Las Vegas is big and bustling – and let’s face it – sometimes it can be a chore to get around Sin City. Yet even if the big convention or championship boxing match is in town, savvy visitors can find their way. Here’s an insider’s guide to getting around Las Vegas.
If you arrive by plane, a taxi ride to a Strip hotel (where most of the major theme resorts are located) will cost $1020, and to a downtown hotel $2030, depending on the route taken and the time of day. Airport shuttle fares cost $8 to Strip hotels. They’re excellent value for money and can be found immediately on your right as you exit the baggage reclaim area. The ticket office is on your left. In addition, most major hotels run shuttles to and from the airport.
If you’re sticking to the main drag, the monorail will be the fastest bet. However, the bus service Citizens Area Transit (CAT) has a 24-hour service on the Strip and Downtown, plus 40 other routes that operate 5.30am1.30am daily. For information about routes and schedules, call 702-228 7433.
The Monorail – www.lvmonorail.com
Prices: Single ride ticket $5; 10-ride ticket $35 (one ride equals one trip of any distance); one-day ticket $15, valid for unlimited travel for any 24-hour period; three-day ticket $40, valid for 72 hours from first use. Automated ticket machines can be found at all the stops and some of the resorts.
Hours: 7am2am daily.
The $650 million monorail opened in 2004 and is a happy, if somewhat flawed, way to get around. In fact, most times it is by far the fastest way to travel from one part of the Strip to another. The monorail grew from an original transit venture between the MGM Grand and Bally’s Hotel in 1993. The Las Vegas Monorail Company, which owns the new transit service, was created in 2000 as a non-profit corporation and now owns the original monorail system.
Monorails come every six minutes and whisk you along to your destination, avoiding the horrid traffic of the Strip. There are two niggles about the monorail service. First, when it opened in 2004 a single fare was only $3, but this was raised in 2007 to $5, which makes it far less of a bargain than originally. Second, all the stops are poorly marked, often difficult to find, and they are also in the very back of each property. This means you must do a lot of walking through these massive resorts to get there, then another long walk to get to where you want.
It effectively runs on the east side of the Strip from the MGM Grand