Don't be a tourist, be a traveler, world in motion
English USD Newsletter Wimup Videos ↗
▶ Video · Best of Las Vegas
Video guide · 14:48
▶ Watch the guide
Top 10North AmericaUnited States

Top 10 Things To Do in Las Vegas

Country
United States
Best months
Mar · Apr · Oct · Nov
Population
~660K
Language
English
Budget / day
$150–320
Quick answer

Three days is the right length for Las Vegas, four if you want the desert as well. Give the first evening to the Strip on foot: start at the Bellagio fountains, cut through the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and finish under the Exosphere at Sphere. Day two belongs downtown, where the city actually began: the Mob Museum in the old federal courthouse, the Neon Museum's boneyard of salvaged signs, then the Viva Vision canopy on Fremont Street after dark. Day three leaves the valley. Red Rock Canyon is a short drive west past Summerlin and its scenic loop fills a morning, and Hoover Dam is under an hour southeast on US-93. With a fourth day, drive northeast to Valley of Fire or west into Death Valley. Eat off the Strip at least once, on Spring Mountain Road in Chinatown or in the Arts District, and book the shows and the tables you care about before you fly.

Best of Las Vegas

▶ Video guide

Las Vegas reads as one street and is not. The Strip is 4.2 miles of resorts in the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester, outside the city limits and beyond the reach of the mayor whose name is on the place. The Las Vegas that has a mayor sits a few miles north on Fremont Street, where the first casinos opened and the oldest one is still trading. Around both is a valley of roughly 2.4 million residents with a Chinatown three miles long, an arts district that fills up on the first Friday of every month, and the Mojave starting where the last cul-de-sac ends. The city runs on visitors: about 41.7 million came in 2024, and most of them see the middle four miles and nothing else. The trip gets better the moment you leave them, and leaving them costs almost nothing.

The 10 best things to do in Las Vegas

1

Walk the Strip after dark

Boulevard· Las Vegas Boulevard South, Paradise, NV 89109

The Strip is 4.2 miles of Las Vegas Boulevard South, and it is not in Las Vegas: it runs through the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester in Clark County. Walk it northbound in the evening, once the heat has dropped and the buildings are doing the work: the Bellagio lake, the Roman fronts at Caesars Palace, the canal inside the Venetian, the Exosphere lit up over Sands Avenue. Distances lie out here. Two resorts that look adjacent can be a fifteen-minute walk apart, most of it through somebody's casino floor, and the only way across the big intersections is the pedestrian bridge.

Time3 hr
CostFree
Best atEvening
TipUse the pedestrian bridges rather than looking for a crosswalk
↗ WebsiteMap
2

Fountains of Bellagio

Free show· Bellagio, 3600 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

An 8.5-acre lake, 1,214 water nozzles, 4,792 lights, water thrown more than 460 feet up, and one song per show. Bellagio opened in October 1998 and the fountains have run in front of it since, free to anyone standing on the sidewalk. Shows repeat through the afternoon and come around more often after dark, each lasting the length of a single track. The lakeside rail is the obvious spot and the worst one: from the pedestrian bridge over Las Vegas Boulevard you see the whole lake at once, and the choreography is built to be read wide.

Time20 min
CostFree
Best atAfter dark
TipCheck the day's schedule before you plan an evening around it
↗ WebsiteMap
3

Sphere

Venue· 255 Sands Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89169

Sphere opened on 29 September 2023 with a U2 residency and rearranged the skyline in one move. It stands 366 feet high and 516 feet wide, wrapped in the Exosphere: roughly 580,000 square feet of LED built from about 1.2 million pucks, the largest screen of its kind anywhere, and legible from most of the east side of the Strip. Inside, a wraparound 16K display of some 160,000 square feet faces 17,600 seats, 10,000 of them haptic, with a beamforming sound system aimed row by row. There are two ways in: a concert, or the daytime Sphere Experience film.

Time2 hr
CostTicketed
Best atEvening
TipThe Exosphere costs nothing to watch and changes content all evening
↗ WebsiteMap
4

Fremont Street Experience

Pedestrian mall· 425 Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101

Five blocks of old downtown, roofed by a canopy 1,375 feet long and 90 feet wide, hung 90 feet over the street. The screen up there is Viva Vision, and it runs free light shows every night from six until two, each hour set to a different act's music. Underneath it are the casinos the city started with, three stages of free live music and a zip line down the centre line. It is louder, cheaper and less polished than the Strip, and it is where Las Vegas actually began: the railroad auctioned the townsite a block from here in 1905.

Time2 hr
CostFree
Best atAfter 6pm
TipCome on a weeknight
↗ WebsiteMap
5

The Neon Museum

Museum· 770 Las Vegas Blvd N, Las Vegas, NV 89101

More than 200 rescued signs, laid out in an outdoor boneyard behind a lobby that is itself an exhibit: the salvaged shell of the La Concha Motel, a swooping concrete arc lifted off the Strip and re-erected here. Some signs are restored and lit; most are not, and the unrestored half is the better one. Rust, dead bulbs and the names of resorts that were imploded to make room for the current ones, stacked in rows you walk between. Across the street the North Gallery runs Brilliant, a light and music show projected onto unlit signs. Entry is by timed slot.

Time1 hr 30 min
CostTicketed
Best atAfter dark
TipBook the night slot
↗ WebsiteMap
6

The Mob Museum

Museum· 300 Stewart Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89101

The building is the first exhibit. This is the former federal courthouse and post office of 1933, and its second-floor courtroom held one of the Kefauver Committee's hearings on organised crime in 1950, in front of television cameras that made the subject national. The museum opened in 2012 and runs the story from both sides: the syndicates that financed and skimmed the early casinos, and the wiretaps, task forces and prosecutions that took them apart. For a subject this romanticised, it is unusually careful with evidence, and the restored courtroom upstairs is worth the visit on its own.

Time2 hr 30 min
CostTicketed
Best atMorning
TipStart in the courtroom on the second floor and work down
↗ WebsiteMap
7

Red Rock Canyon

Conservation area· 1000 Scenic Loop Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89161

Past the last street in Summerlin the valley floor stops and a wall of Aztec sandstone starts, banded red where iron has stained it. The Bureau of Land Management runs the area as a National Conservation Area, and the way most people see it is the 13-mile one-way scenic drive, which strings the overlooks and trailheads together and takes an hour if you never leave the car. Leave the car. Calico Tanks and Ice Box Canyon are both short walks off the loop, and the sandstone here is climbed by people who fly in for it and see nothing else in Nevada.

TimeHalf day
CostTicketed at the entrance
Best atEarly morning
TipThe scenic drive uses timed-entry reservations for much of the year
↗ WebsiteMap
8

Hoover Dam

Landmark· Hoover Dam, US-93, Boulder City, NV 89005

726 feet of concrete wedged into Black Canyon, finished in 1935, holding the Colorado River back to make Lake Mead. It was built through the Depression by men who lived in a town made for the job, Boulder City, thirty minutes back up the road, and it is still generating power. The Bureau of Reclamation runs the visitor centre and takes people down into the powerplant to stand beside the generators. Traffic no longer crosses the crest: the Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge carries US-93 over the canyon just downstream, and its walkway is where the view is.

Time3 hr
CostTicketed
Best atMorning
TipPark on the Nevada side and walk the bridge before you queue for anything
↗ WebsiteMap
9

High Roller at The LINQ

Observation wheel· 3545 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

550 feet tall on a 520-foot rim, the tallest observation wheel in the world when it opened in 2014. One rotation takes thirty minutes in a glass cabin, which is long enough for the valley to resolve into something you can read: the Strip directly below, the Spring Mountains along the western edge, the grid running out to the desert on every other side, and Red Rock catching the last of the light. It sits at the head of the LINQ Promenade, an open-air lane of bars and food that is one of the few places on the Strip you can sit outside.

Time45 min
CostTicketed
Best atSunset
TipBoard in the half hour before sunset
↗ WebsiteMap
10

Omega Mart at AREA15

Immersive art· AREA15, 3215 S Rancho Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89102

A supermarket that is not one. Meow Wolf filled a warehouse west of the Strip with shelves of invented products, and behind the shelves are doors into a connected world you are meant to wander rather than tour: corridors, a mine, an office block, a story you can follow closely or ignore completely. It sits inside AREA15, a windowless entertainment complex holding a zip line, bars and rotating exhibitions of its own. This is the least Las Vegas thing in Las Vegas, made by people from Santa Fe, and it is the one attraction here that rewards going slowly.

Time3 hr
CostTicketed
Best atAfternoon
TipOpen things
↗ WebsiteMap

7 of the 10, mapped

Las Vegas · 7 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Las Vegas travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Las Vegas?+
Three nights is the standard answer and it holds up: one evening on the Strip, one day downtown, and one day out of the valley at Red Rock Canyon or Hoover Dam. A fourth day buys you a longer drive, to Valley of Fire, Grand Canyon West or Death Valley in the cooler months. Beyond four or five days, most people run out of appetite before they run out of things to book, because the Strip is designed to be intense rather than restful.
When is the best time to visit Las Vegas?+
Spring and autumn. March, April, October and November give you daytime temperatures you can walk in and evenings warm enough to sit outside. July is the problem month: average highs run to around 104F, or 40C, and the pool decks and air-conditioned casino floors are not an accident of design. Rainfall is negligible year round, at roughly four inches. Winter is mild in the day and genuinely cold after dark, and the desert parks are at their best then.
Do you need a car in Las Vegas?+
Not for the Strip and downtown. Walking, the Deuce bus and rideshare cover the resort corridor, and parking at many resorts is charged. You do need one, or an organised tour, for the things that make the trip worth taking: Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mount Charleston and Hoover Dam all sit beyond any transit route. Renting for a single day and returning the car is a common and sensible compromise.
What is a resort fee?+
A mandatory daily charge that most Las Vegas hotels add on top of the room rate, covering things like wifi, the pool and the fitness centre whether you use them or not. It is charged per night, it is usually not included in the price you see on a booking site, and it is collected at check-in or check-out. Add it to every quote you compare, along with parking if you are driving, or the cheap room rate the city advertises will not be the price you pay.
Is Las Vegas worth visiting if you do not gamble?+
Yes, and most of this guide assumes you will not. The resident production shows, the museums downtown, Sphere, the restaurants on Spring Mountain Road and in the Arts District, and the desert an hour in three directions all stand on their own. The casino floor is the thing you walk through to reach the rest of it, and nothing on the Strip requires you to sit down at a table.
The houses

Best casinos and resorts in Las Vegas

Six resorts worth walking into whether or not you gamble, from the 1966 original to the oldest casino downtown.
All 6 casinos and resorts →
Center Strip

Caesars Palace

Opened 1966

Jay Sarno opened it on 5 August 1966 and invented the themed Las Vegas resort in the process. The Colosseum, the Forum Shops and a front elevation that has been rebuilt several times without ever losing the joke.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Bellagio

Opened 1998

Opened in October 1998 and reset what a Strip resort was expected to be. The fountains out front, the Conservatory and Botanical Garden replanted five times a year, and a gallery of fine art that charges admission like a museum.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

The Venetian

Resort and expo

Indoor canals with gondolas, a painted sky that never changes hour, and the Grand Canal Shoppes above the casino floor. Sphere sits directly behind it, which makes this the easiest place to see both at once.

↗ WebsiteMap
North Strip

Wynn and Encore

Opened 2005 and 2008

Two connected towers at the north end, Wynn from 2005 and Encore from 2008, run to a quieter standard than the rest of the Strip. Awakening plays in a purpose-built theatre here and Encore Beach Club runs the pool deck.

↗ WebsiteMap
North Strip

Resorts World Las Vegas

Opened 2021

The first resort built from the ground up on the Strip in over a decade, opened on 24 June 2021 at a reported $4.3 billion. One 59-storey tower, around 3,500 rooms split across three Hilton brands, and Zouk on the club side.

↗ WebsiteMap
Downtown

Golden Gate

Opened 1906

One Fremont Street, open since 13 January 1906 as the Hotel Nevada with ten rooms, and the oldest continuously operating casino in the city. Small, low-ceilinged and the only place on this list that predates the Strip by four decades.

↗ WebsiteMap
After eight

Best shows and nightlife in Las Vegas

Four resident productions that have outlasted the resorts around them, plus the magicians and the club that set the going rate.
All 6 shows and nightlife picks →
Center Strip

O by Cirque du Soleil

Bellagio · since 1998

Built into Bellagio for the resort's 1998 opening and running there ever since, staged in and above a pool whose floor rises and falls between acts. The one Cirque show most people would pick if they only saw one.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Mystère by Cirque du Soleil

Treasure Island · since 1993

The company's first resident Las Vegas production, premiered at Treasure Island on Christmas Day 1993 and still playing. Older, stranger and cheaper than what came after it, and the one to take children to.

↗ WebsiteMap
South Strip

KÀ by Cirque du Soleil

MGM Grand · since 2005

Opened at MGM Grand in February 2005 around a stage that has no floor: a gantry-mounted deck that tilts to vertical and is fought over by the cast. The engineering is the show as much as the acrobatics are.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Absinthe

Caesars Palace · since 2011

Spiegelworld's circus in a tent pitched in front of Caesars Palace, running since 2011 and now past its fifteenth year. Adults only, close enough to the ring to be nervous, and the closest thing the Strip has to a house style.

↗ WebsiteMap
West of the Strip

Penn & Teller

Rio · since 2001

At the Rio since 2001, which makes them the longest-running headline act at a single Las Vegas hotel, and signed on for several more years. They explain the trick and it still works, which is the whole point.

↗ WebsiteMap
North Strip

XS at Encore

Nightclub

The Strip's benchmark nightclub, indoor room opening onto the Encore pool deck so the party moves outside when the weather allows. Resident DJs, table minimums that read like rent, and a guest list worth joining before you arrive.

↗ WebsiteMap
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Las Vegas

Three of these are nowhere near the Strip, which is the single most useful thing to know about eating here.
All 6 restaurants →
East of the Strip

Lotus of Siam

Northern Thai

Northern Thai cooking that has been the argument for eating off the Strip since 1999. Chef Saipin Chutima took a James Beard Best Chef Southwest award in 2011, and the crispy duck khao soi is the order.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Restaurant Guy Savoy

French

Savoy's only restaurant outside France, on the second floor at Caesars Palace, and the highest-ranked Las Vegas kitchen in La Liste's 2026 international list. Long, formal and priced accordingly.

↗ WebsiteMap
Chinatown

Raku

Japanese robata

Charcoal robata on Spring Mountain Road under chef Mitsuo Endo, and more than any other kitchen the reason Chinatown became a dining destination rather than a strip mall. Small plates, late hours, book ahead.

Map
Arts District

Esther's Kitchen

Italian

James Trees's seasonal Italian restaurant, on South Main Street in the Arts District since it moved into the larger room in March 2024. Bread, pasta and a neighbourhood dining room that behaves like one.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Bacchanal Buffet

Buffet

The buffet that survived the format's collapse, opened at Caesars Palace in 2012 across about 25,000 square feet and three rooms with kitchens cooking to order rather than to a steam table.

↗ WebsiteMap
West of the Strip

Golden Steer Steakhouse

Steakhouse

Red booths on West Sahara Avenue, each named for a Rat Pack regular who used it. The sign says established 1958; the Review-Journal's own archive dates the opening to January 1962, and the room has not changed much since either date.

↗ WebsiteMap
Daytime

Best pools and day clubs in Las Vegas

The pool deck is a Las Vegas venue in its own right, running roughly from spring to early autumn.
All 4 pools and day clubs →
North Strip

Encore Beach Club

Wynn and Encore

The Wynn side of the argument: tiered pools, cabanas on three levels and daytime sets from the same DJs playing XS after dark. Open through the warm months, weekends and selected weekdays.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Marquee Dayclub

The Cosmopolitan

On the roof at the Cosmopolitan, with bungalows, private plunge pools and a view straight down the centre of the Strip. It runs a winter format under a retractable roof when the season ends.

↗ WebsiteMap
North Strip

Ayu Dayclub

Resorts World

The newest of the big four, at Resorts World, built around a proper stage rather than a DJ booth on a balcony. Weekend afternoons through the season.

↗ WebsiteMap
South Strip

Palm Tree Beach Club

MGM Grand

The MGM Grand pool complex, rebuilt on the site the old Wet Republic occupied, with two large saltwater pools and daybeds rather than a dance floor. The gentlest of the four if you want a swim more than a set.

Map
The valley

Best neighborhoods in Las Vegas

Five districts that explain how a resort corridor and a city of 2.4 million people share one valley floor.
All 5 neighborhoods →
Clark County

The Strip

Paradise and Winchester

4.2 miles of Las Vegas Boulevard South in the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester, which is why the resorts answer to Clark County rather than to the city. Everything here is built to keep you indoors.

Map
Downtown

Downtown and Fremont East

Where the city started

The original city, and the only part of it inside the city limits. The Fremont East district was created in 2002 and runs six blocks east of Las Vegas Boulevard: bars, small stages and the Container Park, all at a fraction of Strip prices.

↗ WebsiteMap
Downtown south

The Arts District

18b

Known as 18b, south of downtown around Main and Charleston. Galleries, breweries and the best independent restaurants in the valley, plus First Friday, a free street festival on the first Friday evening of every month since 2002.

↗ WebsiteMap
Spring Valley

Chinatown

Spring Mountain Road

Three miles of Spring Mountain Road from Las Vegas Boulevard out to Rainbow, designated by the state in 2000 and pan-Asian rather than Chinese: Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino kitchens in strip malls. Chinatown Plaza opened the district in 1995.

Map
West valley

Summerlin

Master-planned west side

The master-planned west side, 22,500 acres of villages, parks and trails running up to the boundary of Red Rock Canyon. Downtown Summerlin is its walkable core, with the Las Vegas Ballpark and the Golden Knights practice arena attached.

↗ WebsiteMap
Out of the valley

Best day trips in Las Vegas

Five drives, none longer than two and a half hours, and every one of them the opposite of the Strip.
All 5 day trips →
Northeast of the city

Valley of Fire State Park

State park

Nevada's oldest state park, northeast of the city, where the sandstone turns the colour the name promises. The Fire Wave is the signature walk, and rangers close the exposed routes in the hot months for good reason.

↗ WebsiteMap
Arizona

Grand Canyon West and the Skywalk

Around 125 miles

About 125 miles southeast on Hualapai tribal land, two to two and a half hours by road. The Skywalk is a glass horseshoe cantilevered past the rim. This is not the national park, and the drive to the South Rim is far longer.

↗ WebsiteMap
South of the city

Seven Magic Mountains

Public art, free

Ugo Rondinone's seven stacked columns of painted boulders, 30 to 35 feet high, standing in the desert off Interstate 15 near Jean Dry Lake. Free, on BLM land, and opened in May 2016 for what was meant to be two years.

↗ WebsiteMap
Northwest of the city

Mount Charleston and Lee Canyon

Spring Mountains

The Spring Mountains northwest of town, where Charleston Peak reaches 11,916 feet and the temperature drops away from the valley floor. Lee Canyon sits at about 8,600 feet and runs lifts in winter, trails the rest of the year.

↗ WebsiteMap
California

Death Valley National Park

Around 120 miles

About 120 miles west, roughly two hours via NV-160 through Pahrump and then CA-190 to Furnace Creek. The lowest, hottest and driest place in North America, and a day trip only from late autumn to early spring.

↗ WebsiteMap
Retail

Best shopping in Las Vegas

Two resort malls, one outlet centre and one plaza built out of shipping containers.
All 4 shopping stops →
Center Strip

The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace

Over 160 shops

More than 160 shops and restaurants under a painted sky that cycles from dawn to dusk regardless of the hour outside. The spiral escalator and the Roman set dressing are half the reason to walk through.

↗ WebsiteMap
Center Strip

Grand Canal Shoppes

Over 160 retailers

Another 160-plus retailers, this time along an indoor canal at the Venetian with gondolas working it and singers on the bridges. Circles back to St Mark's Square, where the buskers perform on the hour.

↗ WebsiteMap
Downtown west

Las Vegas North Premium Outlets

Over 180 stores

An open-air outlet centre of more than 180 stores just west of downtown, close enough to combine with the Arts District. Open-air means it is punishing in July and pleasant from October.

↗ WebsiteMap
Fremont East

Downtown Container Park

Independent shops

An open-air plaza in Fremont East built from stacked shipping containers, with independent shops, a playground and a 55-foot steel praying mantis at the entrance that throws flame after dark.

↗ WebsiteMap
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Las Vegas (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Early January

CES

The consumer technology show fills the Las Vegas Convention Center and spills into the Venetian Expo and half the Strip. Hotel rates double and taxi queues run an hour. In 2026 it ran from 6 to 9 January.

March

Pennzoil 400

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, north of the city off Interstate 15. The 2026 running was on 15 March.

May

Helldorado Days

The city's western heritage festival, launched in 1935 by Elks Lodge No. 1468 to pull Hoover Dam workers into town. Parade and rodeo, and the oldest continuously revived event on this list.

May

EDC Las Vegas

Electric Daisy Carnival takes over Las Vegas Motor Speedway for three nights, running dusk to sunrise. The 2026 edition, on 15 to 17 May, was the thirtieth.

Late May to mid-July

World Series of Poker

Seven weeks of bracelet events split between Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, ending with the Main Event. The 2026 series ran from 26 May to 15 July with 100 bracelet events.

November

Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula 1 races at night on a street circuit that runs down Las Vegas Boulevard past the Bellagio fountains. Road closures start days ahead. The 2026 race weekend is 19 to 21 November.

December

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Ten nights at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus, and the week the city fills with hats. The 2026 finals run from 3 to 12 December.

31 December

New Year's Eve

The boulevard closes to traffic and fireworks are fired from the rooftops of several Strip resorts at midnight. Free to stand in, and the single busiest night of the Las Vegas year.

Getting around

Las Vegas transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
LAS

Harry Reid International Airport

About five miles from the middle of the Strip, and one of the busiest airports in the United States: 58.4 million passengers in 2024. Two passenger terminals, T1 and T3, with no landside connection between them, so check which one your airline uses. RTC routes 108, 109 and the Centennial Express pick up at Level Zero of Terminal 1, and taxis and rideshare have separate marked ranks.

↗ WebsiteMap
RTC

RTC buses and the Deuce

The Regional Transportation Commission runs the valley's buses, and the one visitors use is the Deuce: double-deckers along Las Vegas Boulevard between the south end of the Strip and downtown, around the clock. Passes are sold by duration rather than by ride, from two hours upward, and are bought at the stop machines or in the app. Nothing else in the valley shares that fare system.

↗ WebsiteMap
Rail

Las Vegas Monorail

3.9 miles of elevated track with seven stations, running behind the resorts on the east side of the Strip from MGM Grand up to Sahara, by way of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It does not serve the airport and it does not cross to the west side, so it is useful for the convention corridor and close to useless for Bellagio or Wynn.

↗ WebsiteMap
On foot

On foot, rideshare and the Loop

Walking is the honest answer for the Strip itself, with the caveat that a block here can be half a mile and the crossings are all on bridges. Taxis queue at every resort entrance and rideshare has assigned pickup points, usually in a parking structure. Underneath the convention centre, the Boring Company's Vegas Loop runs small vehicles between stations on its own ticketing.

↗ WebsiteMap
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Las Vegas, United States

The classics to order before you leave.

Shrimp cocktail

The Golden Gate put cold shrimp and cocktail sauce in a sundae glass for 50 cents in 1959 and sold tens of millions of them. It is still on the menu downtown, at a price that has moved several times since.

Prime rib

The casino loss leader that became a local institution: a cheap slab of beef priced to get people through the door and onto the floor. The Last Frontier is credited with putting it on a Las Vegas menu first, in 1942.

The buffet

Once every resort had one and most have closed. What survives is fewer and better, led by Bacchanal at Caesars Palace, where the kitchens cook to order across three rooms instead of holding trays under lamps.

Khao soi

Northern Thai curry noodle soup, the dish that made Lotus of Siam a destination and the reason a lot of visitors first drive off the Strip. Order it with the crispy duck.

Pho

Spring Mountain Road runs on it, and much of the street serves late. A bowl at two in the morning is the standard Las Vegas repair for an evening that went long.

Tacos

Nearly a third of Clark County is Hispanic or Latino, and the taquerias in the east and north of the valley are where that shows on a plate. Look for the trucks parked outside the markets rather than the versions on the Strip.

Omakase sushi

Chinatown carries a dense run of Japanese counters, several of them run by chefs who came from Tokyo by way of the resort kitchens. Small rooms, set menus, and reservations that go quickly.

Steak and eggs

The graveyard special: steak, eggs and hash browns served through the small hours in casino coffee shops for a price meant to keep dealers and night staff fed. Fewer places run it now, and the ones that do are downtown.

Las Vegas fact sheet

Las Vegas at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
United States
Region
Southern Nevada, on the floor of the Mojave Desert at about 2,000 feet
Population
Around 660,000 in the city, roughly 2.4 million across Clark County
Founded
Townsite auctioned by the railroad on 15 May 1905, incorporated as a city on 16 March 1911
Nickname
Sin City, and the Entertainment Capital of the World
Language
English, with Spanish widely spoken
Currency
US dollar (USD)
Time zone
Pacific Time, UTC-8, and UTC-7 on daylight saving from March to November
Calling code
+1, with area codes 702 and 725
Airports
Harry Reid International (LAS), about five miles from the middle of the Strip
Power
120V, 60Hz, sockets type A and B
Emergency
911
Ideal length
3–4 days
Getting around
The Strip on foot, RTC buses and the Deuce, the monorail on the east side, taxis and rideshare everywhere else
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The Las Vegas Strip is not in Las Vegas. Its 4.2 miles run through the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester in Clark County, so the resorts everyone pictures when they say the city's name sit outside its limits and outside its tax base.
  • Nevada legalised wide-open casino gambling on 19 March 1931, when Governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98. Construction on Hoover Dam was already under way thirty miles southeast, and the two arrived in the valley within months of each other.
  • The Golden Gate opened at 1 Fremont Street on 13 January 1906 as the Hotel Nevada, with ten rooms. It is the oldest continuously operating casino in the city and predates the Strip by four decades.
  • Clark County counted about 41.7 million visitors in 2024, and Harry Reid International handled 58.4 million passengers in the same year, against a resident population of roughly 2.4 million.
  • Sphere's outer skin, the Exosphere, covers about 580,000 square feet in roughly 1.2 million LED pucks. The building stands 366 feet high and 516 feet across, which makes it the largest spherical structure in the world.

Headed to Las Vegas?

Get our one-page Las Vegas cheat sheet plus a fresh destination every Thursday. Join 38,000 travelers.