Top Ten Things to Do in Las Vegas on a Budget
You Don't Need to Spend a Fortune in Las Vegas to Have a Good Time
by Paul Diamond Blow
The world famous Luxor on the Las Vegas Strip
Page 1: 1-5 things to do in Las Vegas
6) Take advantage of the hotel swimming pool
Yes, Las Vegas is located in the middle of a desert and it can get hot, baby. As I said, it was 108 degrees in September when I visited the city and you better believe I was in the hotel swimming pool every day. The key is to stay at a hotel with a cool swimming pool. The coolest looking swimming pools in Vegas are at the Luxor, the Pink Flamingo and the Golden Nugget, but when it's 108 degrees any swimming pool will do, I tell you. Even though it was 108 degrees when I was there I also took advantage of the hot tub at the Stratosphere Hotel. It's pretty awesome sitting in the pool or hot tub when the sun goes down, staring up at the glitzy Vegas lights. Most of the swimming pools in Las Vegas only get to about four feet deep, probably because so many people are swimming drunk, but even so if you don't hop in the pool at least once you are cheating yourself.
7) Do some gambling
Let's face it, gambling is what runs Las Vegas and it goes on 24 hours a day. I just stuck with the slot machines myself in Las Vegas, and I did find that I lost money at most casinos on the Las Vegas strip but won money at all the casinos I visited in the Fremont District. Try your own luck gambling in Las Vegas but do not expect to get rich there! Let's face it... it's us gamblers that pay for all those glitzy lights and the cool looking hotels. And of course, if you are visiting Las Vegas on a budget you do NOT have to gamble like a high roller, you can play 10-20 cent spins on the penny slot machines like I did and have a good time and get free drinks just for playing the games.
8) Booze it up, party down
Las Vegas is the ultimate party town. You can buy booze anywhere 24 hours a day, you can even carry your drink with you on the Strip... this is a partier's paradise. You can get free drinks at most Las Vegas casinos as long as you are gambling. Heck, my first night in Vegas I spent five bucks for a bottle of Bud Light at the bar at the Hard Rock but later got them for free while playing the slot machines. If you are not into gambling many of the casinos have good drink specials, watch for them. The Sahara has one dollar Miller beers, the Casino Royale has one dollar Michelob beers and one dollar margaritas, Mermaids in the Fremont district has one dollar daiquiris... take advantage of the specials and save a bunch of money. Another good booze deal I found was a drink stand in front of Slots of Fun that sold huge 32 ounce blended margaritas and strawberry daiquiris in crazy souvenir cups for six bucks. Mine lasted me most of the night!
9) Eating at restaurants
Of course when you visit Las Vegas you can't live on booze and gambling alone, you'll need to eat. There are plenty of restaurants to eat at in Las Vegas: glitzy expensive joints, casino buffets, and of course the inexpensive places (Ihop, Dennys, McDonalds, Burger King, etc.) that you find in every town. I never did make it to a Las Vegas buffet myself as I found most of them were in the 15-20 dollar price range, although the Golden Nugget in the Fremont District was offering a $9.99 steak and lobster buffet which sounded tempting. I stuck with the inexpensive joints myself (Mainly the Ihop which was down the block from my hotel) but I did eat at one expensive joint for a wedding party -- Hofbrauhaus: a German beer garden style restaurant which was a lot of fun and featured waitresses spanking customers with long wooden paddles. True story!
10) Shopping
There are souvenir shops all over the Las Vegas strip but the best place for gift shopping I found was the Bonanza gift shop on the north end of the strip which is billed as being "the world's largest gift shop." The store was incredibly large for a gift shop and had a very large variety of Las Vegas souvenirs at very good prices. I also found many a good deal on souvenirs in the Fremont District. Vendors were selling tee-shirts four for ten dollars, and I even got a "I Escaped From Mables Whorehouse" tee-shirt there for only $1.97! Those are the places for souvenir shopping, and stay away from the casino gift shops as they tend to be way over priced.
There you go -- the top ten things to do in Las Vegas on a budget that are fun and won't break your bank account. Live it up, have fun, and let it ride!!
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