in the sky, you might check out the roller coaster on top of New York. The best moderate price breakfast buffet in our mind is at Paris. The most entertaining view and atmosphere is at the Paradise Garden buffet right in the Flamingo, however. It overlooks their wildlife area - filled with pink flamingos, swans, exotic ducks, and other birds, with lovely koi swimming in the ponds. Wynn's has the best buffet for high quality food, although it is a bit more expensive. Don't miss the conservatory inside Bellagio - you go through the hotel lobby to get to it. Have a great time!

I would never walk from the Strat to Fremont Street, day or night...not the best part of town.

To get to the Flamingo don't use Las Vegas Blvd (the Strip). The entrance to the lobby and the valet and garage are in the back of the building (east side). Take Flamingo Road and turn north on Audrie Street, then the first left. If you are coming west on Flamingo Road then Audrie St is at the light after the Westin Casuarina and you can only turn right.

Similarly, if you want to drive downtown, don't use LV Blvd. Go east on Flamingo Road and turn left onto Paradise Road then Sahara to LV Blvd. Or from Flamingo Road go further east and turn left onto Maryland Pkwy (or go just beyond that and make a U-turn).

The driver on the Duece bus last week told me that it took him 2.5 hours to drive from downtown to Mandalay Bay.

It is 2.5 miles from Flamingo to the Strat. Too far to walk. You could take the bus, but the monorail is very convenient to the Flamingo. Take it to the end of the line at the Sahara. It is just under half a mile from the Sahara to the Stratosphere. Don't walk between the Strat and downtown take the bus, taxi, or drive.

My friends stayed at the Stratosphere in March. they had a car, but mostly used the Deuce bus to get around. It was $5.- each to get a Day pass and they went to both downtown and south strip. They said it only took about 10 minutes to downtown, was air conditioned and easy to use.

The Aladdin is in the midst (almost finished) of major renovation and will soon re-open as Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino. The buffet is currently served in a cramped, temporary space and the choices are limited. So if you're going this month...avoid the Aladdin buffet.

Forgot to mention our favorite buffet is at Wynns. We've eaten lunch three times there & loved it. Not done dinner but should be excellent. Everything is fresh & high quality. It was Rachel Ray's favorite when she visited Vegas! The different stations (seafood, Italian, Chinese,...) are easy to get to even when there's a crowd. The surroundings are beautiful and relatively quiet. Bellagio's buffet has terrific food, but is a bit more expensive and when we were there very very noisy - hard surfaces on the floor and ceiling. We ended up moving to their smoking section which was carpeted just to get away from the noise - & we hate cigarette smoke while we're eating. Many of the hotels have a champagne brunch on Sunday which is much pricier than their normal brunch. We've not found them to be that much better than a normal brunch, even at Ballys, which other people recommended. I'd also stay away from Caesar's buffet. It's relatively small, crowded, the stations are hard to get to, and I don't think the food is that great. Paris might be a good bet on Sunday - it's our favorite breakfast buffet during the week. Bally's Big Kitchen buffet is very good, a close second behind Paris for breakfast, except we didn't think their Sunday champagne brunch was worth the substantial bump in price.

Our favorite Buffet was at the Bellagio. On Sat. night they have there "Gourmet" buffet. It was extremely well done. I am not a huge fan of buffets either. The Wynn was also excellent, they are pretty equal but the desserts were better at the Bellagio on SAT. Night. Much better then the Wynn. That wast he one area where the Bellagio was better.

We also saw LOVE it is wonderful. You will love it I am sure. Take the bus or trolly downtown. It isn't the quickist getting around anywhere as to the traffic issues. Also coming home from the Freemont experience is very busy and hetic. There are long lines to line up and catch the bus home. The views from the stratosphere are great also.