Las Vegas for first-time visitors
The Las Vegas Strip after dark. Walk south from The Venetian to the Bellagio, roughly a mile. The fountains fire every 15 minutes from 8pm, with jets reaching up to 460 feet in 28°C desert air. The Sphere, opened 2023, is the one structure worth booking a ticket for. The High Roller wheel gives the orientation view from 550 feet.
Questions first-timers ask about Las Vegas
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Must-see
The Las Vegas Strip after dark. Walk south from The Venetian to the Bellagio, roughly a mile. The fountains fire every 15 minutes from 8pm, with jets reaching up to 460 feet in 28°C desert air. The Sphere, opened 2023, is the one structure worth booking a ticket for. The High Roller wheel gives the orientation view from 550 feet.
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Best time to visit
March through May and October through November. Desert summer in Las Vegas regularly reaches 43°C (110°F), and the 4-mile Strip walk becomes unbearable from June through August. Spring and fall deliver highs of 25-32°C, lower hotel rates than the December-January peak, and comfortable evenings for Fremont Street's hourly light shows.
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Airport to city
Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) sits about 2.5 miles south of the Las Vegas Strip. Take a rideshare (Uber or Lyft) for $15-25 and 10-15 minutes to most Strip hotels. Pickup is on Level 2 of the parking garage at both terminals. Taxis cost $5-10 more and carry a common long-haul scam risk.
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How to get there
Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) sits 8 km south of the Las Vegas Strip, with nonstop flights from most major US cities and select international destinations. Southwest, Spirit, and Frontier carry the bulk of budget domestic traffic. From Los Angeles, the 430-km I-15 drive takes 4 hours. Domestic round-trip fares average $200-400.
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Getting around
Uber and Lyft for everything beyond a 3-casino walking radius. The Strip stretches 4 miles, but pedestrian skybridges and casino-floor crossings double actual walking time. Summer daytime temperatures reach 40°C on the pavement. The Deuce bus runs 24 hours on Las Vegas Boulevard, $8 for a day pass. The monorail covers only the east side of the Strip and does not reach the airport.
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Curated for first-timers
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Must-see attractions
The must-see list for Las Vegas works outward from its spine — roughly 4 miles of Boulevard through Paradise, Winchester, and Las Vegas proper. The twelve entries below are the landmarks that earn the visit. The resort-and-casino corridor of the Strip anchors the list; the Sphere is the newest landmark; the High Roller is the headline observation wheel; the CityCenter architectural complex is the most argued building cluster in town. The historic neon Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in Paradise is the city's most reproduced object. A small constellation of thrill rides — the Big Shot atop the Stratosphere Las Vegas tower, X-Scream at the top of the same Stratosphere Tower, the steel-coaster Canyon Blaster, and the defunct Speed – The Ride — survives as proof of the era when Vegas sold height and speed alongside the tables. The list closes with two rooms: the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip and the Las Vegas Little Theater, plus Woodlawn Cemetery in Las Vegas for visitors who want to read the city's older paper trail. Skip the in-between novelty stops; these are the entries that define what Las Vegas is.
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Best restaurants
Las Vegas eats louder than it cooks. Most travel coverage stops at the Strip — the rotating-restaurant brand, the celebrity-chef marquee, the steakhouse priced for the lobby's chandelier — and crowds out the city's actual restaurants, the ones with customers who live within the same area code. This list goes the other direction. The downtown grid, the Charleston corridor, the side of Sahara most rental cars never reach: places mapped to specific addresses, with specific hours, that have earned a place by being good at one thing. A tapas kitchen pulling small plates until late. A vegan room running burger, pizza, breakfast and brunch out of a single menu. A late-night pizzeria that closes briefly between dinner and breakfast and starts again at 00:00. Twelve restaurants, in rank order, each pinned to a verified address and a published phone line. None of them require a tasting-menu reservation a month out, and none of them ask you to dress up. They ask you to show up hungry, on time, and willing to skip the obvious.
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Browse experiences
Things to do in Las Vegas, by interestOther traveler types
- For foodies
Las Vegas for foodies
- For families with kids
Las Vegas for families
- For digital nomads
Las Vegas for digital nomads
- For solo travelers
Las Vegas for solo travelers
- For couples
Las Vegas for couples
- For budget travelers
Las Vegas on a budget
- For luxury travelers
Las Vegas for luxury travelers