"A tourists view of Las Vegas" Top 5 Page for this destination Las Vegas by goingsolo

This was my first trip to Vegas. Since I don't gamble, I'd never taken the time to visit. But after doing some research, I decided there was so much to see and do that I just had to check it out.

Walking through the Bellagio lobby on the Monday afternoon of my arrival, I kept thinking of the song "People are strange" by The Doors. I'd heard words such as "wackos" and "characters" used to describe the tourist population of Vegas. Being from Miami where everyone is strange, I figured it wouldn't throw me. It did. Surrounded by glassy eyed gamblers, I noticed that everone looked glazed, doing the Vegas shuffle from one gaming table to the next. The slow moving tourist parade ambled and waddled along, pausing, staring, photographing, and in general just standing in the way Maybe it was the result of an all night gambling binge, or drinking binge, or both, or simply the product of too many buffets, but for one of the few times in my solo traveling life, I was afraid.

I was supposed to take this trip alone and for the first time in my solo traveling career, I was starting to regret that. Fortunately, through some contacts, I had people out here to show me around. But, as it turns out, this is a real friendly city. Everyone caters to tourists here and even those who were on vacation were quite nice.

I had just 4 days and nights to explore and try to see everything, It was impossible to do, but I think I sampled a good bit of the restaurants, nightlife, shows and tourist attractions. I spent too much and ate to excess. The Vegas hot, hot hot sun burned my skin and melted my plastic jelly sandals. And I did manage to throw all of my quarters into the video poker machines. But the lights and sounds and the general Vegas vibe captured me more than any American city has been able to do.

Trip number 2 brought me to Vegas in much cooler weather. I had the chance to get away from Sin City and explore the recreational areas of Red Rock Canyon, Mount Charleston and Valley of the Fire State Park. It also gave me a chance to consume more buffet meals, watch some shows and lose a bit more at video poker. I'm in the process of updating this page so feel free to check back.

In the meantime, I'll try to offer as much information as possible while giving the single female non-gambler's perspective on Sin City.

• Pros:There's nothing like it anywhere in the world.
• Cons:Money goes quickly and not just in the video poker machines
• In a nutshell:I love this town!