The city of sin is the perfect place to take a solo adventure or to pack up the girls and head off for a week of debaucherous fun. If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas, check out these top tips from our travel editor.
Ticked off the bucket list
Drink from a touristy yard glass
Meet ‘Elvis’
See a stage show
Visit the Eiffel Tower (anyone will do)
Top songs on the playlist
A little less conversation – Elvis
Mo money mo problems – Notorious B.I.G.
I got a feeling – Black Eyed Peas
Waking Up in Vegas – Katy Perry
What to do
- Visit the Fremont Street Experience mall
- Take a helicopter tour of the grand canyon
- Visit some of famous casinos: Bellagio, MCM Grand, Luxor, Caesars Palace
- Climb the Eiffel Tower
- Swing by the White Chapel
- Check out the shark reef at Mandalay Bay
- Visit Madame Tussauds
- River rafting
- Take a stroll along the strip
- See a stage show: Cirque Du Soleil, Magic Mike Live, Headliners (Celine Dion, JLO, Britney Spears)
- Shop, shop, shop
- Go to the Adventuredome amusement park
- Take trapeze lessons
- Ride a gondola
Travel hacks
- You will need a waiver visa to get in to Las Vegas if travelling on a New Zealand passport. Ask your travel agent for more information
- Best time to travel: April – September
- Tipping is customary in Las Vegas. Be sure to carry some small change with you for taxis and restaurants
- Restaurant waitstaff 15% to 25%
- Bar staff/casino staff $1 per drink or 15% per round
- Taxis 10% to 15%
- ATM transaction fees can be high within casino gaming areas
- Credit/Debit cards are your best option
- If arriving by plane, most shuttle buses will take you to strip hotels from $7 – $10. You could be looking at over $20 for a taxi. Ask your travel agent for more information
- Stay hydrated. Vegas has a desert climate and can be quite hot. Make sure you drink water frequently and carry a hat and sunglasses
You’ve got an endless supply of money, what do you do in Las Vegas?
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Written by Emily Blake
The source of our #fomo, Emily is constantly jetting overseas. A coffee aficionado, you’ll most likely find her swiping right on Tinder and daydreaming about her next adventure.
Favourite karaoke song: Wonderwall by Oasis
My husband has just come back from a huge road trip across America and Las Vegas was one of his favourite places. He went to see Penn and Teller on stage, and he stopped to see the Eiffel Tower. He found a mall, which had a river inside of it like Venice with the punting boats and everything. Crazy place apparently, but it sounded pretty cool.
I would love to go to Las Vegas one day but not sure when I would get there with ours 3 kids. What to do list sounds good with all the great things to go see and view one day when the kids are older hopefully it seems to be a dream place to visit.
OMG I would LOVE to go to Las Vegas!! My cousin got married by Elvis in LA a few years back haha. I would definitely want to visit Madame Tussaud’s – my late grandfather was a teacher and gave me heaps of books and really cool pictures of old movie stars and it included an awesome picture book on Madame Tussaud’s, that really amazed me (an 8 year old) and have always wanted to see it 🙂
Good to know debit cards are the way to go with shopping overseas. Loving the travel hacks. These will come in very handy as me and my husband and kids want to do a trip maybe in the next couple years as a family. We’ve only ever been as far as Australia to the Gold Coast which was absolutely amazing for our honeymoon but would love to go further or on a cruise for a lifetime experience. Thanks for the great advice