One Unforgettable Day in Las Vegas: Sin City

One Unforgettable Day in Las Vegas: Sin City

Let me start by saying 24 hours is a bit short if you’re looking for that full Vegas experience, BUT it will get the job done if you’re ready to follow a jam-packed itinerary to see all of the main sites!

We started a 13-day road trip in Vegas, so 24 hours was all our itinerary allowed. I’m happy with everything we got to do, so don’t be discouraged by crunch time trips!

Let’s go!

Flights – Fly into Las Vegas the night before, if you can. This will allow you to have a FULL day of exploring and partying the next day. The airport is very close to the Las Vegas strip, so it’s a quick 10–15-minute cab ride to your hotel depending on where you are staying.

That first night, you might be a little jet lagged, so don’t overdo it! Check into your hotel, grab a drink, and take a walk down the strip without doing anything and just take it all in. You might get lucky and walk by the Bellagio Fountains as they are putting on their water show. It’s pretty magnificent! After your walk, head to bed and rest up for a full day of fun.

Hotel – We stayed at the Tropicana, which is my usual hotel when I visit Atlantic City, NJ, so I assumed it would be just as great in Vegas. Wrong. Tropicana is kind of old. The rooms were dark and not really up to date. We didn’t even have a fridge in the room! It’s not necessarily a bad place to stay. I just recommend staying somewhere a little more modern. One plus is that the Trop is at the end/beginning of the strip, so it was easy for us to ensure we didn’t skip anything and just did one giant loop.

10:00 AM – Usually I am all about starting your vacay days bright and early at 7 AM, but you’re going to need to save your energy for nighttime and let’s be honest, the pool doesn’t open until 10 AM anyway. *shrug*

Head to the pool to get your tan on. The lounges at the pool get claimed pretty quickly, so you want to get there as soon as they open so you can get a good spot. Hang by the pool and grab a few frozen cocktails to start your day off right! 

12:00 PM – Lunchtime! Your body probably is ready for some solid food after those poolside cocktails. For lunch, take a trip down to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. There is a little outdoor deck/patio that hovers over the strip, so you are right above the people passing by. It’s the best place for people watching in all of Las Vegas!  

2:00 PM – After indulging in some more frozen cocktails (I assume margaritas if you went to Margaritaville), hop in a cab and go visit the famous “Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. It seems like a silly thing to add to a crunched timeline, but it is ICONIC, so you have to see it. There is usually an Elvis impersonator hanging around the sign posing for pictures, and he draws in quite the line. If you’re like me, and don’t like weird men dressing as Elvis touching you, I recommend skipping the line and taking a picture from the side. There is enough room to take an amazing, up-close photo of the sign and not have anyone in the background, including our buddy Elvis. This stop will probably only take 10-15 minutes if you choose to skip the line.

3:00 PM – Use this time as your ~free space. I recommend circling back to the pool to relax a bit before getting ready for dinner, but you can really do whatever your heart desires. The schedule is going to kick into full gear at dinnertime, so you might just want to relax a bit more until then.

If we have any daredevils in the house, here is your chance to do something absolutely thrilling! The STRAT Hotel offer visitors various exhilarating options. There are three different rides at the top of the tallest building in Las Vegas (some even hanging over the edge). Not my thing but hey, if you’re into near-death experiences, then this is for you. There is also the  SkyJump for all you crazies. This is where you can literally bungee jump from the top of the hotel. If that’s not catching your interest, don’t worry, you can take a ride to the top of the STRAT and just admire the amazing views of Las Vegas. 

5:00/6:00 PM – Grab an earlyish dinner and fill up for a long night of entertainment and drinking! Las Vegas has so many good restaurants, but two that stand out are Hell’s Kitchen (Gordon Ramsey’s place) and Wolfgang Puck (obviously Wolfgang Puck’s place). We chose Wolfgang Puck in the MGM Grand, and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

7:00 PM – No trip to Vegas is complete without some gambling, and nighttime in the casinos is just the best. The energy is high, and the drinks are flowing. Try your hand at the tables or get comfy at a slot machine, either way is a fun time! New York New York is my personal favorite. My inner New Yorker was just loving the vibes and all the reminders of home in there. A must-visit casino in my opinion.

9:00 PM–11:00 PM – This is where times start to get fuzzy… Depending on your interest, times can be a little wacky here, so we’re just going to give you a general sense of when to start what.

Showtime! Las Vegas offers so much to do. From pop star concerts to Cirque du Soleil to strip shows, there’s something for just about everyone. The times vary depending on the type of show. The shows generally have about two performances per night, so you can pick what works best for your schedule.

If you have time to kill before/after your show, here are some bars to check out on the strip!

1. Whiskey Down at MGM Grand (if you go to Wolfgang Puck for dinner, you’ll already be at MGM!)
2. Skybar – Lounge in Waldorf Astoria
3. The Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails – Speakeasy
4. The Chandelier
5. Minus5 ICEBAR

Now that it’s probably after well after midnight, I recommend going back to your hotel. Whether it’s for another round of drinks, a few more turns at the blackjack table, or to go to bed, it never hurts to end the night at your hotel, especially when most of the hotels are actually casinos!

Enjoy every second of your trip to Sin City, because what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

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