Popular Places in Las Vegas for Tourists
Las Vegas is one great big tourist theme park. Here’s where you can experience capitalist excess writ large against a backdrop of flashing neon signs, chiming one-armed bandits and dancing fountains that soar to over 30 stories high. It’s an eye-popping extravaganza of OTT attractions where tourists vie for those perfectly poised Instagram selfies and the hotels that line the Strip seem to scream for attention with their increasingly flamboyant facades and showstopping visual gimmicks. Join us on our whistle-stop tour of the most popular places in Las Vegas for tourists…
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas
No trip to Sin City would be complete without nabbing a photo or seven at the iconic ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign at the Strip’s southern end. Strike a pose for posterity then join a hop-on hop- off bus tour or board the Deuce service for a cheap’n’easy way to see the best of Nevada’s most celebrated thoroughfare in blissful air-conditioned comfort.
Fremont Street
Downtown is where it’s at for a flavor of vintage Las Vegas. Join a walking tour to follow in the footsteps of the Rat Pack, the Mob, the Golden Nugget gamblers, and the countless couples who’ve been wed by Elvis and Gene Simmons impersonators at the legendary Neonopolis wedding chapel. Right at the heart of the action is the Fremont Street Experience, an ultra-modern shopping, dining and entertainment complex that includes among its many attractions a slot machine-inspired zipwire ride and an utterly bonkers wraparound LED canopy the size of five football pitches, which ramps up the glitz with an epic light show hourly between 6PM and 2AM every night.
Casino Crazy
Tourists flock to the legendary Las Vegas mega-casinos in search of that elusive slot machine jackpot or big win on the blackjack tables. There are (as you’re probably aware) dozens of casinos to choose from. Play high stakes roulette in the glamorous surroundings of the Wyn, the Bellagio or Mandalay Bay, or put on your best poker face at old-school faves like Golden Nugget and Caesars Palace, stars of Viva Las Vegas and The Hangover movies respectively. New to the gambling game? Hit up Excalibur for free lessons in poker, craps, roulette and more beneath those fairytale red-and-blue spires. Minimum stakes here are also a fair bit lower than some of the more upscale resorts on the Strip, ideal for beginners.
Strip Gimmicks Galore
Some of the most popular tourist hotspots in Las Vegas are… wait for it…. absolutely gratis! We’re talking the likes of Mirage’s exploding volcano, which comes complete with leaping flames, fireballs and pina colada-scented smoke, and the dancing fountains at the Bellagio, great soaring plumes that seem to dance in time to their spirit-lifting soundtrack. Having to fork out upwards of $60 for a 15-minute experience doesn’t seem to have affected the popularity of gondola rides along the Venetian’s replica Grand Canal. Sure, it’s a bit of a tourist trap, but what price those ‘Venice’ views, a singing gondolier and the opportunity to snag some of the best selfies in Sin City?
Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour
Las Vegas tourists will find the lure of the Grand Canyon almost as inexorable as the blinking lights of all those thousands of slot machines. A helicopter tour is far and away the finest way to see this awesome natural wonder, with stunning aerial views of its rust-red landscapes and the added bonus of pausing for a wander (or, should you so desire, a champagne picnic) among the wildflowers on the south or west rims. Time your tour to enjoy an evening swoop over the Strip on the return leg; seeing those bright lights and towering skyscrapers against flaming sunset-orange skies is quite the intoxicating Sin City experience.
The Mob Museum
Unleash your inner Al Capone at the fascinating Mob Museum in Downtown Las Vegas. Interactive exhibits at this comprehensive history of organized crime include a rogues’ gallery of old-school mobsters, a firearms training simulator and an actual working distillery. Vamp it up in pinstripes and a fedora for visits to the museum’s own speakeasy, a secret Prohibition Era-style subterranean drinking den that’s accessed via an unassuming door in the parking lot.
Las Vegas High Roller
Las Vegas doesn’t do ‘small’, so it should come as little surprise that its 550-foot-high observation wheel is one of the planet’s tallest. Indeed, for several years it was the tallest, until the absolutely ma-hoo-sive Ain Dubai (820 feet!) came along in 2021 to spoil the party. Hop aboard at the LINQ Promenade and steel yourself for a leg-jellifying 30-minute rotation above the city streets. Daytime tickets to the High Roller are included with Las Vegas attraction passes from Go City, which also include many other top tours and activities, like Madame Tussauds, Grand Canyon tours, and Cirque du Soleil shows. Find out more here.
Scares at The Strat
High above the Strip, some 108 floors up the aptly named Strat (or, officially, the shouty STRAT) Hotel, Casino and Tower, teeter a terrifying selection of thrill rides, the very thought of which would make the blood of most normal people run cold. Up here in the clouds, adrenalin junkies can ride the (also aptly named) X-Scream, a death-defying roller coaster that dangles riders right over the roof’s edge. Then there’s Big Shot, a vertical-drop beast that catapults passengers up to a dizzying 1,081 feet before plunging 160 feet back down to the roof. Something of a rite of passage for first-time visitors to Vegas, these rides are very much not for the faint of heart.
Take in a Show
One of the most popular tourist activities in Las Vegas is going to see a show. Well, you’re in Vegas, baby, so it would be kind of rude not to. And boy can Sin City put on the ritz! Take your pick from eye-popping Cirque du Soleil extravaganzas at Mandalay Bay, the MGM Grand and elsewhere, catch the Blue Man Group at the Luxor, or seek out some of the best comedians and conjurors on the planet. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and MGM Grand are where it’s at for the biggest names in rock and pop – between them they’ve hosted, Adele, Britney, Celine, Elton, Mariah and Sinatra, to name-drop just a few…
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