Best Las Vegas Souvenirs

UPDATED JULY 2024
By Karleen Stevens
Taking a selfie in Las Vegas

Vivaaaaa Las Vegas – so the song goes, a cheesy tune to match the cheesy lyrics. And chances are, reading that line conjured up images of flashing neon signs, feathers, roulette wheels and Elvis in his famous white jumpsuit. Well, you wouldn’t want to go to Vegas and not see all of that, right? Just as you wouldn’t want to go to Vegas and not come home with a tacky souvenir or two – although you’ll be pleased to learn that there are plenty of genuine, high-quality products around as well. Here are our best ideas for your Vegas souvenirs, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous:

Casino gambling chips

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No doubt you’re planning to have a bit of a flutter in Vegas, and whether that’s playing poker, roulette or slot machines, the sound of chips stacking and falling will become an indelible reminder of your Vegas holiday. Each casino has its own chips, ranging from $1 up to the thousands, and you are allowed to take them with you, so they make a good souvenir if you have some leftover (just keep in mind that they can expire, so maybe cash in any big ones!) Some casinos will let you buy a new one if you ask the cashier, or you can buy customized chips and other items like cards and dice from specialist stores like Spinetti’s.

Chocolate

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Ok, we know it’s not Switzerland or Belgium, but chocoholics may just find their new favorite thing at Bellagio Patisserie, in the foyer of the Bellagio hotel. The café is famous for its treats and delicacies, but the crowds really come to see the world’s largest chocolate fountain, an ever-flowing cascade of milk, white and dark chocolate sending cocoa aromas permeating through the lobby. You can’t sample it, sadly, but you can take home a box of artisan chocolates or macarons. Whether you share them or not, we’ll leave up to you.

Blue Man Group drumsticks

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The Blue Man Group is one of the endearing favorites of the Las Vegas line-up – their color-filled show combining paint and percussion has been delighting audiences in Vegas for more than twenty years. You can take home a great memento from the show – other than a splashed shirt, that is – by buying a set of Blue Man Group drumsticks before the show. Then if you hang around afterwards, the Group comes out to meet the audience and will sign the sticks if you ask them, so you’ll have the perfect personalized souvenir!

A mini ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign

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It’s one of the most iconic sights in the city and one that every visitor looks for when they first approach the strip – the dazzling, diamond-shaped ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign. This double-backed, internally lit emblem has been there since 1959, with its red and yellow eight-pointed star, ‘welcome’ letters outlined in silver dollars and flashing yellow lights chasing each other around the outside. Visitors can take home their own mini version from any souvenir shop, in the form of a magnet, sticker, mugs, towels, flashing ornaments and just about anything else you can think of.

A new spouse

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Don’t worry, we’re only joking – mostly. If you have been meaning to tie the knot, and you’re a fan of the King, then why not pop by the Graceland Chapel while you’re here? You might even be able to convince people to look at your holiday pics... On the other hand, you could just pick up a trinket from the gift shop – there’s mugs, keyrings, clothing, records and collectibles, instruments, snow globes and of course Elvis bobble heads. Or pick up an authentic Elvis suit – all your theme parties from now on will be sorted!

Navajo turquoise jewelry

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We promised sublime, and this is it. Known as the ‘stone of life’ by the Navajo tribe of Nevada, turquoise has long been valued by local craftsmen as a unique and beautiful component of jewelry and talismans. When the art of silversmithing was introduced to the region around a hundred years ago these two elements were combined, with the result that Navajo silver and turquoise jewelry is some of the most prized in the world. And because varying levels of copper and aluminum deposits in the stones make each piece slightly different, your souvenir will be beautiful, local and totally unique.

A podium prize

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If you’re traveling to Las Vegas with the family you’ll need to find something to do other than sitting in a casino all day – so how about a family go-karting day? At Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix there are four tracks to try out, from the Kiddie Kart track for the little ones up to the Euro High Speed Track for the speed demons in the family. There are also games and an arcade room, and at the end of the day winners can redeem their tokens for a prize of their choice to take home – bragging rights included of course!

A group photo with a difference

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A group photo with a neon sign in the background is all well and good, but let’s face it, it’s not very exciting or interesting. On the other hand, if you’ve got some adrenalin junkies in the group, how about a photo in mid-air? Take a selfie from a ‘limousine of the sky’ on a Las Vegas Strip Helicopter Tour or, if you prefer to get physical, up to ten people at a time can ride the Fly LINQ Zipline, which is a 1,121-foot-long zipline over the streets and signs of the city to the High Roller Observation Wheel at the other end. Afterwards you can purchase a professional photograph of you and your group in mid-flight – a unique souvenir perfect for sticking on the fridge at home. Or if you prefer a video memento, how about a SkyJump from the top of the 108-floor STRAT building?

Get more from your vacation with Go City

Whether you’re after happy snaps, memorable experiences or just want to shop till you drop, Las Vegas has it all and more. Make sure you’ve got your Go City Explorer or All-Inclusive Pass so you can save time and money while you’re busy enjoying yourself.

Karleen Stevens
Go City Travel Expert

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The Seven Magic Mountains art installation in the Mojave Desert south of Las Vegas
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5 Days in Las Vegas

Metropolises the world over dub themselves ‘the city that never sleeps’ on a near-daily basis. But none have turned that tired old cliché into a neon-lit reality with quite the show-stopping aplomb of Las Vegas, where the entertainment – regardless of what time of year you visit – stays turned up to eleven 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Five days in Las Vegas is just about enough time to get a taste of this unique desert city’s hedonistic lifestyle and visit some of its most memorable attractions: the Strip’s mega-hotels, the laidback downtown neighborhood and the Grand Canyon being among the most essential. We’ve put together a suggested 5-day itinerary to help guide and inspire you on your Sin City adventure. So put on your best poker face, cram your pockets full of dollar bills and dive in! Viva Las Vegas! And may lady luck smile upon you... Day 1: Vegas in a Nutshell Kick off your Vegas experience with a spin aboard the hop-on hop-off bus tour. It’s a great introduction to the city’s many pleasures and, best of all, requires minimal effort from you. The tour calls at iconic landmarks along the Strip and Downtown, including the famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign, the Strat’s skyscraping SkyPod observation tower and Fremont Street. You can hop off anywhere you like to start filling your Instagram feed with classic Vegas selfies, or stay on for the full two-hour loop to get a proper introduction to Sin City – there’s no better way for a newbie to experience the Strip than from the comfort of an open-top bus, as the supersize hotels and neon-lit casinos roll past. Book a private pod with a decadent glass of bubbles aboard the High Roller Observation Wheel at the LINQ Hotel and watch the sun go down over the Strip and surrounding desert from a sweaty-palmed 550 feet up. Then, suitably emboldened, it’s time to hit the blackjack and roulette tables and one-armed bandits in your first (of what will no doubt be many) Vegas casino experiences. We favor the old-school glitz of Caesars Palace for first-timers – movie mavens may even recognize its cavernous interiors from the likes of The Hangover and Dream Girls. Stick around for a show at its Colosseum theater, which has hosted megastars including Madonna, Elton and Sinatra in its time, or head to the Bellagio, Mirage or MGM Grand for one of Vegas’s ever-popular Cirque du Soleil spectaculars. Day 2: A Spot of Culture Anyone who tells you Vegas is purely about high rolling and horrific hangovers is missing a trick. Did you know, for example, that Sin City also boasts some pretty great galleries and museums? Fill your pockets with quarters and get down to the Pinball Hall of Fame, where you can try your luck on over 150 antique machines. Or don a fedora, pinstripe and your best Al Capone face and get yourself made at The Mob Museum, a fascinating journey into the US’s history of organized crime, with interactive exhibits that include a rogues’ gallery of gangsters and a shooting range simulator. There’s even a working distillery and Prohibition-style speakeasy tucked away in the basement. Meanwhile, the National Atomic Testing Museum explores Nevada’s explosive past when, in the 1950s, atomic weapons were detonated out in the desert here with alarming frequency. Check out the ever-changing program at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, which has hosted exhibitions focusing on the work of Warhol, Picasso, Lichtenstein and others. And step inside the mind of a Dutch master at The Immersive Van Gogh experience, where spectacular set designs by Tony-nominated David Korins of Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton fame make you feel like you’re walking through his best-loved paintings, including Starry Night and Sunflowers. Spend your evening in the neon boneyard at the excellent Neon Museum. Here, retired Vegas signs of yore including iconic examples from the Stardust and Lucky Cuss Motel are given a second lease of life. Day 3: Downtown! Often overlooked by visitors here for the higher octane thrills and spills of the Strip, Vegas’s laidback Downtown has many charms of its own. Get yourself down to the Fremont Street Experience, where an arched canopy over the mall area doubles as a giant video screen. And when we say giant we mean length-of-five-football-pitches giant. Expect spectacular hourly light shows as you browse the shops and sip cocktails in the bars below. Stick around for live music across three stages, kicking off at 6pm every evening. Downtown is also where you’ll find the Las Vegas Arts District aka the 18b. Soak up the boho vibe and shop 18 blocks of art galleries, unique independent stores, vintage clothing boutiques and craft breweries. An arts walk on the first Friday of every month showcases eclectic local art and features live music, fire breathers, fortune tellers and other such Vegas entertainments. Afterwards head over to the nearby Strat, where the Skypod and its utterly terrifying 108th floor thrill rides await nearly 1,000 feet above the Strip. Day 4: Get Outta Town! We get it: the constant noise, bright lights and general chaos of the Strip can get a little overwhelming. We recommend a relatively soothing day out to the Grand Canyon. Charter a helicopter to the South Rim in the afternoon. You’ll soar over the epic Hoover Dam en route and get the opportunity to take a short hike among the wildflowers and rust-red rocks before returning along the Strip at sundown, as the desert skies turn a bruised purple and the Neon City is at its picture-perfect best. Or rent a Cadillac, put the top down and cruise south along Interstate 15 to the wildly incongruous Mojave Desert art installation that is Swiss sculptor Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains. These gravity-defying tall stacks of boulders – some as high as 35 feet – are painted in a rainbow of trippy colors. Then make for the nearby Red Rock Canyon, the Grand Canyon’s diminutive sibling which, at a mere 200,000 acres, still offers plenty of hiking opportunities. Look out for hidden waterfalls and ancient Native American petroglyphs among its towering sandstone crags and deep, cacti-filled valleys. Day 5: Go Hotel-Hopping Vegas’s mega resorts are attractions all of their own, and no Vegas vacation would be complete without spending a day wandering the Strip and taking in essential attractions like the dancing fountains outside the Bellagio, or the Mirage’s exploding volcano. If you’re here during pool party season (March to October), get yourself along to Mandalay Bay’s sprawling Daylight Beach Club with its enormo 4,400 square foot pool, massive man-made beach and winding lazy river. Dive in, or grab a cabana and pina colada and people-watch the day away. Major exhibitions at the Luxor are always worth a couple of hours of anyone’s time and the Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens are a horticultural marvel, with exhibits that change with the seasons and culminate in a hugely over-the-top festive display at year’s end. You’ll also want to ride the gondolas at the Venetian, with its faithful replica of Venice’s Grand Canal, and ride the glass elevator in the Paris hotel’s glitzy half-size Eiffel Tower facsimile. While you’re there you might as well stop to gorge on caviar, steak tartare and escargots in the panoramic restaurant 100 feet above the Strip. Bon appetit! Save on attractions in Las Vegas Save on admission to Las Vegas attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Couple kissing in front of the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign
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Las Vegas in February

Nothing says romance like gazing into your partner’s eyes over a tense game of roulette. Yes, it’s Valentine’s month in Las Vegas and temperatures are rising in all the right places, whether you’re here for a sizzling weekend of romance or simply to come in from the cold in the rest of the Western Hemisphere, as Sin City declares winter well and truly over (well, nearly). Check out our guide to what’s hot in Las Vegas in February. Visiting Las Vegas in February Average Temperature: 53°F • Average Rainfall: 6 days/mth • Average Sunshine: 9 hours/day February is a fine time to visit Las Vegas, with daytime highs in the low 60s meaning you might even get away with shorts and tees outdoors, if only during the mild afternoons. The city’s relative warmth makes for busy flights and full hotels, but there are still good deals to be had, particularly in the latter half of the month once the excitement of Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl has died down. Clear, sunny days with cool mornings and cooler evenings are still par for the course here as winter ebbs away, so make sure to pack layers: jumpers, jeans and light jackets remain essential gear if you’re planning to spend time exploring the Strip’s many brightly illuminated attractions after dark. Likewise if you plan to go hiking out in the desert canyons, where warm, sturdy footwear is also a must. Top tip: falling on the third Monday in February, Presidents’ Day is one of Vegas’s least crowded holiday weekends, meaning there are plenty of good deals to be bagged from the hotels, leaving you with plenty of pocket change for the one-armed bandits! Things to do in February “I’m just the devil with love to spare... viva Las Vegas!” So sang Elvis on his hip-wiggling ode to the city that never sleeps. And, whether you’re a little devil or an old romantic, there are plenty of activities in Vegas that will ignite the flames of passion. What better time to give them a spin than in February, the month when Valentine’s Day sends the whole planet gaga with grand romantic gestures. Sweep your better half of their feet (literally in some cases) with Sin City’s dizzying plethora of mile-high activities. A private pod on the High Roller Observation Wheel is a great place to start. Book yours with a glass of bubby to add some serious sparkle as you watch the sun set over the Neon City and desert beyond from a heart-fluttering 500 feet up. Not high enough for ya? Attractions at the top of the Strat hotel’s SkyPod tower include the aptly named Insanity ride, in which a giant metal claw dangles and spins you out into mid air 900 feet above the Strip. You can also bungee jump from way up here on the 108th floor. Or perhaps just take in the views from the observation tower as helicopter tours zip past at frighteningly close range. You could also hop aboard one of those helicopter rides yourself. After all, cruising the Strip’s neon-lit length by chopper at nightfall is arguably way more romantic than hurling yourself off the top of a skyscraper. As romantic as Vegas may be, you’ll be hard-pushed to find anyone who’d claim it’s a patch on Paris or Venice. Yet, not to be outdone, Vegas of course comes with its very own Paris-themed resort, complete with replica Eiffel Tower. Take your beau or belle on a thrill ride to the top in the glass elevator, before gorging on caviar, steak tartare and escargots in the tower’s panoramic restaurant 100 feet above the Strip. Ooh la la! Then head over to the Venetian for a neon-lit gondola ride along the resort's swoonsome replica of Venice’s Grand Canal. Layer up and take a walk to see some of Vegas’s most impressive free spectacles. There’s the dancing fountains out front of the Bellagio – a must-see on any Vegas bucket list – as well as the Mirage’s incredible exploding volcano. But it’s also worth getting ‘off Strip’ and into downtown Vegas for the Fremont Street light show. Here, millions of LED lights hang over the street’s pedestrianized section, creating an eye-popping display when the sun goes down. There’s also (free) live music and some fine bars and restaurants to explore down this way. And if all that fails to impress, there’s always the Erotic Heritage Museum, where thousands of curious artifacts chart the history of sex across the centuries. Think lingerie, celebrity sex tapes, erotic Peruvian smoking pipes and, um, an interactive 10-foot vulva. What’s on in February? Sporting Events Local heroes the Golden Knights’ hockey season is in full swing in February, attracting sports fans to Sin City in their droves. Catch them in action at the Strip’s huge T-Mobile Arena. February is also, of course, Super Bowl month, when venues across the city (including hotels and casinos) screen the big event, bringing a real party spirit back to the city for the first time since the Strip’s OTT New Year pyrotechnics. Expect it to be off-the-scale in 2024, when the Super Bowl takes place in Vegas itself! Taste and Sounds of Soul Festival This free event takes place downtown at the Fremont Street Experience and is one of the biggest Black History Month events in Nevada. The three-day party fuses live music from local bands and DJs with banging BBQ and Creole flavors from the Deep South. Chinese New Year Las Vegas celebrates Chinese New Year with the same restraint it does every major festival. So expect a city-wide extravaganza complete with parades, floats, enormous dragons and, naturally, some of the best Chinese food on the planet. There will also be themed displays in major hotels including the Bellagio, Venetian and MGM Grand as well as most of the major shopping malls. Save on attractions in Las Vegas Save on admission to Las Vegas attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Las Vegas Skyline
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Las Vegas Itinerary – 3 Days in Vegas for First Timers

Our guide to spending three days in Vegas.
Katie Sagal

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