City guide · USA
Las Vegas
Neon excess, Michelin stars, and red-rock desert escapes
March–May & October–November
US Dollar (USD)
English
North America
The guides
The best of Las Vegas, by category
Las Vegas crams more celebrity-chef restaurants, Cirque stages, and themed mega-resorts into four miles of Strip than anywhere on Earth — then surprises you with indie bars in the Arts District and crimson canyons 20 minutes west. Built on spectacle since the Rat Pack era, it keeps reinventing itself, most recently with the Sphere.
The shortlist
If you only have time for the best
The single highest-rated picks across every category in Las Vegas.
Hotels
See all 6- 1
Bellagio
The Strip
4.7★75,000+ reviews
- 2
The Venetian Resort
The Strip
4.7★75,000+ reviews - 3
Wynn Las Vegas
The Strip (North)
4.7★50,000+ reviews
Restaurants
See all 6- 1
Joël Robuchon
MGM Grand, The Strip
4.7★1,000+ reviews
- 2
Picasso
Bellagio, The Strip
4.7★1,500+ reviews - 3
Bazaar Meat by José Andrés
Sahara, The Strip (North)
4.7★2,000+ reviews
Bars
See all 6- 1
The Chandelier
The Cosmopolitan, The Strip
4.6★3,000+ reviews - 2
Atomic Liquors
Fremont East, Downtown
4.6★2,000+ reviews
- 3
Herbs & Rye
West Sahara (off-Strip)
4.7★2,000+ reviews
Attractions
See all 6- 1
Fountains of Bellagio
The Strip
4.8★75,000+ reviews
- 2
Sphere
East of the Strip
4.7★25,000+ reviews
- 3
Fremont Street Experience
Downtown
4.5★100,000+ reviews
Where to base yourself
Las Vegas neighborhoods, decoded
Pick your area first — it shapes everything else about the trip.
The Strip
Mega-resorts and marquee spectacleFour miles of themed resorts, celebrity-chef dining, and residencies from the Sphere to the Colosseum. Distances deceive — two 'adjacent' casinos can be a 20-minute walk apart.
Downtown & Fremont East
Vintage neon, new energyThe original Vegas of the Golden Nugget and El Cortez borders Fremont East's craft cocktail bars and the shipping-container shops of Downtown Container Park. Table minimums run lower and the neon is the real thing.
Arts District (18b)
Indie galleries and breweriesEighteen blocks of murals, vintage stores, and the breweries and cocktail rooms where off-shift bartenders actually drink. First Friday turns the whole district into a street festival.
Chinatown
Three miles of serious eatingSpring Mountain Road's strip malls hide some of the best-value food in America — izakayas, hand-pulled noodles, late-night dim sum — five minutes west of the Strip. It's where chefs eat after service.
Beyond the city
Day trips worth the ride
Hoover Dam
45 min by carThe 726-foot Depression-era engineering marvel holding back Lake Mead — walk the crest free or tour the Art Deco power plant and its turbines below.
Valley of Fire State Park
1 hr by carNevada's oldest state park glows with flame-red Aztec sandstone, 2,000-year-old petroglyphs, and the pink-striped Fire Wave formation.
Grand Canyon West & Skywalk
2.5 hr by carThe Hualapai Tribe's horseshoe glass Skywalk cantilevers 70 feet past the rim, 4,000 feet above the Colorado — the closest Grand Canyon viewpoint to Vegas.
Eat like a local
What to order in Las Vegas
Shrimp cocktail
A squat tulip glass packed with bay shrimp and horseradish-spiked sauce — a Downtown tradition since 1959.
Try it at: Golden Gate Hotel, Fremont Street
Prime rib
Slow-roasted beef carved in a red-leather-booth steakhouse where the Rat Pack and Elvis once ate — old Vegas on a plate.
Try it at: Golden Steer Steakhouse, off-Strip
Khao soi
Northern Thailand's coconut-curry noodle soup topped with crispy noodles — the dish that made a strip-mall Thai room world famous.
Try it at: Lotus of Siam, East Sahara
Secret late-night pizza
A proper New York slice from an unmarked counter down a record-lined hallway — the Strip's favorite 2 a.m. ritual.
Try it at: Secret Pizza, The Cosmopolitan
Good to know
Las Vegas essentials, answered
Three to four nights is the sweet spot: enough for a show, a splurge dinner, pool time, and a Downtown evening without burning out. Add a day if you want Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire, or Red Rock Canyon.
Keep exploring
