I didn't see a link about traveling options in Vegas in the sticky so I thought I'd ask...

I saw the thread about monorails, but I'm wondering more in general, what's the best idea? We'll be at the Mandalay Bay in a couple weeks and I'm trying to determine if walking, taxis, monorail, or renting a car will be the best option. Or a combination of the above? What do you Vegas veterans think?

Thanks!

Mandalay has a free tram that runs from Mandalay to Excal.

W/o knowing how many people are going with you, where you would like to go sightseeing at, and how long you will be there for it would be impossible to answer your question.

Do not rent a car

It depends on your itenerary for the trip, and where you'll be concentrating your time. Also, how long will you be there?

If you'll mainly be around MB, I wouldn't bother renting a car, except for maybe a day to stock up on booze, water, snacks, etc.
Obviously I wouldn't recommend renting a car if you plan on drinking the whole time, but I love having a rental in Vegas.

A limo pickup from the airport will run about $116 per hour. If you book with Presidential, it includes roses for the ladies & champagne. A shuttle can cost anywhere from $6 to $9 depending on the company. A taxi will run anywhere from $11 to $20 depending if you get long hauled. You can take the CAT (bus) for a couple bucks.

The monorail will be more costly if you are going with a couple other people. Also it is not very convenient unless you want to go from say MGM to the Hilton.

Forgot to add...

Go to Vegas Message Board, there is a section on getting there and getting around. You should find all the information you need. If not, join & ask. IMO that is the best resource for Vegas info available. The people are awesome and most helpful.

[This message has been edited by texas_aggie_girl_93 (edited 5/26/2009 2:55p).]

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W/o knowing how many people are going with you, where you would like to go sightseeing at, and how long you will be there for it would be impossible to answer your question.

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2 of us, all around the strip, 5 days M-F.

Checking out the Vegas message board now, thanks!

Having never rented a car before, would renting it for a day to go see the grand canyon and stock up on some food/drinks for the hotel be a good idea? Cost?

combination of all depending on where you are going.

have the cab driver stop at a convenience store.

As everyone is saying it all depends on your itinerary. We also love to rent a car when we go, but we are usually with several other couples and will rent 1 or 2 minivans depending on the need. We also like to go to many Off-the-Strip places, so sharing the rental is by far the cheapest for us.

On the other hand if you just plan to see places along the Strip, ride the free tram to the Excalibur as texican08 mentioned. You'll be within walking distance of most of the action and the best sightseeing.

The monorail is nice to ride but like aggie_girl said it can get expensive if there are several of you. However I would still recommend at least one round trip from end to end if you haven't been there before, visiting places along the way. A one day pass is reasonable and will allow you to do this.

Enjoy your stay - I'll be out there all of next week and can't wait!!!

***I was Aggie, when Aggie wasn't cool***

If you are under 25 renting a car is out of the question period, I think they charge ~100/day as an under 25 penalty for renting a car which completely blows my mind. If can find a really good rate ~30/day and plan on really going off the strip then this would be a good option.

W/ just two people you may be able to do a combo of monorail (24 hour pass for 13 dollars), cabs, buses (deuce runs downtown and would be cheap but ~40 dollars from Mandalay for a cab).

We just got back and used a one day monorail pass and we still ended up cabbing around a few spots. We were staying at MGM and went to CC, then took a cab from CC to TI, then hit the monorail back from Harrahs to MGM. We also took cabs from Bellagio to Rio, Palms to MGM, and Golden Nugget to MGM. Never took the bus, I would rather just pay a bit extra to hurry up and get there.


Leaving the airport you need to get a cab, wouldn't make sense for a shuttle. Quickest route should be either Paradise to East Sunset or Tropicana Ave. Ask them not to take you down the tunnel (which would be way out of the way and would be sucking that clock) and if they ignore you feel free to stiff them.

Going to the Grand Canyon would really be the only reason to rent a car and you may prefer to do a bus trip out there. They have some pretty good deals where you can go out there stop at different places (a lot of them include lunch spots which are included w/ your package), hit the GC and have them take you back. But this would also take up an entire day.



[This message has been edited by texican08 (edited 5/26/2009 3:32p).]

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If you are under 25 renting a car is out of the question period

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Didn't think about that - obviously not a problem for me as I'm well past that age.

Another option bq06 is certain casinos offer free shuttle service to their outlying places. Harrahs & Coast Casinos both do this, and there maybe others. Probably can check this out on the website as well.


***I was Aggie, when Aggie wasn't cool***

Renting a car has always been the best option for me, very cheap at carrentals.com and you can get to any casino quick plus valet parking is always free just tip few bucks, plus you can go load up with water, beer, drugs and whatever else you need

If you want to get out and about for a day, there is a rental car location at the Luxor. It is close to Mandalay Bay. It worked well for us the last time we were in LV.

Good question--sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. And when I have a car I still take a taxi sometimes. Just remember that Vegas is no more lenient than Texas on DUI and one of those could pretty much ruin your trip.

As was mentioned, everywhere (except possibly downtown)has free valet parking. With a car, you can check out downtown--it's worth it. Once when I had a car, I thoroughly enjoyed the guided tour of the dam, though I haven't made it a regular stop. And some of my golfing friends enjoy having a car though transportation is provided to courses. I also have a friend who is a serious bj player--he always gets a car to go to some casino that I have never heard of but is frequented by the locals. One trip, after several days on the strip, we went to the airport, rented a car, went to Grand Canyon overnight, returned the car and flew home.

My main point is that it's a matter of choice and what your plans are.

[This message has been edited by evermoreAg (edited 5/29/2009 7:04p).]

Good grief...don't know what happened.

[This message has been edited by evermoreAg (edited 5/29/2009 7:00p).]

[This message has been edited by evermoreAg (edited 5/29/2009 7:03p).]

dp--sorry

[This message has been edited by evermoreAg (edited 5/29/2009 6:59p).]

Yeah, that's one thing that really sucks when renting a car. I can't count the number of times the rental has sat in a garage for several days at a time because I was way too drunk to drive.

Several of the downtown hotels do offer free valet parking: Main Street Station, Plaza, Vegas Club, Fitzgeralds, and Golden Nugget. Those are the only ones I've used, so I don't know for sure about the others. The valet at the Plaza is SOOOO incredibly slow though, it would be quicker to park anywhere else.

The last couple of times I was able to rent a car for under $25.00/day. Pretty much the cost of one cab ride and you have the freedom to go all over Vegas.

Just one trip from the strip to downtown is $25-30 one way.

I use to to agree with the age old idea that it's dumb to rent a car in Vegas but not anymore. Rent a car.

RENT A CAR!!!!!!! lol