solo tourist at the Bellagion fountains in Las Vegas

Things to do alone in Las Vegas

By Karleen Stevens

We’re all familiar with Las Vegas’ reputation as a party town – groups of friends drinking together, showgirls performing to large, cheering audiences and rich and famous celebrities gambling obscenely large quantities of money while sipping cocktails are images we’re all familiar with. But these are stereotypes, and only represent one side of this city. For those traveling here alone there’s plenty to do and see if we’re willing to look beyond the obvious, and not just during the day. Some of the best Vegas solo activities include:

  • Hop-on Hop-off bus tour
  • Day trips
  • Rockstar Club or Pool Party Tour
  • An immersive evening show
  • Downtown walking tour
  • Museum visits
  • Taking a class

Take the Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus Tour

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You don’t have to be alone to do a Hop-On, Hop-Off bus tour, but it doesn’t matter if you are, because someone else does all the talking. The Vegas Big Bus Tour covers all the important stops, including the Bellagio Fountains, Treasure Island, Excalibur and the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, so you can use it as a handy transport option between attractions, but if you’re on your own why not sit back and enjoy the whole tour, learning about the Vegas Strip, Downton and how the town got the nickname ‘Sin City’. The whole trip takes about 2.5 hours and is a great way to get your bearings in a place that can be overwhelming on the first visit. There’s also a Big Bus Night Tour, so you can enjoy all the same sights again, only this time it’ll be painted neon.

Escape on a day trip

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It may be in the middle of the desert, but that doesn’t mean the area around Vegas is deserted. In fact, it’s surrounded by breath-taking natural wonders of surprising variety with opportunities for hiking, canoeing and outdoor yoga, to name a few. Most of them can only be reached by road, so why not on a coach tour, when you get the double benefit of not having to worry about logistics and the chance to meet a bus load of awesome people. If you have a Go City attraction pass, you can take a full-day trip to the Grand Canyon which includes park entry and takes you past Lake Mead, the picture-perfect reservoir formed by nearby Hoover Dam, El Tovar, Hopi House, Kolb Photo Studio and the Bright Angel Trail. And of course there’s a walk to the canyon’s South Rim, the deepest, widest and most photographed part of the landscape. If you’ve already done the Grand Canyon, there’s also Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and Hoover Dam and the Black Canyon tours you can try.

Party like a Rockstar

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There’s no reason to hide away in Vegas if you’re on your own when the sun goes down – instead, get your dancing shoes on and make some cool new friends on a Vegas Rockstar Nightclub Tour. Meet your host at a premier Ultra Lounge on the famous Las Vegas strip, and then spend the next five hours feeling like a VIP as you get to skip the line at three of Vegas’ most famous clubs. You’ll travel between clubs in the luxurious Limo Party Bus, which has a complimentary bar on board, so the conversation should be flowing! Or if you prefer to party in the daylight hours, how about a Rockstar Pool Party? You’ll get the same VIP treatment, and the same luxury limo with open bar, but this time you’ll meet at a day pool club, tour the Vegas Strip and be dropped off at one of Vegas’ hottest pool parties – and by the time you get there, you’ll have a limo full of new friends to party with!

Be immersed in a show

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Just because you’re on your own doesn’t mean you should miss all the fun in Vegas, and an essential part of that is going to see a show. Plus, Vegas shows are so immersive that you’ll forget you’re by yourself anyway! With Go City, you can choose to spend the evening laughing the night away at L.A. Comedy Club at the STRAT, dancing and singing along to the Legends in Concert tribute acts, or reminiscing over The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, which is a multi-sensory spectacle telling the story of the Beatles through their own songs with choreography, visuals and aerial acrobatics. Or you could experience the surprising combination of painting and percussion of the Blue Man Group, possibly getting a colorful splash in the process!

Uncover the past on a Las Vegas walking tour

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Spend a couple of hours in the afternoon peering underneath the surface of the glitz and glamor of Vegas on a guided walking tour. Start at the corner of Fremont Street and Main Street, where Vegas was founded in 1905, and journey towards Downtown Vegas, learning about things like where the Rat Pack preferred to hang out and why the city is so full of wedding chapels. You’ll also discover where to spot things like the famous Golden Nugget, a piece of the Berlin Wall and 1870’s street lamps from Brussels. Plus with a walking tour it doesn’t matter if you’re on your own, because someone else is doing all the talking – though there’s nothing stopping you from making new friends at the food stops along the way!

Get cultured

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Museums are a great place to visit solo because you don’t have to worry about keeping up with anyone – you just go at your own pace. You can concentrate on your audio guide as you go round ignoring everyone else, or pop in your headphones and block out the world with your favorite chill playlist. In Vegas, the museums are many and varied, so there’s bound to be something to pique your interest – choose from the Mob Museum, Natural History Museum, Hollywood Cars Museum and Liberace Garage, the Erotic History Museum, the Neon Museum or the National Atomic Testing Museum.

Take a class

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Taking a class is a great way to meet other people, partly because there are usually plenty of opportunities for chatting, but also because you already have a shared interest in whatever the class is about. Plus there’s a good chance of meeting other solo travelers. As you’d expect, there are yoga, cooking and pottery classes, but in Vegas you can also learn a skill or two that might come in handy. For example, you could get some poker lessons before you hit the casinos, learn a few magic tricks, or even take a glass blowing class, where you can make your own souvenir to take home.

Go solo with Go City

Vegas has so many opportunities for the solo traveler, so there’s no need to feel lonely. And you can get even more out of your visit with a Go City All-Inclusive Pass, which lets you join in as many fun activities as you like!

Karleen Stevens
Go City Travel Expert

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The Las Vegas Strip at sunset
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Las Vegas in January

Party season may be over but, while Sin City nurses its massive holiday hangover, there are still stacks of fun things to see and do here in the city that quite literally never sleeps. Bonus: it’s less busy than usual, making the Strip and its many attractions much easier to explore. Dive in to our expert guide to discover why you should visit Las Vegas in January. Visiting Las Vegas in January Average Temperature: 48°F • Average Rainfall: 6 days/mth • Average Sunshine: 8 hours/day Being one of the hottest cities in the States doesn’t mean Las Vegas can’t also get chilly, particularly at night when desert temperatures have been known to plummet as dramatically as Celine Dion hitting an unexpected bass note on stage at Caesars Palace. Daytime highs at this time of year are around 57°F which, to be fair, is pretty darn pleasant for January especially when compared to, say, New York. But you might still be left wondering if the locals you see wandering around in shirt sleeves and shorts have been hitting the sauce a little too hard over the holiday season. We recommend layering as a safe bet to cover all bases. Think jeans, top and light jacket during the day with maybe an extra jumper or even a scarf on the chillier evenings, especially if this is when you plan to stroll the Strip to see the Bellagio fountains in action, or the erupting volcano outside the Mirage which, spectacular though it is, is unlikely to warm you up much. It’s a great time to visit Vegas, for many reasons. Such as the January sales: you could easily spend days losing yourself in the supersize malls here (though your bank manager might not thank you for it). Then there are the casinos, restaurants and shows. As Las Vegas is way less busy this time of year, you’ll likely find it much easier to get that reservation at Robuchon, or the best seats in the house for Cirque du Soleil. Flights into Vegas are also traditionally cheaper at this time of year, with most hotels lowering prices too, though note that you should expect a significant hike during the massive Consumer Electronics Show near the start of the month. Things to do in January The holiday party season may be over, and pool season proper won’t start until March, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find yourself a daybed and chill with cocktails by the pool someplace. Many of the major hotels here have heated pools that remain open throughout winter. These include the main pool at the MGM Grand, the palm-fringed pool deck at ARIA, and Resorts World with its enormous pool deck and infinity pool overlooking the Strip. However, to access others including Mandalay Bay and the Cosmopolitan you’ll need to be a guest, as day passes are unavailable. From relaxing poolside to screaming your head off on some of the planet’s scariest thrill rides, there’s a January activity here to suit all tastes. Take a ride on Insanity, 900 feet above the Strip atop the Strat’s SkyPod observation tower. Soar through the skies on the Fly LINQ Zipline. Loop the loop on the Big Apple Roller Coaster. Or try the relatively sedate (but no less terrifying) High Roller Observation Wheel – at 550 feet, it’s the second highest on the planet. After a couple of days spent enjoying Vegas’s non-stop assault of high-octane rides, high stakes casinos, high-priced steaks and endlessly mesmerizing neon lights, you may find yourself hankering for something a bit more... down to earth. Answer the call of the wild with a hiking trip to Red Rock Canyon, just south of the city. This sprawling conservation area is filled with towering sandstone peaks, waterfalls and Native American petroglyphs, and guided tours of its paths are available. Or steel yourself for a ramble up Mount Charleston, Clark County’s highest. The strenuous 16-hour round-trip to the mountain’s (probably snow-capped) summit is rewarded with unbeatable panoramic views of Death Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and Las Vegas itself. A journey almost as lengthy (but considerably more comfortable) is a coach trip out east of the city to some of the Nevada-Arizona state line’s finest natural and manmade wonders. You can pause at the Hoover Dam for spectacular views of the Colorado River from hundreds of feet up, or drive through the Joshua Tree National Park to the Grand Canyon’s West Rim where further awe-inspiring views await. Heck, why not just combine all three for the ultimate day trip out of Vegas? What’s on in January? One of the surprise treats that awaits visitors to Vegas in January is the proliferation of festive attractions that remain open. Soothe your holiday hangover with a trip to the Glittering Lights extravaganza at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Here, a whopping five million lights (give or take) create a dazzling drive-through show packed with Christmas scenes and Vegas icons. There’s even an accompanying festive radio station to tune into in your car. Meanwhile over at the Bellagio, you still have time (for the first week of January, at least) to view the displays at the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Expect holiday decorations made from flowers and plants, giant polar bears and trees festooned with tinsel and baubles. Head to the Cosmopolitan rooftop for firepits, s’mores and a massive ice-skating rink complete with regular snow flurries. There’s plenty of Christmas spirit left up here and the views of the Paris resort’s neon-lit Eiffel Tower are second to none. Also worth looking out for in January is the parade in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The biggest in the state, it draws tens of thousands of participants annually, all eager to see its colorful floats and live performances. Hot enough to melt the snow that blankets Mount Charleston’s highest peaks, the AVN Adult Entertainment expo also rolls into town at this time of the year, raising temperatures and offering fan meet and greets with some of the industry’s hottest stars. And if there’s an event more ‘Sin City’ than a porn convention, we’ve yet to hear of it... 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
Bright red baubles hanging from a cactus in the Mojave Desert near Las Vegas
Blog

Christmas in Las Vegas

Towering fir trees festooned with tinsel and shiny baubles, magical festive scenes and nearly as many fairy lights as there are stars in the sky. Christmas in Las Vegas is every bit as flamboyant and OTT as you’d expect from the neon capital of the world. And here, as every day in Sin City, you’ll find everything (and we mean everything) open as usual: that includes all shops, restaurants, bars, casinos and thrill rides. As the song says: ‘Christmas in Las Vegas, it’s a trip!’ So dive in and check out our guide to some of the best things to do in Vegas during holiday season, including: Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Ice skating at The Cosmopolitan Glittering Lights at Las Vegas Speedway Flamingo and LINQ Promenade Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden The Magical Forest The Great Santa Run The Bellagio at Christmas The Bellagio’s dazzling dancing fountains are a spectacle at any time of year, but be sure to catch them during December when the huge water plumes soar and sway to Mariah, Bing, Wham! and other Christmas party bangers. Inside, the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens gets a marvelous festive makeover, with decorations made from plants and flowers and supersize displays featuring sparkly polar bears, massive Christmas baubles, thousands of lights, and that all-important skyscraping Christmas tree. Best of all, it’s completely free and – unlike elsewhere in the Bellagio – children are welcome. Ice Skating at the Cosmopolitan High above the Strip lies a winter wonderland par excellence in the shape of the Cosmopolitan’s rooftop which – glitzy enough at the best of times – really ramps up the tinsel factor in December. Expect cozy Christmas vibes aplenty thanks to sparkling trees, blazing firepits, gooey s’mores, festive cocktails (snowball, anyone?) and romantic views of the neon-lit Eiffel Tower over at Paris Las Vegas. Better yet, a 4,200 square foot ice rink replaces the pool up here during the holiday season, complete with fake snowflakes. So pull on your mittens, wrap your scarf tight, strap on your skates, hit the ice and let it snow! Drive-Through Light Show Rev up your engine and hit the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Glittering Lights, one of the biggest and best light shows in the country. Every December, the 2-5-mile course is festooned with somewhere in the region of five million – yep, that’s five MILLION – lights, each contributing to spectacular festive scenes and other Vegas-themed displays, meaning you’re as likely to see a hip-wiggling house-sized Elvis as a jolly Santa Claus. Pile the family into the car (with a hot chocolate each), tune into the custom radio station that plays carols and other Christmas favorites, and brace yourselves for the light show of a lifetime. Winter Parq Have you been dreaming of a... pink Christmas? Look no further than the Winter Parq – the promenade connecting the Flamingo and LINQ hotels where, by the Flamingo at least, bright pink decorations are de rigueur. Take in the glittering lights, giant snow globe and kitschy Christmas ornaments at the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat before strolling to the LINQ for live entertainment and Christmassy cocktails under the towering tree. Afterwards, warm up and take in panoramic views of the Neon City aboard the High Roller Observation Wheel which (you’ll be unsurprised to learn) is, at 550 feet, one of the tallest on the planet (second only to the Ain Dubai). Those who suffer from vertigo need not apply. Ethel M Cactus Garden If there’s anything more ubiquitous than Christmas trees in Vegas in December, it’s Christmas cacti. You’ll see these bristly beauties bedecked with festive baubles nearly everywhere you go, but nowhere more so than in the grounds of the legendary Ethel M Chocolate Factory. Here, the three-acre cactus garden receives an annual festive revamp that incorporates hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights, Christmassy scenes aplenty, and even a family of animated reindeer. We recommend visiting in the evening when the garden's at its most magical and, of course, combining your visit with a chocolate-tasting experience. It would be almost rude not to! Take in a Show There can be few quicker ways of getting right into the Christmas spirit than an evening spent watching classic Las Vegas shows that have been tweaked for the holiday season. Think classic Christmas rock and pop hits (as well as a few carols) from the Legends in Concert, immersive performances of The Nutcracker, and Christmas-themed magic and comedy shows. As Christmassy as your dad’s Rudolph sweater. Christmas Tree Trail December in Las Vegas sees Christmas trees sprouting up here, there and everywhere, each more fantastically bejeweled than the last. Take advantage of this free spectacle by visiting some of the major hotels to see how many stops have been pulled out to get one up on their neighbors. At over 40 feet, the Bellagio’s is inevitably among the most spectacular but the trees at Wynn’s Winter Wonderland, the Fashion Show Mall and the Venetian are no slouches either. Take a tour with your camera and make your Instagram feed the envy of all your Christmas-loving buddies back home. The Magical Forest A stalwart of the Vegas Christmas scene, the Magical Forest is just that: a woodland wonderland crammed with twinkling lights and festive decorations. This one is a must-do if you’re traveling with kids: they’re going to absolutely love the carousel, giant slide and cute train rides on the Forest Express. Plenty of live performances, food trucks and funnel cakes should keep the grown-ups happy too. Santa Claus! A visit to Las Vegas in December might almost make you believe there's more than one Father Christmas. He certainly gets around. Meet him at the aforementioned Magical Forest or head to Tivoli Village for a few memorable family snaps in his beautifully decorated grotto. You can even see the man in red swimming with sharks at the Mandalay Bay Shipwreck! If that’s not enough for you, go all in and dress up as Santa yourself: the Great Santa Run takes place in downtown Vegas and sees thousands of wannabe Santas take to the streets for a 5k fun run (or walk, if you prefer) every December. Ho ho ho and viva Las Vegas! 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
Blog

Las Vegas Memorial Day Weekend - 10+ Fun Things to Do in May

There are endless fun things do in Las Vegas in May, both in the city and the wider Nevada area. Whether you want to party, tick off the big sights or relax at a pool, Las Vegas is a great place to spend Memorial Day weekend.
Katie Sagal

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