Free Vegas: Shopping in Sin City

While Las Vegas might be known for the gambling and casinos, you can't look past all of the shopping choices available to the traveler in Vegas. There are plenty of places to go shopping in Las Vegas, and though you might lose some money in the shops - at least you'll have something to take home with you - something the blackjack table might forget to do.

The Strip has a ton of shopping options for you. Most of the mega-resort casinos have some sort of shopping mall connected to their casinos.

Caesar's Palace has the Forum Shops connected to the casino. It's a popular place for tourists and locals alike to hang out, grab a bite to eat or shop. Store include everything from GapKids and Guess? to Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Burberry among it's 150 shops. Restaurants include the popular Planet Hollywood and the Cheesecake Factory. Or if you're looking for something a little different you can get sushi at Sushi Roku or try Wolfgang Puck's Spago. There are shops for everyone here, or you it's a good place to people watch or check out the fountain shows.

Across the street from the Forum Shops are the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. This gigantic mall has canals with gondolas just like the city of Venice. you can stroll the cobblestone streets or hitch a ride in one of the gondolas. Either way, there are a ton of shops and restaurants to enjoy as well as numerous street performers throughout the mall. One of the neat things about the Grand Canal Shoppes is that the ceiling is painted like and lit like the sky - so along with the canals it almost feels like you are strolling the streets of Venice. Read More.

If you liked this article be sure and check out my other published articles on Associated Content.

Free Vegas: Hiking Outside of Sin City

Travel to Las Vegas and you'll likely hear plenty about nearby attractions like the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, and Lake Mead. There are even places right on the Strip where you can take part in guided tours of these places. These highly publicized attractions are well worth it and have many interesting sights and are great ways to escape the lights of Vegas. But in addition to these high traffic tourist spots, there are a couple of not so highly publicized areas that are well worth your time, and cost no more than a rental car and a camera.

Red Rock Canyon is located about 15 miles west of the Strip. It is just outside of the city - you can take Charleston Boulevard all the way there. Charleston crosses the strip just north of the Stratosphere. Hop on Charleston and go west. Once you pass Red Rock Casino and Highway 215, you're almost there.

When you first get to Red Rock, there is a visitor's center where you can get out and check out some of the history of the canyon. You can learn about the Native American's who first lived in the area as well as the animals and plants that populate the canyon. Read more.

If you liked this article check out my other articles published on Associated Content.

Free Vegas Series Pt. 2

A few more articles published on Associated Content.

Free Vegas: The Fremont Street Experience
Las Vegas on a Budget

Head down to Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas and you'll find the largest LCD big screen in the world. Where exactly is it? Look up, it's overhead - arching over pedestrian friendly Fremont Street. Read more...

They also picked up one of my reviews on Red Rock's Poker Room.

Vegas Poker: Red Rock Casino Poker Room

The poker room at Red Rock is a large, comfortable room with a very friendly staff. Because the majority of the players in the poker room are locals, the staff works really hard to keep their business. Read more...

Planning a trip to Vegas and there is something in particular that you would like to see reviewed by me on this site - let me know. I'll tell you what I know about it and give you my honest opinion.

Imperial Palace Auto Collection

Ok. You've made it to Vegas, but you're tired of the clinking and clanking of the slot machines, sunburned by the Vegas sun, or maybe you're just a big car enthusiast.

The Imperial Palace, located on the strip next to Harrah's and across from Caesar's Palace, is home to the largest classic car collection in the world.

Admission is $6.95 per adult - but there are often people offering free tickets to the collection out on the strip in front of the Imperial Palace. Or, check out some of the free "to do" magazines available everywhere - they often have coupons for the auto collection. Even better yet - before you go, click here for a free coupon to the show!

In the collection there is something for everybody - they have every imaginable classic car you can think of. They also have three of the VW bugs used in the last "Herbie" movie.

The main floor has cars of every make and model. From classic Chevy's and Fords to examples from some of the premier car lines the world has seen including: Packard, Rolls-Royce, Duesenberg, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot Lago, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Cadillac, Delahaye, Delage, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, Horch, Isotta Fraschini, Pierce Arrow, Minerva, plus many more.

You'll also notice a price tag on many of the cars. Almost all of the autos in the collection are available for sale. So if you have a $25,000 for a classic Indy Pace car or perhaps an extra 4 million for one of the Phantoms on display, you'll be able to drive it out of the showroom as well.

So if you're bored and want to take a drive down car memory lane - check it out!

Associated Content - My Free Vegas Series

I've begun publishing a series of articles on Associated Content called the Free Vegas Series. In each article I highlight different Vegas attractions that are either free or inexpensive.

If you don't know about Associated Content - it's a sight that pays you to post articles, anywhere from $3 - $20. It's a pretty neat program and I'm having fun with it. It's a nice supplement to this blog.

Here are my articles:

Free Vegas: Sin City on a Budget
Heading to Las Vegas on a budget? Or maybe you're already here - confined to your hotel room flipping channels and surfing the internet well, because lets just say you gambled a little more than you had planned.

Free Vegas: Free Shows in Vegas
Free drinks. Free shirts. Free buffets. Las Vegas is full of free stuff - you just have to know where to look. It's estimated that Las Vegas Casinos spend over 3 million dollars a day giving away free stuff.

Free Vegas: Hiking Outside of Sin City
Red Rock Canyon is located about 15 miles west of the Strip. There are numerous hiking trails that you can stop and hike. The canyon is also popular to rock climbers, who can often be seen scaling the cliffs and rocks of the area.

Another article I wrote unrelated to the Free Vegas series:

How to Become a Poker Pro in 3 Days
First on the list, and probably the most important step in this process, buy a nice pair of sunglasses.

All of my articles on Associated Content will be available through the widget in the sidebar of this page.

Free Vegas Intro

Just a quick introduction to get things rolling here. I'm a writer/poker player/dad living in Las Vegas. I have a few blogs that I maintain which you can find links to on the right.

I'm starting this blog because I think Las Vegas is a great destination for a vacation - but with so many things to do, how do you decide? And what if you're on a budget? I'm going to be reviewing the places in Las Vegas where families can go and have fun, and which won't keep you from buying little Johnny new shoes when you get home.