Bellagio Fountains
FreeEvery 30 minutes in the afternoon, every 15 after 8pm. Watch from the Bellagio side rather than the pedestrian bridge — the sightline is better and the crowd is thinner.
Visitor guide
Things to do in Las Vegas
Twenty ideas that hold up, grouped the way you'd actually plan a trip — free things first, then shows, food, the desert, and what to do if you're not here to gamble. Prices are typical starting points, not promotions.
Free things to do in Las Vegas
You can fill an entire day on the Strip without buying a ticket. These are the ones still worth the walk.
Bellagio Conservatory
FreeChanges five times a year and is open 24 hours. Go before 9am if you want a photo without a hundred people in it.
Fremont Street Experience
FreeDowntown's canopy light show, plus the older casinos underneath it. Cheaper drinks, lower table minimums, more character than the Strip.
The Strip after dark, on foot
FreePick a two-casino stretch, not the whole four miles. Distances look half what they are.
Seven Magic Mountains
Free (25 min drive)Stacked neon boulders in the desert south of town. Twenty minutes there is plenty — go at sunrise or sunset.
Shows, residencies and live music
Vegas is the only city where a stadium-level artist plays a 4,000-seat room 20 nights a year. Check our live calendar for dates.
A Cirque du Soleil show
From ~$80There are several running at once and they are genuinely different from each other — aquatic, acrobatic, or music-led. Pick by tone, not by price.
A residency at Sphere
From ~$165The wraparound LED bowl changes what a concert is. Upper-tier centre seats see the whole image; floor seats do not.
A headliner residency on the Strip
From ~$100Rotating pop, rock and country names in theatres at Caesars, Resorts World, Park MGM and the Venetian.
Late-night comedy or a lounge set
$25–$60The best-value ticket in town, and the rooms are small enough to feel like something.
Outdoors and day trips
The desert starts 20 minutes from the Strip. Rent a car for a day and the trip changes shape.
Red Rock Canyon scenic loop
$20 per carA 13-mile one-way drive with short trails off it. Timed entry October to May — book ahead.
Valley of Fire State Park
$15 per carAn hour out, and the best landscape within reach of the city. Go early; there is no shade.
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
Free–$30Forty-five minutes southeast. Combine with lunch in Boulder City rather than eating at the dam.
Grand Canyon West
$60+A long day — about 2.5 hours each way. Worth it only if you have the whole day free.
If you have kids, or you don't gamble
Plenty of the city works without a casino floor in it.
The Neon Museum
~$30Retired casino signs in an outdoor boneyard. Book the evening slot when they're lit.
Area15
Free entry, paid attractionsImmersive art and oddities off-Strip. Easy two hours in the heat.
High Roller observation wheel
~$25–$40Thirty minutes, best at dusk when the Strip lights come on but the mountains are still visible.
Las Vegas trip questions
How many days do you need in Las Vegas?
Three nights is the sweet spot: one to arrive and do nothing ambitious, one full day on the Strip, and one for a show plus a day trip or an off-Strip neighbourhood. Four or five if you want the Grand Canyon.
What is the cheapest time to visit Las Vegas?
Room rates are lowest in July and August, when daytime highs sit around 105°F, and in the weeks either side of Thanksgiving and mid-January. Weeknights are consistently cheaper than Friday and Saturday, whatever the season.
Do you need a car in Las Vegas?
Not for the Strip and downtown — walking, the Deuce bus and rideshare cover it. Rent one for a single day if you want Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire or Hoover Dam.
What should you budget per day?
Excluding the room: roughly $80–$120 a day for food and getting around if you're careful, $200+ once you add a show ticket or a sit-down dinner. Remember resort fees, which are charged per night on top of the advertised rate.
Now pick your dates
Our live calendar shows what's actually on while you're in town.