Travel to Las Vegas, Nevada – Episode 994

Hear about travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, as the Amateur Traveler talks to Meryl Pearlstein about this glamorous city in the desert that keeps drawing her back.

Why Go to Las Vegas if You Don’t Gamble?

Meryl makes the case that Las Vegas is far more than casinos. She highlights the city as a place where you can combine top-tier dining, arts and culture, unusual museums, live entertainment, and desert outdoor adventures, all in one trip. She also points to adrenaline-fueled experiences, from exotic cars to go-karting and off-roading.

When to Go

Las Vegas can be brutally hot in summer, and Meryl specifically recommends skipping July unless you are prepared for temperatures over 105°F. Her preferred seasons are spring, especially April, plus October and November, when the weather is cooler and more comfortable for walking and sightseeing.

Where to Stay

Because the Strip is longer and more spread out than many first-time visitors expect, Meryl recommends choosing your hotel based on what you most want to do. She notes that walking can be deceptive and inconvenient, and suggests using Uber rather than renting a car. For the south end, she suggests MGM Grand or New York-New York, especially if you want easier access to shows and attractions there. For a central location, she likes the Bellagio area. Her favorite newer option is Fontainebleau Las Vegas on the north end, which she praises for its calmer feel, strong restaurant lineup, excellent spa and gym, and convenient location for heading downtown or out into the desert.

Downtown Las Vegas: History, Art, and Offbeat Attractions

Downtown gets a strong endorsement from Meryl, though not as a place to stay. Meryl recommends the Mob Museum for anyone interested in the history of Las Vegas, especially its connections to organized crime, and notes the speakeasy in the basement. She also recommends the Neon Museum, best visited after dark with a reservation and a tour, and calls out the newer “Brilliant!” light show as a lesser-known companion attraction. Other downtown picks include the Punk Rock Museum, the Arts District, AREA15, Omega Mart by Meow Wolf, and Artistic Iron Works, which she describes as an unexpectedly fun stop. Esther’s Kitchen gets a mention as a standout dining option in this area.

Museums and Indoor Attractions Beyond Downtown

Just off the Strip, Meryl recommends the National Atomic Testing Museum for its mix of science, Cold War history, and Nevada context. She also highlights Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and the Pinball Hall of Fame as worthwhile non-gambling attractions that many visitors overlook.

Easy Day Trips and Desert Escapes

When you are in Vegas, schedule some time to get out of town. Meryl recommends Red Rock Canyon for accessible hiking and dramatic scenery, Valley of Fire State Park for its landscapes and petroglyphs, and Pink Jeep Tours as an easy way to visit both without driving yourself.

She also recommends Hoover Dam, either as a standard tour or as part of a float trip through Black Canyon below the dam. She also recommends the Maverick Helicopters to the Grand Canyon. Other suggested excursions include Seven Magic Mountains, the semi-abandoned mining town of Goodsprings, and the historic Pioneer Saloon. Chris adds Boulder City’s Hoover Dam museum as another worthwhile stop for people interested in the dam’s history.

Fast Cars, Heavy Equipment, and Other Adrenaline Experiences

Meryl’s Vegas includes some high-octane activities. She recommends exotic car driving experiences, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Grand Prix Plaza for Formula 1-themed fun, go-karting, and Dig This, where visitors can operate heavy construction equipment like bulldozers and backhoes. She frames these as part of what makes Las Vegas such a surprisingly broad destination.

Shows and Entertainment

Meryl recommends planning a trip around a concert or major show when possible. She discusses the city’s wide range of entertainment venues and notes that hotel and venue websites, along with Ticketmaster searches for Las Vegas, are useful tools for seeing what is on. Among Cirque productions, her favorite is Mad Apple at New York-New York, which she says feels fresher and funnier than the more classic Cirque formula. She also mentions O, KA, Awakening, and Absinthe, noting that Absinthe is especially wild and that seat choice matters.

Comedy, Music, and Sphere

For comedy, Meryl recommends Brad Garrett’s club at the MGM Grand and Comedy Cellar at the Rio. On the music side, she talks about Las Vegas residencies and how the city has become a major destination for “gig tripping,” where travelers build an entire trip around a concert. She also discusses Sphere as a one-of-a-kind entertainment venue, both for its immersive interior and its constantly changing exterior visuals. For a more intimate music experience, she strongly recommends the Sand Dollar Lounge, a divey live-music spot off the Strip.

Dining: Splurge-Worthy Restaurants

Food is one of the biggest reasons Meryl loves Las Vegas. She stresses that reservations matter, especially when conferences or major events are in town. Her high-end picks include restaurants by José Andrés at the Cosmopolitan, especially Jaleo, China Poblano, and the ultra-exclusive é by José Andrés. She also recommends focusing on hotel clusters with many good options, particularly the Venetian and Fontainebleau, so you can dine well without spending all your time moving around the Strip. At the Venetian, she calls out restaurants from chef Eyal Shani, plus SushiSamba, Yardbird, and Bazaar Meat. At Fontainebleau, she praises both the casual promenade options and higher-end spots such as Chyna Club, Cantina Contramar, and Komodo, along with the hidden-feeling bar Nowhere.

Dining: Affordable and Late-Night Favorites

Meryl also shares some budget-friendly suggestions. She recommends Chinatown on Spring Mountain Road for late-night and more affordable meals, especially Hong Kong Garden Seafood. She also gives a strong endorsement to Tacos El Gordo as a cheap, popular, standing-room taco stop. Other budget-friendly mentions include In-N-Out near the High Roller, Eataly at Park MGM, and food-court options at places like the Cosmopolitan.

Practical Tips

The practical advice is simple but useful: wear comfortable shoes, expect to walk more than you think, and dress for comfort rather than trying to match the more theatrical side of Vegas style. Meryl suggests changing into dressier shoes only when needed for fine dining, clubs, or evening entertainment.

Sponsors

This month, Amateur Traveler is supported by Smart Travel, a new podcast from Nerd Wallet that helps you travel smarter and spend less.

Upgrade your wardrobe with high-quality essentials and get free shipping and 365-day returns at Quince.com/TRAVELER.

Traveling Soon? These useful links will help you prepare for your trip.

• Save at 20 Attractions with the Las Vegas Sightseeing Pass
• Buy Travel Insurance
• Get a Car Rental

Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/traveler.

subscribe: rss feed | Apple podcasts

right click here to download (mp3)

Show Notes

Meryl D. Pearlstein Publicity
Fontainebleau Las Vegas: The Best Hotel Experience
The Mob Museum
The Neon Museum – We Are The Story of Las Vegas
Brilliant! Jackpot – Immersive Vegas Lightshow
The Punk Rock Museum
DTLV Arts
AREA15: An Immersive Entertainment and Events District in Las Vegas
Omega Mart by Meow Wolf
Artistic Iron
Esther’s Kitchen
National Atomic Testing Museum
Shark Reef Aquarium
Pinball Hall of Fame
Maverick Helicopters
Pink Adventure Tours
Red Rock Canyon
Valley of Fire State Park
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam tours and float trips
Seven Magic Mountains
Goodsprings Ghost Town
Pioneer Saloon
Mad Apple by Cirque de Soleil
Las Vegas Supercar Driving Experience
Las Vegas Motor Speedway tours
F1 Drive
Grand Prix Plaza – go-karting
Dig This – Heavy Equipment Playground in Las Vegas
Lapis Spa and Wellness – Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Awakening Show
Absinthe Show
Brad Garrett Comedy
Comedy Cellar
Sphere
Friends! The Unauthorized Musical Parody
The Sand Dollar Lounge
Chinatown Vegas
Hong Kong Garden
Tacos El Gordo
High Roller Observation Wheel
Eataly Las Vegas
Las Vegas Restaurant Collection | The Cosmopolitan
é by José Andrés
Dine At The Venetian Resort
Vegas Restaurants at Fontainebleau:
Nowhere – Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Stories by Meryl Pearlstein : Contently

Community

Give me your feedback on the show at AmateurTraveler.com/1000
Amateur Traveler Trips

On Central America Road Trip – Episode 989:

Hi Chris,

Another great episode that brought back memories in particular of Antigua, which is such a special place. A less well-known gem there is the Casa Popenoe, which is an excellent place to understand the history of Antigua, both when it was the capital of Guatemala, and its more recent preservation, leading it to become a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Originally built only about a decade before the capital was relocated, the house was bought by the American Wilson Popenoe in the early twentieth century. He and his wife restored it and opened it to visitors, even while living in the house. It’s now open by guided tour, which needs to be booked at least the day before, but for anyone interested in history and architecture it is a must-visit.

Jonty

Good Morning Chris,

I have heard you ask several times recently for some feedback while approaching 1,000 episodes. I am not sure I have a lot of useful long-term input. You have already here one of the most popular, useful, and long-running sources of travel information in any currently running venue. It would be hard to improve on. You are good at coaxing guests back onto the path and keeping them moving through their week-long itineraries in an hour. An hour is definitely a better time target than the old original episodes, that seemed to have been aiming for half that. Not every trip can be wedged into a one-week itinerary, but it seems there ought to be some target, and you deviate from that when necessary.

I haven’t made any specific trips because I heard them mentioned on your show. If I have decided to go to a place, though, in addition to looking on YouTube for content creators who have been to those places, I search the archives for episodes of your podcast. I do these things when building my tentative itinerary. I often have a list of places and things I’d like to see in a place, and then amend that a bit once I am in the country.

I was interested to hear about your recent trip to Central America. I am only about two months removed from a trip to Colombia, Panama, and El Salvador. On a trip a couple of years ago, I visited Belize, Guatemala, and Copan Ruinas. On both trips, I was doing a more independent travel style with one or two of my adult children. We focus on historical sites, and our time in Guatemala was more focused on Mayan ruins. We went to Tikal, El Mirador (which required a helicopter ride), and Copan before spending a couple of days each in Antigua and Chichicastenango. We made a day trip to Lake Atitlan from Antigua, and then spent a couple of days on Caulker Kay in Belize before flying home. I think the thing that made Copan unique among Mayan ruins was that whereas the facia displays of gods and mythology on the buildings in all of the other cities were made out of some kind of plaster, I believe the ones in Copan were all carved out of rock. Those were all original and have survived the test of time, while a lot of those you see at Chichen Itza, for example, are highly reconstructed.

You also mention the safety situation in El Salvador. I was supposed to just connect through San Salvador on the way back from Colombia and Panama. A huge ice storm hit DFW in late January, and I ended up spending four days in El Salvador waiting for another Avianca flight back to Texas. I used the time to see as much as I could. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised about the safety and security in El Salvador. I also found it interesting – and I guess predictable – that Bukele has something like a 90% approval rating. I found it especially peculiar how many of the Europeans staying in the hostel disapproved of Bukele and found the Salvadorans’ tauting of his work so distasteful. I have heard similar negativity regarding Bukele from politicians. I guess if you don’t personally live through MS-13 threatening and killing your loved ones, perhaps you don’t appreciate what may have been necessary to clean the place up. The violence in El Salvador before Bukele was almost unbelievable. An archbishop was murdered for preaching against organized crime, and many of his supporters were murdered at the archbishop’s funeral! While Bukele’s methods would not be effective or welcome in Europe or the U.S., they certainly have made El Salvador a much better place. That’s one thing I think we all learn from travel – different things work for different people and different places. Maybe it’s better to think of cultures and practices in other places as not being better or worse, just different.

Sorry, that’s pretty long. I hope something in it is useful. You do good work, and I’m amazed at how long-running the podcast has been.

David