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 Sin City's Casinos spend over 3 million dollars a day giving away free stuff.
Maybe you've had enough craps or blackjack for the day. And maybe you've already spent $175 dollars for a ticket to "O" at the Bellagio. Need some ideas for fun and free things to see or do?
The Bellagio's famous fountains put on shows throughout the day. Each show lasts about 5 minutes, and consists of different music that the fountains dance and jump to in front of the hotel on the strip. During the week they start at 3 p.m. and go off every hour on the hour. On weekends they start at noon and go every half hour.
After the fountains you can walk inside the hotel and check out the famous Conservatory. It's just past the hotel lobby and is a great place for pictures. The Conservatory's display changes often and always consists of some huge props set among gorgeous displays of flowers and plants and jumping fountains.
North on the strip from the Bellagio make sure to stop at Caesar's Palace. Located in the Forum Shops are some gigantic fountains with statues of Zeus and other gods. These statues come to life every hour on the hour and put on a show in which they tell stories while lightning cracks and a storm rolls in.
At the Venetian you can walk around a mall that is designed like the streets and canals of Venice. You can take a gondola ride, though this will set you back about $15 bucks, or you can just walk along the canals and listen to the gondola driver's singing as they navigate the canals. The ceilings are painted like the sky and you'll be amazed by how much it feels like you're walking through Venice on a cool summer evening.
If you want to travel off the strip - head north to downtown Las Vegas and Fremont Street. Here you'll find the Fremont Street Experience - the largest LCD screen in the world. It covers Fremont Street like a giant canopy for quite a few blocks down the street, over Binions and the Golden Nugget and the other downtown casinos. During the day it is great because you're outside walking, but everything is shaded by the canopy. At night, the screen plays a different light show every hour on the hour. Sometimes its more fun to watch the hundreds of people all staring up at the screen than the show itself.
These are a few of the things you can do for free if you're on a budget in Vegas. And don't forget to check all of the little magazines that you can get around the different hotels and casinos - usually they contain coupons to different restaurants or free items you can claim by signing up at different casinos. Pick one up - they're a great resource.
Patrick Treadway is a writer living in Las Vegas. He is editor of Vegas24Seven [http://www.vegas24seven.com] - The Las Vegas Webzine.
