of J.B. TOLS.
I am an interior designer, photographer, blogger, advocate, adventurer, and mom to five boys. I love advocating for others and exploring new places--both near and far.

My name is

Jennie

September 23, 2019

ADVICE FOR A FOUR DAY TRIP TO SIN CITY WITH ACTIVITIES AND FULL BUDGET BREAKDOWN.

What started out as a simple desire of my brother-in-law to take my husband to see his favorite band, Def Leppard, play during their Las Vegas residency turned into a super fun couples weekend in Vegas. So, I compiled information about Our 4 Day Las Vegas Trip to help anyone out who may plan a quick trip there, too!

We planned this trips several months in advance and my brother-in-law took the lead in getting all of the flights and resorts booked and paid for, as well as, organizing some of the events. One event, in particular, that he organized was an E-Bike ride through the local Red Rock Canyon.

RED ROCK CANYON

COUPLE STANDING AT RED ROCKS

E-BIKE ADVENTURES

Learning how to ride an e-bike is a little tricky, but not too tricky. I was a little intimidated when I first got onto mine, but I found my stride within a few minutes—and, you will, too. The owners are super good at giving you instructions and a full walk though. So, do not sit out of the fun. Carpe Diem, as they say!

“And, DO NOT let the heat dissuade you. We were there in 108 degree weather with no clouds…and the weather was pleasant!”

WHAT TO WEAR

P.S. Wear comfy clothes. What would you wear to workout? Wear that. While the bikes do most of the work, you still do some. You will sweat and will want to be able to move easily. Good shoes are a necessity, as well.

I had very little influence on the plans of this trip and I was more than okay with that. This trip was my brother-in-laws idea. He planned it all out, bought all of the plane tickets and reserved all of the hotels for us in advance. It was so nice to just follow his itinerary for the trip.

My brother-in-law suggested that we do this bike tour and our spouses did not want to do it. But, we were able to convince them to go with us, anyway; and I think that they were glad that they did.

This three hour long tour was so fun! If you don’t know anything about electric bikes, I didn’t either, before this trip. Certainly, you can easily become very spoiled riding one of these around. We tackled the hills of Red Rock Canyon like they were nothing!

You can find the website to this company at Red E Bikes. The fee (as of September 2019) is $119, no hidden fees, three hour tour and they are willing to pick you up from your hotel! You can’t beat that.

NEVADA TEMPS ARE HIGH, BUT NOT AS BAD AS THEIR REPUTATION

And, DO NOT let the heat dissuade you. We were there in 108 degree weather with no clouds…and the weather was pleasant! We were not miserable at all! I would not have believed it, myself, but it is so very true.

Just the four of us in Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, Nevada.
My husband and I and our e-bikes in Red Rock Canyon.
Me in Red Rock Canyon
As I am starting to empty nest and more able to afford to travel, I want to see more beautiful landscapes like this. It is amazing how nature can satisfy the soul. Clearly, God made our environment beautiful for our enjoyment, because I enjoy it so much!

HOOVER DAM AND THE MEMORIAL BRIDGE

The Hoover Dam | OUR 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP | J.B. TOLS
Pictures from on top of The Hoover Dam | The Hoover Dam | OUR 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP | J.B. TOLS
Me in front of the many turbines that run the Hoover Dam | The Hoover Dam | OUR 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP | J.B. TOLS
Me in front of the many turbines that run the Hoover Dam

Following Red Rock Canyon, our second tourist stop was at the Hoover Dam and the Memorial Bridge. You have the option to take a tour of the interior. Therefore, I suggested that we do the tour because it is not enough for me to just see the thing; I want to know how it works, too. And, now I can say that I have walked right through the center of the dam. I think that we paid $30 a person for the one hour tour and we paid to park, I think. There weren’t any other expenses that I can recall.


I would highly recommend that you drink a ton of water prior to your visit and drink a lot of water during your visit.


All of that concrete heats up to pretty high temps and you get dehydrated very easily. As soon as the tour was over, we ran straight to a little cafe/general store and bought a couple bottles of water and Gatorade each and guzzled it down. We weren’t prepared for the additional heat.

This location brings me to one of my next destination ideas, by the way. I want to take another houseboat vacation, but this time to Lake Mead! Keep an eye out for that, someday.

ACCOMODATIONS FOR A 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP

THE BELLAGIO

ROOM AT THE BELLAGIO
View out the window of the Red Rock Resort and Casino
View out the window of the Red Rock Resort and Casino

The image above is of our room in The Bellagio. Luckily, We stayed here for two nights. It was very nice, as well. The bathroom was smaller than our bathroom at The Red Rock Casino, but the bedroom area was considerably larger, as you can see. Our room had views of the fountain, which was nice. We paid approximately $170 a night (not including taxes) to stay at The Bellagio. There was, also, a $20 a day fee for parking, but they did not charge us a resort fee on top of the room fees.

THE RED ROCK CASINO RESORT AND SPA

This is an image of our second hotel exterior. We ended up staying in three different hotels during our stay. Inconveniently, we had not considered the fact that we planned our trip over a holiday weekend. So, we had to bounce around to keep our hotel rates within budget.

As a result, I failed to get images of our first hotel room, but it was very nice. We stayed in The Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa the very first night. I loved that the entire resort smelled like it had been scented with…I do not know…something good; I have no idea what, but everything smelled good! Also, the bedroom was nice sized and the bathroom was the largest one we encountered. We paid approximately $180 for our mid-week night here (This does not include taxes, etc.). We, also, had to pay $20 to park and they charged a resort fee of, I think, $20 a day on top of the $180.

THE GOLDEN NUGGET

THE GOLDEN NUGGET

We stayed at The Golden Nugget on our last night. The first and last night, we shared a room with my in laws to keep costs down.

This is my take on The Golden Nugget:

You are right on Fremont Street, which is old Vegas, as I am told. So, if you are wanting to be there, you cannot get any closer. The room that we were in was your typical, itty-bitty hotel room with a bathroom that you must close the door to get to the shower, kind of hotel room. Unfortunately, the bathroom had a strong sulphur smell coming out of the drains and the carpets were pretty stained. It was do-able, but we all missed our resorts, I think.

And, I do not think that The Golden Nugget was that much cheaper than our other rooms. The difference was that the vibe of The Golden Nugget was more like the “college party life” kind of vibe and the resorts were a bit more classy and spacious! I am told that they have been remodeling. So, maybe we just got a room that was yet to be remodeled.

There is a lot of action just outside of The Golden Nugget. The following day, we walked the streets, checking everything out.

LAS VEGAS CONCERT? CHECK! WE SAW DEF LEPPARD!

Our whole reason for going to Las Vegas was to see Def Leppard in concert.

So, on our last night we saw Def Leppard perform live in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. That was pretty epic. Us old timers were reliving our childhoods for two hours! My husband is their number one fan, I am certain.

His brother planned this whole trip to Vegas so that we could see them during their Las Vegas residency, Live. Actually, they tour our home state every six years or so, but I am glad that we saw them in Vegas because the theater was small enough that I felt like we were very close to the band and the action. Unfortunately, to afford tickets when they come to our town, we are usually in the nosebleed sections and the band members are just mere specks on the stage. So, I appreciated that the venue was much more intimate, for sure.

THE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

“O”

Shockingly, I had never been to a CDS show ever before in my life. My brother in law said that we each got to choose something that we wanted to do and this was my thing to do. My husband didn’t want to go to it, but we took a vote and it fell in my favor.

And, boy am I glad that we did! It was spectacular. This particular show was done in a humongous swimming pool/stage in the theater within our resort, The Bellagio. I was just so amazed by the logistics of putting on a water show in a theater within a resort, let alone the quality and art of the show itself. I was just blown away by the entire production. Period.

Above all, see one of these shows whenever you can. Just simply do it. I was a good girl and followed the rules that said that you weren’t to take pictures or recordings. Unfortunately, I now wish that I had images of my own to show you, though.

Learn about Cirque Du Soleil: O and show times and availability by checking out their wesbite. Unfortunately, I do not know how long this link will work, but it appears that this show is active into 2020.

THE LAS VEGAS SIGN

This is a must do for Vegas. As a result, the line was so very long, but we held out and did it! We, probably, waited in line for an hour or a little more in 108/109 degree weather to get this iconic image.

But, it was one of those “Were you really in Vegas?” if you didn’t get this image things. Just do it. YOU HAVE TO.

This sign was designed by a female, Betty Willis, back in 1959. Find more info about the sign HERE.

There was no charge for taking these photos. However, there was a man there who claims to be a photographer who will take your image with your own camera for a tip.

WHERE WE ATE:

HELL’S KITCHEN

My sister-in-law is a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey. So, we had drinks at Hell’s Kitchen on one day.

GORDON RAMSEY STEAK HOUSE

Then, we at at Gordon Ramsey Steak House one evening.

SADELLES RESTAURANT IN THE BELLAGIO

We ate breakfast here each morning. I really enjoyed eating here. My husband thought that it was expensive, but I thought that it was reasonable for the quality and service that we got.

PROS AND CONS OF A FOUR DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP:

CONS:

  1. THERE IS A CASINO IN DARN NEAR EVERY SINGLE BUILDING. (You might find that a PRO…who knows)
  2. THERE ARE A LOT OF DRUNK PEOPLE AROUND.
  3. THERE ARE HALF NAKED PEOPLE ON MOST STREET CORNERS (SUPPOSEDLY IN COSTUME) FOR PHOTO OPS.
  4. THE HEAT. WHILE IT ISN’T HUMID LIKE WHERE I AM FROM, IT IS STILL HOT IN NEVADA (but not a deal breaker).
  5. IT IS VERY CROWDED. VERY CROWDED. ALL YEAR LONG.
  6. FOOD AND BEVERAGES ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.
  7. I WOULD HAVE LIKED AN EXTRA DAY TO BE BY THE POOL

PROS:

  1. MOST EVERYTHING IS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF WHERE YOU WILL LIKELY BE STAYING.
  2. THERE ARE SHOWS/ENTERTAINMENT CHOICES IN MOST, IF NOT EVERY, RESORT BUILDING.
  3. DESPITE THE “SIN CITY” NAME, I FELT VERY SAFE.
  4. THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD FOOD OPTIONS.
  5. THERE IS A STARBUCKS IN MOST RESORTS (if not more than one).
  6. NEVADA IS DESERT LAND, BUT VERY BEAUTIFUL DESERT LAND.

MY OVERALL OPINION OF OUR 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP:

GAMBLING

I have never gambled before and wasn’t very intrigued by that. Plus, we were on a super tight budget. So, I wasn’t interested in being there to shop or to gamble—which seemed like the main things to do in Vegas, besides going to shows. We didn’t even gamble one time, if you can believe that; we planned to, but it just never ended up being a priority. If you enjoy to gamble, though, this is the place for you.

CHILDREN: YES OR NO

Certainly, I did not find it to be a place for children. One night, a local woman had four of her kids on the strip late at night to watch the Bellagio fountain show. She was standing next to us and I heard her say “DO NOT tell your father that we were down here. He says that this is not a place for kids”. I had to laugh a little. I would be up for being proven or shown to be wrong. Maybe if they advertised more options for kids, I would change my mind? But, while I was there I didn’t see a lot of kids activities.

SHOWS / ENTERTAINMENT

I loved the couple of shows that we saw. If I had more money to hit more shows, I would go back just for the entertainment. And, we were moving so quickly that I had no time to relax around the pool, write, or to take more beautiful images.

So, if I had the opportunity to take a trip more slowly, I may give it another chance. And, a friend told me, after the fact, that all of the resorts have amazing art shows. She said that she frequently visits Vegas just to see the art shows. I didn’t see any advertisements for art shows!!

So, missing the art was a bit of a letdown. I would have loved to visit some art shows. Considering that, maybe I would be more intentional about certain things if I went back; and maybe that would make me appreciate Vegas more. But, as of right now, one visit was enough for me.


BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES:

When you review our expenses, take into account that we would have had an extra $90 in fees at Red Rock Resort if we wouldn’t have shared a room the first night. And, we split the rental car fees in half. And, we shared a hotel room on the last night at The Golden Nugget, which saved us $70 for the night.


If you have Las Vegas stories or tips and advice that you would like to share, please add them in the comments below. Or, if you have any questions, as well, ask them in the comments below. Enjoy a short slideshow of our trip below. Happy traveling!! — J


If you enjoyed PLAN A 4 DAY LAS VEGAS TRIP: ITINERARY AND BUDGET , you might also enjoy:

HOW TO SPEND 8 DAYS IN FRANCE ON A BUDGET.

Enjoy!

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Itinerary and Budget: 4 Day Las Vegas Trip

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