Issue 36 / What You Can Do With 48 Hours In Vegas

by Vallisa Chauhan

What You Can Do With 48 Hours In Vegas

Feb 09, 2016

There are some holidays where you have limited time and it can be overwhelming trying to work out what to do.

Las Vegas may seem like a huge city to anyone who has not been there but actually it is mainly one strip full of hotels, restaurants, clubs, shops and casinos, so honestly if you can pull yourself away from the slot machines you will find you can do a lot in 48 hours and here we are going to tell you what.

^{Map of the hotels in Las Vegas.

Photo Credit: www.new-york-tounes.blogspot.com}

First things first, you need to pick a hotel. As you can see there are many to choose from but I highly recommend looking for something off the strip that charges less and you can get cabs or drive to the strip. Once you have picked your hotel the city is yours for the taking.

Day 1

8 am: Start your day.

Get yourself some breakfast on the strip. If you are on a budget head over to a Denny's. If that isn't your thing then try Hash House A Go Go. If you really want to splurge check out the restaurants in the hotels. They may be a little hard to find because the hotels are huge but they're worth it. Le Village in Paris is pretty awesome, offering a breakfast buffet with a large selection of food for around $20 to $25. At Bouchon, inside the Venetian hotel, you can sit outdoors and look over the pool while enjoying a French style breakfast.

9 am: Get walking.

The strip may not seem too long but it takes a good while to walk, especially if you want to stop and check out some of the hotels along the way. It's a good idea to set out early before it gets too hot. It's best to start near Mandalay Bay where you can see the Las Vegas sign right in the centre.

^{Viva Las Vegas!

Photo Credit: www.lasvegasshows.com}

At the Mandalay Bay Hotel you can visit the Shark Reef Aquarium where you can even feed the stingrays, sharks and turtles. Take a sneak peak inside the Luxor hotel, shaped like a pyramid, where you can visit the Titanic Exhibition where they have artifacts from the ship. While walking towards the main part of the strip you will see the Excalibur Hotel. It's a hard one to miss as it's shaped like a castle.

11 am: Keep walking.

Around this time you will have reached the New York New York hotel which looks like the streets of Manhattan with a roller coaster that takes you around the hotel giving you an upside down view of the strip. Around the New York New York hotel you will also find a number of cool stores including Hershey's, Coca-Cola and M&M's.

^{New York New York Hotel

Photo Credit: www.holidaycheck.de}

Keep heading north on the strip towards the City Centre Complex. This area is full of shops and the main interest would be the Aria casino hotel, the largest and tallest hotel in Las Vegas. Next door you will find the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Not only is this the coolest hotel in Vegas, on the third floor you'll find many restaurants perfect for lunch.

2 pm: Time to catch the Monorail.

The Monorail connects the Bellagio Hotel and the City Center. Here you can see the fountains that are part of the Bellagio Hotel, including the world-famous chocolate fountain inside the Jean-Phillipe Patisserie. Opposite the Bellagio you will find the Paris hotel which is great for taking pictures that will look like you are standing under the real Eiffel Tower. Another fun hotel further up the strip is the Circus Circus, decked out like, you guessed it, a circus (great fun if you have kids with you).

8 pm: Dinner time.

With the number of hotels on the strip it's difficult to decide where you want to have dinner. The Venetian is a beautiful hotel which will make you feel like you are in Italy. If you feel like having Indian food then the Tamba Lounge based in the City Center is a great place to visit.

^{Map of Tamba Lounge.

Photo Credit: www.tambalounge.com}

10 pm: Gambling

There aren't words to explain what the strip turns into by night. As music fills the air, take your pick from the hotel casinos and try your luck at your favourite games.

Day 2

9 am: Off route.

For this part of the trip you will need a car or a cab to get around. Start off shaking hands with the mob in downtown Las Vegas. The Mob Museum has an electric chair that you can sit in, a pair of brass knuckles you can try on and a mobster court case you can listen to. Then head over to the Las Vegas indoor sky diving where you can free fall in an indoor 21-foot vertical wind tunnel.

^{Indoor sky diving.

Photo Credit: www.merchantcircle.com}

12 pm: Lunch time.

Before heading out of town make sure you try and catch some of the food trucks. You can find out what's in town by heading over to the Roaming Hunger website.

^{Las Vegas food trucks.

Photo Credit: www.mobile-cuisine.com}

1 pm: Head out to the Red Canyon.

Yes, Las Vegas is in a desert and you can actually head over to the Red Canyon and climb the rocks. The Red Canyon rocks are famous for their vivid colours and unique rock formations. This is a great place to go hiking and take some amazing pictures.

^{Red Rock Canyon Tours

Photo Credit: www.redrockscootertours.com}

5 pm: Start heading back.

By this point you will be getting tired and so it would be a great time to head back to your hotel as it is at least a half an hour drive. Take a quick break and clean up before you start partying the night away.

7 pm: Catch a show.

There are many shows and entertainment taking place on the strip. Most of the hotels will have a list of what's going on in their theaters on their website as well as names of big performers who may be in town. It is a great place to catch DJs like Calvin Harris and DJ Khaled.

^{Las Vegas show.

Photo Credit: www.topshowslasvegas.com}

^{Main Photo Credit: www.plazaresearch.com}

Vallisa Chauhan

Author

Vallisa Chauhan (@vallisachauhan) presents the Flagship breakfast show on Lyca Radio 1458. She has scripted and produced a full feature film called "Those 4 Walls" and is currently working on other projects. She loves travel and movies and tries to fit in both as much as she can.