Travel Diary: Viva Las Vegas

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – unless you’re a blogger, that is.

When it comes to accommodation, there’s a world of amazing, unique Vegas hotels to choose from. Our hotel for two fun-filled  nights was the Golden Nugget, directly on Vegas’ Fremont Street – a little bit away from the main strip, but still with plenty going on all day and night.

As soon as we’d arrived in Vegas, there was little time to spare, and we grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the Golden Nugget’s restaurants. This was actually the first time I’d had pizza all trip and it was really good. And I also really enjoyed the salad – by this point, I was beginning to realise that salads in the US are wayyy better than the UK. Probably because of all the extra unhealthy stuff they throw in. But it’s still green, therefore good for me. Yup.

The Fremont Street show was next on our hitlist to see – we caught The Who’s light show and it was incredible. The whole curved ceiling was filled with flashing lights and visuals, with music blaring and tipsy crowdgoers dancing in the street, gazing upward at the spectacle. Unashamedly Vegas, unashamedly brilliant.

After the Fremont Street Experience show, we boarded the PARTY BUS with the rum and prosecco we’d grabbed from a grocery store earlier, and took in a whirlwind night-time tour of Vegas while drinking and dancing on a MOVING VEHICLE.

And I didn’t even fall over. Way to go, me!

We took some time out to get snaps of the classic Vegas sign all lit up and pretty, and spied on couples hovering around the Little White Wedding Chapel. Finally, after plenty o’rum and some Fireball shots (whyyy), we rolled out of the party bus and up to watch the Bellagio Fountains night time show, before heading into a club at Caesar’s Palace. I was kinda tipsy by this point, to be honest. But the fountain show was pretty epic.

The Vegas club was an…interesting experience. Normally, I’m not really a clubbing kinda gal, unless the speakers are blasting out pop punk or cheesy 90s bangers. But, in the spirit of experiencing Vegas, I gave it a shot. I did get quite nervous at points as it was pretty big and super crowded, and at one point I managed to lose everyone, but the free champagne tickets we got on the door definitely helped.

Probably not something I’d choose to do again unless we had a VIP area/balcony/special tent of cosiness or something a bit less stressful, but you gotta try these things once, right?

Waking up mercifully hangover-free, we had a whole day of free time to explore as much as Vegas as possible, so after stuffing our faces at the all-you-can eat mega-buffet, we hopped in an Uber and headed uptown to the ever-famous Vegas strip.

Before emerging onto the strip itself, we had a stroll through some casinos and they were pretty insane. Giant shoes, a huge purple chandelier…they were just as much art galleries of exuberance as they were slot machine and roulette table dens.

Aaaand, the bit you’ve all been waiting for. THE STRIP. Everything is huge and there was so much going on. From living statues to skateboarders, you don’t even need to DO anything on the strip, it’s just pretty awesome to have a look around. And the water outside the Bellagio was even more stunning by the light of day. It looked calm and stunningly blue enough to take a dip in…but, this being the city of hedonism, you probably wouldn’t want to.

After taking it in, we headed to the Bellagio to meet some friends and have a look around one of the city’s most famous hotels.

Among the many things there are to do in Vegas, including the skydive that I didn’t do and Venice Hotel Boat ride that I also didn’t do, you can take advantage of how much the US likes guns by heading to a shooting range. (FYI – I’m very pro gun control, but for entertainment purposes in a safe environment, I’m fine with shooting).

I’ve fired a gun once before, back when I was a teenager on Scout camp shooting some plastic pigeons, but I can barely remember what that was like. I chose the Glock to fire, cause I wanted to be like the sassy police detectives on American telly.

I learnt the following things: 1) Guns are LOUD. 2) I might be relatively useful in a zombie apocalypse, as I definitely got a few headshots in there. 3) One for the dudes, don’t mess with me. I automatically aim for the balls.

After saving Vegas from the zombie apocalypse, we headed back to the centre to see the sun set over the strip from the enormous Stratosphere building. With a rotating restaurant, sky bar, rollercoasters and the opportunity to bungee jump off the side of it (which I had NO DESIRE to do. Eek), it’s a super typical Vegas attraction – even for the views alone.

As it was happy hour and I was feeling pretty cheerful, I ordered up a pair of daiquiris to watch the sun set with some of our Trek group, chatting about our Vegas experiences and getting super jealous of the guys who’d picked up tickets to see Britney at Planet Hollywood. Which I’m STILL jealous about, by the way.

Come 11pm on our second evening in Vegas, we were all pretty tuckered out from exploring and partying, but there was one thing still left to do. Stretching down the length of Fremont Street, riders on the Slotzilla zipline fly over the heads of the crowds, taking in all the street has to offer in a pretty darn speedy fashion.

I’d wanted to do the zipline ever since we’d spotted it on the first night, and the end of our visit seemed like the perfect time. Annoyingly, the higher up zipwire (where you’re face down as opposed to seated) had sold out for the night, but we bagged four tickets for the slightly lower (but still pretty high up) wire instead.

Initially, we’d expected to be waiting about for ages but actually got up to the top and through the small queue quite quickly, and after the odd OMFG THIS IS HIGHER THAN I THOUGHT wobble, we were strapped up and let free to fly over Fremont as we said our Vegas goodbyes.

Although not my favourite city on the trip (that one’s coming later) or somewhere I think I’d want to stay for more than a couple of days, Vegas is a one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life experience. I’m really glad I got to experience it, even if an extra day would have been handy to finish off the bits I missed!

Read more: 12 Things to Know Before You Go to Las Vegas | Why You Should Ride the Slotzilla Zoom Line |
Previously in my America series: Route 66 & Seligman | The Grand Canyon | Los Angeles | Santa Monica
Thinking of taking your own US trip? Here’s ten things you should know about Trek America!