las vegas
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24 HOURS IN...
LAS VEGAS By Amanda Lee Photo © Shutterstock.com/View Apart
If you’ve only got 24 hours in Sin City, start your day downtown— the city’s original gambling district—before spending the evening absorbing the glitz and decadence of the Strip. We suggest you arrive well-rested so you can pack as much activity into your day— and night—as possible. After all, you can nap on the flight home.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
Head to Fremont Street in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. Du-par’s, in the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino—the oldest hotel in Vegas—serves up a slab of fluffy buttermilk pancakes with boysenberry syrup that’s guaranteed to set you up for the day. Take a seat at the counter of the family-run restaurant, where wait staff serve up old-fashioned cordiality with your coffee. Du-par’s is also famous for its original Shrimp Cocktail ( just like your mom would have made in the ’70s). At only US$2.99, it’s never too early in the day to enjoy Du-par’s signature dish.
Vegas and the mob have enjoyed a “cozy” relationship ever since Las Vegas was founded, in 1905. At the Mob Museum, learn more about the rise of the mob in the U.S. since the 1800s and the lengths police have gone to in order to bring them to justice. Opened two years ago, the museum has more than 600 mob-related artifacts, including the actual wall from the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre and the barber chair that Albert Anastasia, the Gambino family crime boss, was murdered in. The museum provides an intriguing education on famous mob characters, including Bugsy Siegel (who developed the Strip’s Flamingo casino), Whitey Bulger and Al Capone.
It’s about a 10-minute walk from the Mob Museum to the funky Mexican restaurant La Comida. You’ll know you’ve come to the right place when you spy a seven-foot pink neon monkey signalling the entrance to the restaurant down a back alley. Start with a wicked passion fruit margarita to temper the spicy Roma tomato, habanero and roasted garlic salsa served with authentic corn chips. Follow that with a traditional Mexican street food, corn and tortilla soup, and Enchiladas de Pollo (pulled chicken, queso fresco, onions and mole poblano sauce) or Puerco Ahumado (mesquite-smoked pork shoulder, adovada sauce and plantain chips). We know it’s only lunchtime, but La Comida also serves over 100 varieties of tequila—after all, this is Vegas.
Not a museum in the traditional sense, the Neon Museum houses a large outdoor neon “boneyard,” where vintage signs are retired. During the hour-long tour, guides impart their knowledge of not only neon signs—an art form in itself—but also the history of the city’s vintage casinos. The tour starts in the retro 1961 La Concha Motel lobby, a preserved shell-shaped building. The boneyard houses more than 150 original neon signs from the 1930s onwards, including those from Caesars Palace, Golden Nugget, Stardust and Moulin Rouge. The chronological tour of this unique art form reflects the changes in technology and aesthetics. Tour times vary, and reservations are strongly recommended.
p.m.
Take a seat in Park on Fremont’s magical beer garden, filled with gnomes and art among the flowers. Hang with the downtown hipsters over a Pillow Talk cocktail (Hangar 1 Vodka One Spiced Pear Vodka, strawberry, cucumber, lemon, orange, mint, simple syrup, soda, Sprite and a cucumber slice) and a serving of house-made fried pickles.
5:30
Save your money for the blackjack table and hop on “The Deuce” bus service from Fremont Street to the Strip. Get off at the Bellagio casino stop, where you can watch the casino’s famous fountain water show. Set in a faux Lake Como, the fountains light up and “dance” to classic Sinatra and Broadway show tunes.
3:30
p.m.
7 p.m.
9 p.m.
11 p.m.
1 a.m.
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Cirque du Soleil has become as much of an institution in Vegas as “Elvis” walking you down the aisle. Cirque’s Zarkana, playing at ARIA Resort & Casino, is a macabre and magical show. The central character, Zark, is a magician who revives ghosts in an abandoned theatre to search for his lost love. Zarkana weaves original songs–the lyrics are in an entirely made-up language–with daring highwire performances, acrobatics and traditional clowns.
Opt for Chef Shawn McClain’s tasting menu at Sage restaurant at ARIA. The dramatic room features portraits of contemporary art and a stunning bar mural. The farm-to-table menu includes Vancouver Island oysters, followed by 48 Hour Beef Belly with a confit of baby root vegetables and sweet potato pie with Angostura bitters ice cream. Round off your meal with absinthe—the restaurant offers 17 different varieties.
If you’re going to lose money, lose it in style. Walk next door to the über-trendy Cosmopolitan hotel, where you’ll find a hip crowd lounging under the champagne-pink chandelier, and try your luck at classic blackjack or craps.
Keep the Cirque theme going at Light Nightclub, located at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Part nightclub, part theatrical performance, Light was created by the folks behind Cirque du Soleil. The club attracts DJs from Europe who spin crowd-pleasing dance tracks as glittering performers twirl and tumble above you. Boogie on down until 4 a.m., which is still early for this town.
NEXT Tara’s Travels
24 HOURS IN...
LAS VEGAS By Amanda Lee Photo © Shutterstock.com/View Apart
If you’ve only got 24 hours in Sin City, start your day downtown— the city’s original gambling district—before spending the evening absorbing the glitz and decadence of the Strip. We suggest you arrive well-rested so you can pack as much activity into your day— and night—as possible. After all, you can nap on the flight home.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
Head to Fremont Street in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. Du-par’s, in the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino—the oldest hotel in Vegas—serves up a slab of fluffy buttermilk pancakes with boysenberry syrup that’s guaranteed to set you up for the day. Take a seat at the counter of the family-run restaurant, where wait staff serve up old-fashioned cordiality with your coffee. Du-par’s is also famous for its original Shrimp Cocktail ( just like your mom would have made in the ’70s). At only US$2.99, it’s never too early in the day to enjoy Du-par’s signature dish.
Vegas and the mob have enjoyed a “cozy” relationship ever since Las Vegas was founded, in 1905. At the Mob Museum, learn more about the rise of the mob in the U.S. since the 1800s and the lengths police have gone to in order to bring them to justice. Opened two years ago, the museum has more than 600 mob-related artifacts, including the actual wall from the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre and the barber chair that Albert Anastasia, the Gambino family crime boss, was murdered in. The museum provides an intriguing education on famous mob characters, including Bugsy Siegel (who developed the Strip’s Flamingo casino), Whitey Bulger and Al Capone.
It’s about a 10-minute walk from the Mob Museum to the funky Mexican restaurant La Comida. You’ll know you’ve come to the right place when you spy a seven-foot pink neon monkey signalling the entrance to the restaurant down a back alley. Start with a wicked passion fruit margarita to temper the spicy Roma tomato, habanero and roasted garlic salsa served with authentic corn chips. Follow that with a traditional Mexican street food, corn and tortilla soup, and Enchiladas de Pollo (pulled chicken, queso fresco, onions and mole poblano sauce) or Puerco Ahumado (mesquite-smoked pork shoulder, adovada sauce and plantain chips). We know it’s only lunchtime, but La Comida also serves over 100 varieties of tequila—after all, this is Vegas.
Not a museum in the traditional sense, the Neon Museum houses a large outdoor neon “boneyard,” where vintage signs are retired. During the hour-long tour, guides impart their knowledge of not only neon signs—an art form in itself—but also the history of the city’s vintage casinos. The tour starts in the retro 1961 La Concha Motel lobby, a preserved shell-shaped building. The boneyard houses more than 150 original neon signs from the 1930s onwards, including those from Caesars Palace, Golden Nugget, Stardust and Moulin Rouge. The chronological tour of this unique art form reflects the changes in technology and aesthetics. Tour times vary, and reservations are strongly recommended.
p.m.
Take a seat in Park on Fremont’s magical beer garden, filled with gnomes and art among the flowers. Hang with the downtown hipsters over a Pillow Talk cocktail (Hangar 1 Vodka One Spiced Pear Vodka, strawberry, cucumber, lemon, orange, mint, simple syrup, soda, Sprite and a cucumber slice) and a serving of house-made fried pickles.
5:30
Save your money for the blackjack table and hop on “The Deuce” bus service from Fremont Street to the Strip. Get off at the Bellagio casino stop, where you can watch the casino’s famous fountain water show. Set in a faux Lake Como, the fountains light up and “dance” to classic Sinatra and Broadway show tunes.
3:30
p.m.
7 p.m.
9 p.m.
11 p.m.
1 a.m.
Table of Contents
Live Weather Requires Internet Connection
Cirque du Soleil has become as much of an institution in Vegas as “Elvis” walking you down the aisle. Cirque’s Zarkana, playing at ARIA Resort & Casino, is a macabre and magical show. The central character, Zark, is a magician who revives ghosts in an abandoned theatre to search for his lost love. Zarkana weaves original songs–the lyrics are in an entirely made-up language–with daring highwire performances, acrobatics and traditional clowns.
Opt for Chef Shawn McClain’s tasting menu at Sage restaurant at ARIA. The dramatic room features portraits of contemporary art and a stunning bar mural. The farm-to-table menu includes Vancouver Island oysters, followed by 48 Hour Beef Belly with a confit of baby root vegetables and sweet potato pie with Angostura bitters ice cream. Round off your meal with absinthe—the restaurant offers 17 different varieties.
If you’re going to lose money, lose it in style. Walk next door to the über-trendy Cosmopolitan hotel, where you’ll find a hip crowd lounging under the champagne-pink chandelier, and try your luck at classic blackjack or craps.
Keep the Cirque theme going at Light Nightclub, located at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Part nightclub, part theatrical performance, Light was created by the folks behind Cirque du Soleil. The club attracts DJs from Europe who spin crowd-pleasing dance tracks as glittering performers twirl and tumble above you. Boogie on down until 4 a.m., which is still early for this town.
NEXT Tara’s Travels
