3 Days In Las Vegas

VITAL INFORMATION
Population	552,000
Languages spoken	English
Currency	USD
Average temperature	Summer: 90F; winter: 60F
High season	June to August

Vegas, baby... Vegas! In the city that never sleeps, you won't sleep until your flight home. Las Vegas is a 24/7 entertainment town where anything goes... which is why it's such a popular venue for bachelor parties. Sipping cocktails in giant pools? Check. Playing blackjack in ritzy casinos? Check. Watching the much-ballyhooed Las Vegas stage shows? Check.

The seasoned Las Vegas vets already know their favorite spots, but as a first-timer, this is your chance to absorb as much of the Las Vegas Strip as you can in three days. Are you game? 

Day 1: The top of the world

Airline visitors arrive by way of McCarran International Airport, five miles away from the main business district. Your transportation options are a limousine ride, a shuttle bus trip or a rental-car ride. Be warned that traffic can be an issue, especially once you get to the main drag. Once on the strip, many tourists take the tram, enjoy the monorail or walk with comfortable shoes and lots of water.

The Las Vegas economy is based on year-round entertainment for tourists. As a result, there's a hotel on the famous Las Vegas Strip to meet your wildest traveling dreams if you're willing to pay for it. Among the major casino hotels on the Strip, we prefer the Bellagio, which is elegantly based on the Italian resort of the same name. There's a first-class casino inside, a picturesque lake outside and the unforgettable Bellagio fountains, which spring to life every 15 minutes and are set to music. For first-timers who'd rather stay in a luxury casino-less hotel (some quiet away from the storm), try the Four Seasons Hotel. There's much comfort here and extras are included -- a change from the standard pricing on the Strip.     

Start your Vegas tour with some thrill-seeking from the highest observation tower in the country: the Stratosphere, which is at the northern end of the Strip. At an impressive 1,149 feet, you can see the entire Strip. If you're feeling daring, try the aptly named Insanity, which holds and spins you off the tower's edge via a mechanical arm. Don't leave until you have a bite at Top of the World Restaurant, where Chef Mario Andreoni offers award-winning wine and a three-course gourmet lunch.

Back at street level, make your way down to the Imperial Palace, located between Sands Avenue and Flamingo Road. Here you'll see The Auto Collections, the most sizable showroom of classic automobiles in the world. The 250-plus cars on display are worth over $100 million dollars. If you look carefully, you'll spot an old 1939 Royal Sedan of Johnny Carson's and a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback from Gone in Sixty Seconds.
 
When you arrive at The Venetian, Vegas's Venice-themed standout, you'll be ready for dinner. Thomas Keller, coined America's Best Chef by Time, has just the meal at Bouchon, located at the top of the Venezia tower. Start with some gnocchi à la Parisienne before moving on to chocolate mousse for dessert. 

What's next? Gambling, of course. The marble-floored Venetian casino covers over 100,000 square feet of gaming with a nearby lake and hand-painted ceilings. There are games galore, including slots and table games with the Venetian Poker Room never too far away.
 
For shows, there's The Phantom of the Opera in the Palais Garnier-themed theater. When you're ready to unwind, head upstairs to the TAO Nightclub where fast energy and good drinks go hand-in-hand in two dance rooms and on a substantial outside deck. And if the Venetian hasn't got you into trouble yet, there's much more to come. 

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