sard

Please give me your opinion on my travel plans.
The flight is already booked, but havent done the hotels yet.

Let me know if theres something that should NOT be grouped together or something that SHOULD be grouped together.

I know, Zion is probably 2 days...

Thanks!

Thursday - fly in to LAX
Friday - drive to Vegas / walk around to all the casinos
Saturday - Zion
Sunday - Hoover Dam / Valley of Fire / maybe Red Rock
Monday - Drive to LA
Tuesday - Universal Studios / walk of Fame
Wednesday - Rodeo Drive / Sunset Blvd / Venice Beach
Thursday - Catalina Island
Friday - fly back

azlefty

Are you going to Zion to meet someone? If you are flexible, maybe Death Valley or the Joshua Tree/Palm Springs area would be more on the way. However, they get very hot in the summer so it depends on the time of year you are going.

Not clear on what your priorities are, but if it were me, I'd spend at least 2 nights in Vegas and take day trips to Red Rock, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, or Grand Canyon as my mood dictated. However, I suggest going to Vegas Tuesday through Friday, so you avoid the crowds and the much higher weekend prices. This would also let you avoid weekday LA traffic to some extent.

Then the rest of the time in LA, choose a hotel and play it by ear. If you want to spend a day in Catalina, fine, but you can make it a game time call.

I don't think there is all that much to see on Catalina; it's a lot of travel for about an hour's worth of activity. I believe the town of Avalon is only a square mile. I've only been there on a cruise ship and was ready to go after a few hours, although maybe others feel differently. However, the boat ride is probably very nice if that is your focus.

I'd rather spend a day at the beach, maybe go to a dodger game, shop on Melrose, eat at Canters, go to a taping of a TV show, see the Groundlings, etc. Plenty of fun things to do in LA.

Who is going and what kinds of things do you like to do? Is there anything special about LA you might not have at home?

kingalien

Suggest you fly to Vegas. Nothing worthwhile on the road getting there.

sard

>>azlefty
>>Are you going to Zion to meet someone?

Nope, the wife wants to go there.


>>maybe Death Valley or the Joshua Tree

Death Valley is too far out of the way.
Is Joshua Tree anywhere along the places we are going to?


>>I'd spend at least 2 nights in Vegas and take day trips to Red Rock, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, or Grand Canyon as my mood dictated.
>>

We have Red Rock, Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam listed in my plan.


>>However, I suggest going to Vegas Tuesday through Friday

Our flights are booked, so can't change it. The reason we are going to Vegas first is this way, we won't have to worry about rushing back to LA for our friday flight. (since we'll be in LA already for the 2nd part of the trip)


>>Who is going and what kinds of things do you like to do? Is there anything special about LA you might not have at home?
>

The wife and I are going.
I love touristy stuff (hence, Hoover Dam and walk around the Casinos), she loves hiking and nature (Zion, Valley of Fire)


>>kingalien
>>Suggest you fly to Vegas. Nothing worthwhile on the road getting there.


The flights are already booked.
The reason I am flying into LAX is...I am traveling for work that week, and I am using the "return" flight to go on this trip.
I thought flying into LAX is more acceptable to the office than flying into Vegas.

azlefty

I'm not sure that Death Valley would be more out of the way than Zion, but it's certainly your decision.

Joshua Tree is about 3 hours east of LA and 4 hours south of Vegas. (as the crow flies it is not that far but there are no direct freeways). It's pretty beautiful.

If you want to see something offbeat, this is also worth a stop, in the town of Joshua tree:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/noah-purifoy...on-joshua-tree

To clarify, if you are flying in and out of LA, I'm suggesting you be in Vegas anytime except Friday and Saturday nights, when it is expensive and crowded. You can check for rooms and you will see what I mean. There's nothing wrong with being there on the weekend, just the lines are longer and prices for rooms and buffets go up. If you want to see certain shows, check to make sure you are there on the days they are playing.

The only other places you might see bad crowds is at Universal or maybe the beach, so if you can hit those places on weekdays also you won't be waiting so long.

HawaiiTrvlr

Just be mindful of the fact that when you drive from LAX to Vegas on a Friday, you and what seems half of Southern California will be doing the same thing; be prepared for heavy traffic. I agree, drive isnt really worth and should be avoided if possible.

indyscott

(bolding mine)

I don't think this portion of the plan, as currently stated, is feasible.

You might want to do some research and choose 6-10 you REALLY want to see and skip the rest.

The strip (from Stratosphere to Mandalay Bay) is about 5 miles and has no less than 30 casinos. That doesn't include Fremont Street area, Boulder Highway, or other off-strip casinos...

My list - for max "tourist value" - would be Wynn/Encore, Venetian/Palazzo, Mirage, Caesar's Palace, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Paris, Planet Hollywood, CityCenter, New York New York. If you walk those and see just see the basics (e.g. Bellagio fountain, Forum Shops, Eifel Tower, etc.) you will have a VERY full day...

sard

>>azlefty
>>I'm suggesting you be in Vegas anytime except Friday and Saturday nights

You have a very good point.
But my wife's point is, if we do vegas in the second half of the trip, we'll be rushed/stressed on the last day, because we have to drive back to LA for our flight. We don't want to miss it, etc...

Good point about the shows.
We were originally planning on going to tix4tonight to get shows at 50 off, but now I'm thinking if we should just buy it ahead of time.
We are thinking of seeing Celine Dion and one of the Cirque shows, either O, Ka or Revre.


>>HawaiiTrvlr
>>Just be mindful of the fact that when you drive from LAX to Vegas on a Friday, you and what seems half of Southern California will be doing the same thing;
>

We'll probably be on the road about 10:30am, so hopefully that will beat the Vegas rush.


>>indyscott
>>You might want to do some research and choose 6-10 you REALLY want to see and skip the rest.

hmmm, this is what I have on my Casino-see list:
Atlantis - Caesars Palace
Atlantis Aquarium - Caesars Palace
Festival of Fountains - Caesars Palace
Aquarium - Mirage
Volcano - Mirage
Payard Chocolate Clock
Fountain at Miracle Mile
Rainstorm at Merchants' Harbor - Miracle Mile Shops
Conservatory at Bellagio
Fountains of Bellagio
Show in the Sky - Rio
Sirens of TI -
Take a picture by the Las Vegas sign. It's just after Mandalay Bay.
and I also want to go to Luxor and Excaliber.

I assume there will be signs at Caesars for the shows?
They have 2 shows at the exact same time.

swanscn

Having made the drive I like others would advise against it. I would just book a separate RT between LAX and LAS and save yourself 10 or more hours of driving, of course that is up to you. I like Hoover Dam and the new bypass bridge to bad the hard hat tours are no more. The list you have for casinos will involve more than walking in my opinion especially since the RIO is not on the Strip. As others have suggested limiting you walks to a specific area is a good idea. I would suggest between the Wynn and Mandalay Bay and even this will be a good walk.
One thing that has worked for me when trying to get tickets is around 6pm go to the will call office. Usually some tickets that were expected to be used that evening are returned. It does not always work but I have gotten some great seats this way for shows that are generally sold out.
Have fun.

azlefty

I doubt it will be 11 hours if you leave that early, but will probably hit at least some traffic. Probably more like an extra hour. To save time, instead of taking Interstate 10, try the 105 east to the 605 north to the 210 east to the 15 north.

In the off-chance you are on Southwest, it couldn't hurt to check how much it would cost to change your flight to fly into ontario. Depending on how far away your trip is, it might be less than you think. That will save you a lot of traffic because you are already at the 15.

kingalien

my suggestion was to fly LAX-LAS. As others have stated there is nothing worthwhile on the road to Vegas.

Add to your casino list mini Eiffel at Paris.

zippyh

I wouldn't make too much effort to see any of those things except the Bellagio Conservatory and the Fountains. Maybe the chocolate clock since it randomly spits out chocolates.

And for seeing the Fountains, I'd just try to get a patio table at Mon Ami Gabi or some other restaurant.

There's really little reason to go to Luxor. And even less reason to visit Exaclibur.

jsmeeker

You sure like the water!!

Out of all those water things, Bellagio fountains is the only one worth seeing. I wouldn't go out of my way for any of the others, except maybe if you stolid through Caesars to/from The Mirage from/too Bellagio.

Skip anything off strip (i.e. Rio). As another poster suggested, skip Luxor and Excalibur. Skip the show at TI. Volcano at Miage is fine if you are down that way at night, but probably not worth going inside unless you really want to see the place that really ignited the current modern Las Vegas (of course, the inside is a lot different than it was when Steve Wynn opened the joint)

Different shows will be in different showrooms/theaters. It's not uncommon for the hotels to have two or more.

sard

>>kingalien
>>Add to your casino list mini Eiffel at Paris.

Got it, thanks!


>>zippyh
>>There's really little reason to go to Luxor. And even less reason to visit Exaclibur.

>>jsmeeker
>>As another poster suggested, skip Luxor and Excalibur. Skip the show at TI

Luxor is shaped like a Pyramid and has that cool light that shoots out from the top! And excaliber has Knights!
Those are awesome! (like I said before, I love "touristy" stuff)

I was in Vegas once before...about 10+ years ago.
Stayed at the Luxor and it was great. I actually saw the show at TI twice that night!
I can't wait to see it again!

My wife is more interested in "fancy" looking places like the Venetian or the Bellagio.
I like the fun-looking places like Luxor/Circus Circus/Excaliber.

Don't remember if I posted my hotels, but here it is (using points):
Friday - Las Vegas Marriott
Saturday - Las Vegas Marriott
Sunday - The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Autograph Collection

As a platinum, I get free Buffets at the Marriott.
Not sure about Cosmo, but I hear their buffet is great, so we're getting it too.

Now...since we get free breakfast buffets...and we'll most likely be not be IN Vegas for lunch...I don't think we should do the Buffet of Buffets. Although that is a GREAT deal, if a person will be in town for 2 days in a row.

jsmeeker

I'm guessing that you are using Marriott points for the hotels. Cosmo is on the strip, but other than that night, you aren't on the strip. I would suggest saving the points and booking a room one the strip for all nights. It will make things more convenient.


If you get lucky at Cosmo, you can get a room with a great room with a killer view of the Bellagio fountains AND the Eiffel tower at Paris.