How to Spend Five Days in Las Vegas

Though most people are completely exhausted after even two or three days in Las Vegas, if you’ve got the better part of a week to spend in the city, there’s more than enough to keep you occupied. Of course, everyone has different ideas about what makes for the perfect Las Vegas vacation, but, in general, if you want to hit the highlights and truly make the most of your five days in Sin City, here’s how you can fill your time.

DAY ONE

If this is your first time in Las Vegas, take the time to explore the basics of the four-mile area known as the Strip before deciding where else to focus your attention. Make sure you’re wearing a comfortable pair of walking shoes, and then explore the highlights of Las Vegas Boulevard. This includes wandering through some of the most impressive casinos, snapping photos of the most iconic hotels (such as Paris Las Vegas and Luxor), checking out some of the fun shops found in Las Vegas (including M&Ms World and the Coke Store), enjoying some of the most popular free attractions (like the lions at MGM Grand) and catching the Bellagio Fountains at night.

For more details on how to spend your first day in Las Vegas, check out day one of the two-day Las Vegas itinerary.

DAY TWO

After a long day of exploration, take a day to rest up and relax. On your second day in Las Vegas, let yourself be pampered at one of the city’s many spas or hit one of the many pool clubs if you’re visiting during the summer.

Las Vegas’ spas are incredibly innovative when it comes to offering creative, relaxing treatments that are also unique experiences in and of themselves. At Palms Casino Resort, for example, guests can spend time in a coed hammam, a Turkish wet sauna with heated stone slabs, aromatic vapors and steam. Opt for a more Eastern experience at Encore Las Vegas with the Escape package, which includes detoxifying Thai herbal poultices, a holistic Hawaiian lomo-lomi massage and calming scalp rubs with Indian shirodhara oil. Other unique treatments include a crème brulée massage at the Bathhouse at Mandalay Bay, a Fijian royal honey and milk ritual at Wynn Las Vegas and a champagne-infused mud wrap at Mandara Spa at Paris Las Vegas.

Top off the evening by catching one of the many shows in Las Vegas. Whether you’re blown away by magic, prefer to laugh your way through the night with comedy or be dazzled by the acrobatic antics of Cirque du Soleil, there’s something on stage for you.

DAY THREE

Spend your third day in Las Vegas exploring the many exhibits and attractions available up and down the Strip. The Luxor is home to two of the most popular—BODIES … The Exhibit and Titanic—but the Las Vegas Mob Experience, CSI: The Experience and Madame Tussauds are also favorites.

This is also a good day to check out the animal exhibits in the city. Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat is a great educational experience for the whole family, as is Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef. Both are worth a couple hours of your time. There are also a number of free-standing aquariums throughout the Strip, and no trip to Las Vegas is complete without a trip to see the lions at MGM Grand.

Those who are art lovers should spend part of the day browsing the cultural attractions in Las Vegas. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has frequently rotating, themed exhibits featuring famous artists from all over the world. CityCenter also has an extensive art collection, which can be enjoyed with a free self-guided walking tour found at the information desk.

If adrenaline is your thing, now is the time to hit up the thrill rides on Las Vegas Boulevard. You could potentially spend all day enjoying the roller coaster at New York New York, the scream-worthy rides at the top of the Stratosphere and the selection of thrills at Circus Circus.

DAY FOUR

If Las Vegas is wearing you down, use day four to escape the madness. One of the best things about Sin City is that it offers so many appealing day trips. You will either need to rent a car or take a one of the many tours from Las Vegas to explore the surrounding area.

Red Rock Canyon is probably the most popular day trip destination, and for good reason. The landscape is stunning in and of itself, but with a thirteen-mile scenic drive and a wide variety of hiking opportunities, it is possible for both leisure and active travelers to enjoy the site. Valley of Fire State Park also offers some hiking opportunities.

At Lake Mead National Recreational Area, visitors can partake in a number of water sports or just lounge on the shore. If you’re planning on traveling that far outside the city, you might as well go a bit further to check out the Hoover Dam, an impressive engineering marvel with paid tours and self-guided experiences.

DAY FIVE

Your final day in Las Vegas should be spent taking in the must-see attractions that you didn’t get to enjoy earlier in your stay.

This is also a great day to squeeze in a game of golf (reserve a tee time early to avoid disappointment) at one of the more than 60 courses that lie within an hour’s drive from the Strip. These courses range in difficulty, but some of the most challenging were developed by esteemed golfers and designers including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper and Rees Jones.

If shopping is your forte, it’s time to put down the plastic at one of Las Vegas’ many malls and shopping spaces. Options range from deals at one of the three outlet malls in town and major chain stores to niche boutiques and high-end retailers tucked into the more upscale Las Vegas hotels including Wynn Las Vegas, The Palazzo, Bellagio and Caesars Palace.

Top off your trip to Las Vegas with a jaunt to the downtown area, which houses the famous Fremont Street Experience. The epitome of vintage Vegas, downtown Las Vegas has several of the city’s original hotels, classic steakhouses and restaurants, old school neon signs, street performers and an enormous screen that displays several light shows nightly.

Photo credit: MGM Resorts International (MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay)