The Strip is Las Vegas Boulevard South from the Stratosphere down to Mandalay Bay, and the distances deceive everyone: the walk from the Venetian to the Bellagio, which look adjacent, is twenty minutes of overpasses and escalators. Plan the day in clusters. The centre cluster — Bellagio, Caesars, the Cosmopolitan, Paris and Planet Hollywood — has the fountains, the Forum Shops and the Eiffel Tower replica within a few hundred metres.
The Fountains of Bellagio are the Strip's best free show: 1,200 water jets choreographed to music, every 30 minutes in the afternoon and every 15 minutes from 8 p.m. until midnight. The Sphere, behind the Venetian, is the newest landmark — a 112-metre LED globe whose exterior animates all night and whose interior hosts films and concerts on a 16K wraparound screen; buy tickets ahead. The High Roller at the LINQ, a 167-metre observation wheel, does a 30-minute rotation and the evening cabins sell out.
Budget for resort fees (a daily charge added to almost every hotel rate, covering wifi and the pool) and for parking at most resorts. Free attractions carry the day: the Bellagio Conservatory, the Fremont Street canopy show downtown, the Mirage's gardens, the Venetian's canals. The monorail runs behind the east-side resorts if the heat wins.
Where to stay decides your Vegas. Centre-Strip for the fountains and shopping, the south end (Aria, Waldorf, Mandalay Bay) for calmer pools, downtown for old Vegas. A chauffeur from Harry Reid airport is quick — and the same booker handles the Grand Canyon day trip, three and a half hours east by road.
Three things to get right
- Fountains every 15 minutes after 8 p.m. — stand on the Bellagio side, halfway along the lake.
- Book the Sphere and the evening High Roller ahead.
- Check resort fees before you compare hotel prices.
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