goddesstogo

Going next week, strictly for fun. We've been a couple of times before but a gazillion years ago. Neither of us is much of a gambler but I'm willing to lose my usual twenty bucks in a slot machine and walk around watching other people gamble but on the whole, gambling isn't really entertainment for us.
We're there for 4 nights, staying at the Palazzo and we've got tickets for the Cher show but other than that, we're pretty open so all suggestions are welcome. I thought we'd see one or two other show, getting tickets when we're there. Maybe one of the Cirque shows (I hear Le Reve is excellent but we're open to the others) and maybe one comedy or music (blues) show. What have you seen that you would recommend?
Also, I'd appreciate your comments on:

• The LINQ -- what exactly is this?
• the monorail -- have been told this is the best way to see all the hotels in their finery
• Do the casinos have bars with music? Best ones?
• Freemont Street -- what is this? Suggestions?
• 'old town LV' -- is this a thing? If yes, what to see there.
• A friend sent us a recent NY Times article about things to do off the strip in LV but I'd love your ideas about that too.
• Current restaurants on and off the strip. While we enjoy a good meal, neither of us is a 'foodie' and we don't really need the newest, most famous restaurant or chef. Our only limitation is that my SO can't eat Chinese or Indian food due to the salt content. Can you suggest just some good, reasonably priced lunch and/or dinner places?

Many thanks in advance for your suggestions. If there's anything else you think I should know, bring it on!
gtg

tomfuller

The "Fremont Street Experience" is the best part of the 'old town' Las Vegas (north end of 'the strip'). Among the hotel casinos along Fremont St. (pedestrian area) is the Golden Nugget which has the largest gold nugget on public display (62+ lbs.). Upstairs at the Golden Nugget is my favorite all you can eat buffets (before 3PM cheaper). If you can sit over against the wall by the windows you can see the the pool which has a slide which goes through the shark tank.
Off the strip one of my favorites is the Hofbrauhaus which has great beer and good food. To get up and down the Strip, try "The Deuce" (double decker bus) at least once. You can buy a one trip ticket or a 24 hour pass. If you get the 24 hour pass, after your last trip, hand it to some lucky tourist.

tom42

How fun! I've seen Cher at the Park Theatre twice and it's a great theatre for a concert. I think you will really enjoy the show. We've stayed at the Venetian and/or Palazzo numerous times.

Regarding The LINQ. That is just a hotel/casino on the strip. It's a Caesar's property.

Bars with Music - do you mean live music? If so, I can't really help you. That being said, the Venetian has a cool lounge called The Dorsey. There is music but it's not a live band. They make tasty cocktails. You can get a look at it on the Venetian website. It's right off the casino.

Freemont Street is really "old town LV." There is something called the Freemont Street Experience which is a light and sound show. I saw it years ago. I usually don't go down there when I am in Las Vegas but I think it could be fun for an evening. Some of the older hotel/casinos are down there.

There are numerous restaurants at the Venetian and Palazzo. Bouchon would be great for breakfast/brunch/lunch. We had breakfast there last time we stayed at the Venetian and it was delicious (it's a little on the pricey side but we thought it was worth it).

If you are looking for something casual for dinner, BuddyV's, also at the Venetian, was really good for more traditional Italian (the pasta carbonara was delicious). We also ate at Chica at the Venetian and enjoyed that - Latin American food. We've also had a very good meal at Giada's restaurant at The Cromwell. I was also going to recommend Noodle Asia if you get hungry later at night - just a noodle bar off the casino floor but it's perfect for a late night snack - but if your husband doesn't eat Asian food, then that's a no-go. Really there are so many restaurants to choose from that it's kind of hard to make recommendations.

As for other shows, there are quite a number of artists who now have residencies at various hotels, you should do a search and see if anyone you particularly like it performing. I can't recommend any of the Vegas "shows" like the Cirque ones as I haven't seen any of them (when we go to Las Vegas, it's primarily to gamble, eat and drink).

If you're walking the strip in the evening, try to time it so you can see the water show at the Bellagio.

rjw_lgb_ca

Four nights is a long time to spend in Vegas IMHO (it just gets exhausting). However, you can spend a whole day, maybe two, wandering from resort to resort up and down the Strip on foot. The Deuce is a fun option if you're not feeling like walking (now that my DH has multiple sclerosis, we'll Deuce and Uber our way around town). The fountain, gardens and general over-the-top opulence of Bellagio is always a nice break. I've had my best luck with the slots at the Cosmopolitan, which also gets the most entertaining barflies (the boisterous-but-not-TOO-lit types who'll happily declare "I left my room at the-- where AM I staying?!-- sometime yesterday afternoon and I'll get back there sometime after a couple of drinks here!"-- and it's 10:30 in the morning).

The Fremont St. Experience is the most notable off-Strip attraction (notice the spelling), but you might also hit the Mob Museum while you're downtown:

themobmuseum.org

NOTE: Le Rêve is NOT a Cirque du Soleil show, good as it may be; it was created by one of the originators of the CIrque shows, but it's independent. If you haven't seen a Cirque show yet, I think I'd start with The Beatles LOVE at Mirage or O at Bellagio; these have the best combination of spectacle, show-biz magic and (especially LOVE) thrilling music. Le Rêve is an acceptable substitute.

A great on-Strip dining option for me is Mon Am Gabi at Paris: Bistro French, reasonably priced, and if the weather is good, you can sit outside and watch the Bellagio fountains (you might want to make reservations). I recommend the Border Grill down at Mandalay Bay mostly because of the wonderful owners, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (who I met in their old Santa Monica place-- she's a RIOT) and the delicious food (Mexican with very skillful twists). The location isn't ideal (way south Strip), but the food is just that tasty. I also recommend Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan, José Andrés' paella-and-tapas palace; PHENOMENAL and worth every penny. If you want to blow a LOT of money, Picasso at Bellagio is a once-in-a-long-while splurge (awesome food, great wine list, priceless objets d'art surrounding you) that will set you back a lot but again-- worth every penny.

Quick rant: Do NOT use Yelp for restaurant reviews for any town; I find that most Yelp reviewers are, to be brutally honest, idiots who know nothing about food at all. Tripadvisor is a bit better, and Zagat and eater.com are relatively reliable, but if you want the real T, ask the crew here at Fodor's. Rant over.

If Asian is off your list, that rules out the esteemed Lotus of Siam, the absolute best Thai restaurant in the US outside of the greater LA area (where, sorry, the best Thai food outside of Thailand is found). Want renowned off-Strip red-sauce Italian? This joint is owned by cousins of a southern California-based restauranteur friend of mine, and has been in business a long time:

www.ferraroslasvegas.com

You'll get more ideas from others. This is an OK start, I'd say.

Barbara

The Linq is more than just the hotel. There's also a promenade, between the Linq hotel and the Flamingo, with various restaurants, bars, shops which leads to the High Roller (similar to the London Eye, but, of course, slightly bigger. Fun to go on at sunset or in the evening to see all the lights, but expensive.). There's a pizza place called Flour & Barley which is good. Avoid Guy Fierri's place. IMO, it's overpriced and not all that great.

https://www.vegas.com/attractions/on-the-strip/linq/

https://flourandbarley.com/about/

The Fremont Street Experience is just that. An experience, and you don't want to miss it. There are people zip lining above you, several bands, and some very strange people! You would want to be there when it's dark to see the lights properly.

olympicgaym

We had a great weekend in Las Vegas in January. We really enjoyed the "Brilliant" show at the Neon Museum. It is a sound and light show that brings the old signs to life. We will go back and actually tour the neon "Boneyard" on our next visit. It is a fun time that takes about an hour total to see.https://www.neonmuseum.org/

tom42

Oh right. I forgot about that. I stayed at the LINQ a few years ago as it is a Caesar's property (so I get free rooms) and I wanted to try a smaller hotel. I didn't care for it.

leonberger

Another experience that I love in LV is "The Neon Museum." A non-profit group which is restoring as many of the old neon signs as they can, and putting them up downtown and then starting down the strip. They give a tour of the "neon graveyard" during the day. The graveyard houses the old signs that they have rescued but not yet restored. Along with seeing the signs up close, they give a lot of the interesting history of Las Vegas. You must book in advance, and they only take small groups (maybe 20-30 people) a couple of times per day. Cost isn't very much (I don't remember exactly).

Also, the Ethel M Chocolate Factory is a nice visit - mostly for their amazing Cactus Garden (day or night).

Lunch at the Café inside Paris is fun - it is set up like a French outdoor café, and serves reasonably priced (and tasty) food.

Drive or ride the full length of the strip at least once after dark. It's worth the bumper-to-bumper traffic, and lots of fun to look at everything and everyone.

I'm not a monorail fan. It only goes to a few casinos, and there are LONG walks in and out of the casinos to the monorail itself. I'd walk, or use the Deuce.

Dai

We loved LOVE with the Beatles music. Great show. We also loved Matt Franco's magic show, which was pretty cheap ticket wise as far as LV shows are concerned. It was super entertaining. You could also go to Brad Garrett's comedy club for some laughs. Agree with the not far off the strip Ferraro's Italian restaurant which gets great reviews. For great lounge music the Cosmopolitan has Rose. Rabbit. Lie. for wonderful music in a bar setting. We also danced to 70's music in Paris at a little lounge area in the casino called Le Cabaret. Most of the free lounge music acts that were in every hotel in the old days are gone now, but ask around while you're there. We were in a hotel asking about live music and were pointed upstairs to some country singer's lounge where they had live country music. I've heard Le Reve is great, which is next on my list. Have fun!

goddesstogo

You guys are the best! This is exactly what I wanted. And who would go to Yelp when they've got Fodorites?
Four nights might seem like a lot but we're coming from an unending and hard winter here and looking forward to more than just a couple of days where there's no snow. My SO will play at least one game of golf so he'll come home pooped and that will pretty much take care of one evening where we'll probably just stay at the hotel and maybe take a local walk. Then there are (hopefully) two evenings of shows and I'm sure we'll be able to fill up the fourth.
I'm really looking forward to the neon museum, the mob museum and Fremont Street. And I haven't read that NYTimes article yet so there may be other sights or events happening in the city that we'll want to see.
Thanks SO SO much!

doug_stallings

You'll save a few dollars if you buy the combo ticket for the Neon Museum and Mob Museum. Both are close to each other downtown. If you are looking for local Las Vegas stuff, consider exploring the Las Vegas Arts District. It's definitely worth a little time, and there are restaurants; it's between the Stratosphere and Downtown. There are also some cheaper restaurant options downtown, where I'd recommend you spend at least a day. Restaurants in Las Vegas (especially those on the Strip) are ridiculously expensive even if they don't have celebrity chefs, but you can get a really excellent steak if you are willing to pay for it (you can always share since they are so huge and cost $50 or $60 each). If you like Italian food, there's now an Eataly at the Park MGM, which is near where you'll watch the Cher concert. There are both food stands and sit-down restaurants there.

The Cheesecake Factory at the Venetian is called Grand Cafe, but I don't think it's a good option for either low-calorie or low-sodium dining. There are definitely some Asian restaurants you could try. One of the best off-Strip options is Raku, a Japanese grill restaurant, and it's not overly expensive.

tomfuller

If you want to see something totally different outside LV, rent a car for about 9 hours and drive out to see Hoover dam. There is a little security before you get to the dam but not too bad. Drive over the dam to the Arizona side and up to the second parking area (free). The parking structure on the Nevada side is a ripoff IMO.
Coming back up the hill from the dam there is a parking area where you can walk to the walkway that is on the big bridge that is over the dam. On the walkway are markers for the apex of the bridge and the state line.
Farther down US 93 in Arizona is a side road that goes to the ghost town of Chloride.

sf7307

What?? No more Al Gambino in the Pine Cone Lounge???? (an actual performer we remember from Harrah's or Harvey's in South Lake Tahoe in the 70s)

goddesstogo

Thanks, doug. Coincidentally, a friend recently sent me an article from the NYTimes about the Arts District and I've got a few things circled. And though my SO can't eat most Asian food, Japanese is OK so Raku may be a good option. Thanks too, for the hint about the combo ticket.

And thanks, tomfuller. In past trips to LV, we visited the Hoover Dam and even flew down the middle of the Grand Canyon in a little 8-seater plane!

tom42

Pine Cone Lounge! How did they come up with that name?

MoBro

You had me at "Cher show". I'm jelly.

goddesstogo

Me too, MoBro!!! We need a Cher emoticon here!

goddesstogo

Trip report!
Las Vegas Trip Report

MoBro