City Guide
Las Vegas
The Strip itself consists of the four miles of Las Vegas Boulevard between the Sahara and Mandalay Bay, and thus now reaches as far south as McCarran Airport. For the sake of convenience, it's often loosely divided into the South Strip, from Mandalay Bay up to the MGM Grand and New York-New York; the Central Strip, which includes Bellagio, Caesars Palace and the Venetian; and the North Strip, from the Stardust to the Sahara.
Downtown Las Vegas is also dominated by casinos. Its centerpiece is the Fremont Street Experience, in which four blocks of its main thoroughfare have been roofed over to give it the feel of a theme park rather than a real city.
In between the Strip and downtown lie two somewhat seedy miles of gas stations, fast-food drive-ins, and wedding chapels, parts of which have been optimistically but pointlessly promoted as the Gateway District.
The closest attempt to match the success of the Strip has been along Paradise Road, immediately to the east and home to the Las Vegas Hilton, the Convention Center, the Hard Rock, and several popular restaurants.
Although the area to the west of the Strip is less susceptible to generalization, the Rio and the Palms have encouraged tourists to stray across to the far side of the interstate, and Decatur Boulevard, especially around Sahara Avenue, is a thriving shopping district.
Getting to Las Vegas
McCarran International Airport (www.mccarran.com) is located less than a mile off The Strip. All hotels on or near The Strip are easily accessible from McCarran via short shuttle or cab ride (there's no public bus service from the airport). McCarren International Airport is serviced by all major airlines JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Ted.
Car Rental Agencies
Car rental is readily available at the airport and is serviced by all major car rental agencies. However, if you're happy to see no more of Las Vegas than the Strip and perhaps downtown then it's perfectly possible to survive without a car.
By Car
Las Vegas as a whole is plagued by severe traffic problems and nowhere more so than the Strip. For trips on which speed is your main priority, it's usually worth using I-15 where possible, even for short hops. The fastest east-west route across town tends to be Desert Inn Road, which passes under the Strip and over I-15, with connections to neither. All the Strip casinos except Bellagio offer free parking to guests and non-guests alike, usually in huge garages around the back of the entire complex. The snag is that the walk from your car to wherever you actually want to go can be as much as a mile in places like Caesars Palace or the MGM Grand.
By Monorail
Several Strip properties are connected by means of free monorail services. Such systems link Excalibur with Mandalay Bay via Luxor; the MGM Grand with Bally's; Bellagio with the Monte Carlo; and the Mirage with Treasure Island.
Shopping
On the Strip
Desert Passage at The Aladdin (www.desertpassage.com)
Although the Desert Passage mall has yet to attract the same volume of customers as either the Forum or the Grand Canal, it matches its rivals in every other respect. Its Arabian Nights theme is enjoyable, with an artificial sky that unleashes rainstorms in the Merchants Harbor district, and lively street entertainers in the Lost City's Oasis Square, and there are tricycle rickshaws to ferry footsore shoppers along its mile-long passageways. 3663 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 888-800-8284.
Fashion Show Mall (www.thefashionshow.com)
Behind a new glittering frontage has Las Vegas's first Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale's Home Stores to an array of department stores that includes as Neiman Marcus, Sak's Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Dillard's. 3200 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-369-0704.
Forum Shops at Caesars Palace
The basic concept is irresistible, with faux-Roman columns and fountains everywhere, "statues" that come alive, and an artificial sky that wheels each hour between dawn and dusk. Some of the highlights include: clothing outlets ranging from Gap and Banana Republic, through Diesel and DKNY, to Emporio Armani; there are eight jewelers and eight shoe stores, including NikeTown. The Forum doesn't have a food court, but it does hold some fine restaurants, such as Chinois, The Palm, and Spago's. 3500 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-893-4800.
Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian
Purely in terms of shopping, it's not quite large or varied enough to outdo Caesars, though it is at least easier to reach, either via double escalators immediately inside the main casino entrance, or a moving walkway from the campanile on the Strip. The general emphasis of the Canal Shoppes is more consistently upscale than at the Forum, with designer clothing stores like Gandini and Pal Zileri. Less familiar "shoppes" include some making their first appearance outside Venice, like Il Prato, selling carnival masks and paper goods, and Ripa de Monti, specializing in exquisite glassware. 3355 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-414-4500.
Via Bellagio at the Bellagio
While Via Bellagio isn't anything like the size of the Forum, Grand Canal Shoppes, or Desert Passage, its single-minded focus on the very top end of the spectrum has made it the chicest place to shop in Las Vegas. Shops include: Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Tiffany and the self-styled "enfant terrible," Moschino, the catch-all Bellagio Collections stocks clothing & Co, and footwear by more than a dozen other internationally known designers. 3600 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-693-7111.
Outlet Malls
Belz Factory World
Among over 150 manufacturer's outlets, boasting discounts of up to 75 percent, you'll find retailers such as Levi's, Calvin Klein, Oshkosh B'gosh, Nike, and Reebok. Belz Factory is located roughly two miles south of Mandalay Bay. 7400 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-896-5599.
Golf
Angel Park Golf Club (www.angelpark.com)
Beautifully set in Summerlin, the public facility features two Arnold Palmer-designed full-size courses, plus a twelve-hole par 3 course and an eighteen-hole putting course, both of which are floodlit at night. Green fees start at $65. 3145 Las Vegas Blvd S.; 702-733-4290.
Bali Hai Golf Club (www.balihaigolfclub.com)
Extraordinarily lavish water-themed course, not far southwest of Mandalay Bay, seen as an expanse of vivid green from planes coming in to land; the golf carts even have satellite global positioning systems. Standard green fee is $260. 100 S Rampart Blvd; 888-446-5358.
Las Vegas Golf Club
Busy city-owned course that offers exceptionally cheap rates for locals. Non-residents can play eighteen holes for $80 Mon-Thurs, $90 Fri-Sun. 4300 W Washington Ave.; 702-646-3003.
Las Vegas National Golf Club (www.lasvegasnational.com)
Originally the Sahara Country Club, and home to the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament, this appealing course, a couple of miles east of the Strip, charges the general public $85 Mon-Thurs, $110 Fri-Sun. 1911 E Desert Inn Rd.; 702-796-0016.
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