74 Best Sights in Las Vegas, Nevada

Once a (seedy) casino, the Gold Spike was resuscitated as part of the late Tony Hsieh's $350-million Downtown Project. In this case, that means gambling is out and free gaming is in. Gaming, as in shuffleboard, giant versions of Connect Four, and, on the back patio, life-size Jenga and beer pong with soccer balls and garbage pails. There's also a small restaurant, multiple bars (check out the bar truck named Recess), hookah, and more. The place is still a haven for Zappos employees, but the hot spot that bills itself as an "adult playground" is open to the public and has become a popular place for locals, visitors, and hipsters to hang, too, especially during weekday happy hour.

Let a gondolier "o sole mio" you down Vegas's rendition of Venice's Grand Canal. We love this attraction because it's done so well—the late owner Sheldon Adelson was obsessed with getting the canals just right: he had them drained and repainted three times before he was satisfied with the hue, and the colossal reproduction of St. Mark's Square at the end of the canal is authentic right down to the colors of the facades. The gondoliers who ply the waterway are professional entertainers and train for two weeks to maneuver the canals. It all makes for a rather entertaining way to while away an hour on the Strip. Outdoor gondola rides along the resort's exterior waterway are also available, weather permitting. Photo packages are available with all rides. Whether or not you ride, keep your eyes peeled for The Gondolier March at 9:45 am and 4:20 pm, as they begin or end the day in song.

The Roman Catholic cathedral often has standing-room only on Saturday afternoon, as visitors pray for luck—and sometimes drop casino chips into the collection cups during the tourist-friendly mass. According to tradition, a priest known as the "chip monk" periodically collects the chips and takes them to the respective casinos to cash them in. There are daily masses, with four on Sundays.

A consistent presence since 1988, The Gun Store puts you on the range with a machine gun of your choice. When you walk in, you're greeted with a wall full of weapons, including still-functional weapons from history. Pick your era: hose the target a steady diet of lead Cagney-style with a Thompson. World War II buffs might go for an MP40 Schmeisser. Have a flair for the international? Grab an Uzi or Sten. They've got handguns, rifles, and shotguns, too. The guns are real, but some of the packages offer fanciful paper targets of space aliens. Save the next-door Tiki di Amore for after, as a sign out front warns intoxicated persons away.

The massive Harley-Davidson dealership on the south end of the Strip is ultimate destination for hog lovers. You can window-shop or even buy a bike right off the showroom floor, with financing and even shipping available—or rent one through Eagle Rentals ( 844/378–3060  www.eaglerider.com), which operates a branch office on the premises. There’s also a specialized service department and a riding academy for newbie and experienced riders, some of them including a license waiver. And if you’re looking for Harley merchandise—from vests to T-shirts to onesies for babies—you aren’t likely to find a better selection anyplace else. 

Chocoholics will rejoice at the sight of the two-story West Coast flagship of Hershey's Chocolate, which is a part of the streetscape fronting New York–New York. The attraction stocks more than 800 types of candies and includes a nearly 800-pound Statue of Liberty made of milk chocolate. Visitors can personalize Hershey's chocolate bar wrappers, star in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup TV ad, marvel at the Kisses and Jolly Rancher flavor walls, or indulge in a chocolate shake, Double Chocolate S'more, or another sweet treat from the bakery.

Formerly known as Pole Position, this electric miniature race car track is now part of a chain with locations all over the country. If it's no longer a uniquely Las Vegas experience, it's still likely the only location next door to a casino (The Palms). And the appeal of souped-up carts that reach up to 45 mph is undeniable on a hot summer day. You and up to 12 competitors zip around the ¼-mile indoor track full of twists and turns. Computers track your overall performance from race to race, and over multiple visits. You'll get a score sheet giving a detailed score breakdown to compare with your friends. There's a pizza lounge with beer and wine for spectators.

This 320-acre, man-made lake outside Henderson is regarded for its golf courses, boating, fishing, and hotels. Two resorts sit on the lake shore: Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa and The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. The lake was created by an earthen dam in 1991.

The emergence of the offbeat Las Vegas Arts District (which comprises 18 blocks bounded by South 7th, Main, Bonneville, and Charleston Streets on Downtown's southeastern corner) continues to generate excitement in the city's arts community and, increasingly, among visitors. With a number of funky, independent art galleries in its confines, the area is a growing, thriving cultural hub—think of it as the Anti-Strip. In addition to the galleries—some of which contain impressive collections of locally known and world-famous artists—you'll find interesting eateries, craft cocktails galore, and dive bars to serve the alternative artists, musicians, and writers who have gravitated to the neighborhood. Each month the district hosts a First Friday gallery walk from 5 to 11 pm, with gallery openings, street performers, and entertainment. It's an excellent time to come check out the steadily improving scene for yourself.

The newest addition to downtown Summerlin is also the home of the Las Vegas Aviators, the Class-AAA affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. The 10,000-seat stadium opened in time for the 2019 season and was named the best Triple-A Minor League park in 2019 by Baseball Digest. Amenities include breathable mesh seats to keep fans cool during summer, a kids’ zone, and a pool beyond the outfield wall (to name a few). General admission tickets go for as low as $17 a pop, and there are two tiers of seats with prices that include two beers and all-you-can-eat food. There are vegetarian menu options, including a smoked tofu bowl. The stadium replaces Cashman Field, a circa-1983 downtown ballpark that was home to the team under its previous name, the Las Vegas 51s.

If your kids are into animals (or taxidermy), they'll love this museum, where every continent and geological age is represented. You're greeted by a 35-foot-tall roaring T. rex in the dinosaur gallery that features Shonisaurus, Nevada's state fossil. From there, you can enjoy rooms full of sharks (including live ones, swimming in a 3,000-gallon reef tank), birds, cavemen, and scenes from the African savanna. Kids especially enjoy the various hands-on exhibits; the Young Scientist Center offers youngsters the opportunity to investigate fossils and animal tracks up close. After that, tour the Wild Nevada Gallery, where kids can see, smell, and even touch Nevada wildlife. Two-for-one ticket coupons are available online.

See several different sports franchises under one roof. This indoor events center (formerly The Dollar Loan Center) is home to the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League, the Vegas Thrill women's pro volleyball team, and the Las Vegas Desert Dogs lacrosse squad. The arena also houses the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame and the Craggy Range Sports Bar & Grill, which is open when there's an event at the venue. 

Tucked just inside the main Strip entrance to the MGM Grand resort, this expansive space is a playground for adults, complete with a great bar. A variety of arcade games can be found among the vibrantly colored decor, as well as a 2,000-square-foot arena called Zero Latency, where teams of up to eight people can immerse themselves in three virtual-reality experiences. But much of the energy comes from the live sports being broadcast on 30 big screens, as well as the nightly live music. Erstwhile hipsters can relive their glory days during 1980s nights on Mondays, while Latin-music fans can indulge in La Noche on Saturdays.

Games include everything from Pop-A-Shot and foosball to shuffleboard and more; most cost about $1 apiece. There also are three virtual-reality experiences for teams of up to eight: Zombie Survival (about the inevitable apocalypse); the military-space challenge Singularity; and Engineerium, set in a world of oversize floating mythical creatures. Plus there are live sports on giant screens, theme nights, and live music or a DJ nightly.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the rustic chapel has been hosting wedding ceremonies since 1942; it's a landmark on the South Strip, the doors often thrown open to provide views of the candlelit interior. The six basic wedding packages range from the simple The Elopement for the couple only (no guests), to the Desert Stardust, with unlimited guests, a 24-rose bouquet, limo for six to the chapel, a professional photography session, and more. You can choose a traditional minister to officiate, or you can get Elvis, a Mini Elvis, or Johnny Cash. The chapel also offers weddings at the nearby Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign if you're—you know—a traditionalist, or at the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson dealership, for hog lovers. Options include gowns, tuxes, cakes, a livestream, videos, and more.

This cedar-and-redwood chapel on the South Strip is one of the city's most famous. The kitsch is kept under control, and the setting borders on picturesque (it's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places—ah, Vegas). Since it opened in 1942, the church has been the site of more celebrity marriages than any other chapel in the world.

The list of ALWWC alums is impressive: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, and Frank Sinatra. Patty Duke liked it so much, she got married here twice. Try the Hawaiian theme, where the minister plays a ukulele and blows into a conch shell to close out the ceremony. Or, get hitched in a pink Cadillac while an Elvis impersonator croons. One of the five chapels is a drive-through, for the ultimate in shotgun weddings.

Welcome to the land of the Egyptians—Vegas-style. This modern-world wonder is topped with a xenon light beam that burns brighter than any other in the world and can be seen from nearly anywhere in the Valley at night; it's supposedly visible even from space. The exterior is made with 13 acres of black glass, and you won't easily forget elevators; climbing the slanted walls of the Luxor pyramid requires four "inclinators" to reach guest rooms. Above the casino is the world's largest atrium—you get the full impact of the space from the second floor, where the 13 whole-body specimens and 260 organs and partial body specimens of Bodies ... The Exhibition offers a look at what makes us tick. Or take in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, or Discovering King Tut's Tomb; if you're 21 and older, you can play around on the physical, memory, and puzzle games in the Play Playground bar. And you may be interested in the new e-sports arena HyperX (the only one currently in Las Vegas), which replaced the hotel's dance club and offers gaming opportunities when it's not in use for scheduled competitions. This also is the site of one of the city's remaining buffets. For something entirely unique, head outside the casino, walk past the porte cochere, and follow the sidewalk inside a replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza. Only in Vegas.

Swanky nightclub meets gun range in this only-in-Vegas addition to the scene. In an industrial neighborhood just west of the Interstate, "MGV" (as it's known) offers 10 indoor shooting lanes, including two in a VIP area (It's Vegas), as well as a number of outdoor lanes. Visitors have dozens of firearms to choose from, and you can be part of "Seal Team 6" or a "Femme Fatale" with pink weaponry. Package deals all include multiple guns and supervised instruction. 

Revel in the fabulousness of Demi Lovato, Post Malone, Travis Barker, and Bad Bunny as you explore the open showroom filled with an ever-changing array of uncanny celebrity wax portrayals of people from the worlds of show business, sports, politics, and everywhere in between. Crowd-pleasers include Lizzo, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jack Harlow, Megan Thee Stallion, Steve Aoki, Snoop Dog, Captain America, and Miley Cyrus. In the Marvel Universe 4-D film, you can actually feel (as well as watch and hear) your heroes save the world. Hit the bar at The Hangover Experience to immerse yourself in a storied Las Vegas romp and enjoy a cocktail while you're at it. Or get a wax model of your very own hand for a truly unique souvenir.

Mandalay Bay is famous for a few things: the House of Blues, which brings in some epic concerts throughout the year; the Shark Reef Aquarium, which boasts a 1.6-million-gallon saltwater tank and more than 2,000 animals; and an A-list series of restaurants. A pastiche of flavors is the attraction there, including StripSteak and the Mediterranean Orla from internationally acclaimed chef Michael Mina and the more casual Border Grill from Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of TV's Two Hot Tamales fame. Technically the complex hosts three separate hotel brands: Mandalay, W Las Vegas, and the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas. If you're into views, W's rooftop Rivea, from French culinary lion Alain Ducasse, Skyfall Panoramic Bar & Lounge, and House of Blues Foundation Room on the 64th floor can make you the equal of any bird.

Also worth noting: minus5° Ice Bar, which is located in the Mandalay Place shopping corridor that connects Mandalay Bay with Luxor; for the price of admission you get to borrow a parka, waltz into a sub-zero drinking establishment, and throw back vodka from a glass made of ice.

This museum on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus has a growing collection of works by artists with ties to Southern Nevada. The emphasis is on rotating exhibits, largely held in one cavernous space, with an adjacent auditorium hosting lectures focused on art. The Xeric Garden in front of the museum, which dates to 1988, was the first in town. It also provides a good excuse to wander the scenic UNLV campus.  The Barrick Museum closes completely for several weeks at a time when new exhibits are installed, two or three times a year.

A regal bronze rendering of the roaring MGM lion mascot fronts the four emerald-green, fortress-like towers of the MGM Grand, one of the largest hotels in the world. Over the years, the property has become synonymous with big fights, most of which take place in the hotel's Grand Garden Arena, and big entertainment from the likes of David Copperfield and Papa Roach, plus Cirque du Soleil's Ka. In recent years, the property also has added Hakkasan, an upscale restaurant and nightclub; Topgolf Las Vegas, a state-of-the-art driving range; and Brad Garrett's Comedy Club, where the beloved comic from Everybody Loves Raymond performs regularly. The hotel also has its share of celebrity restaurants, from the elegance of the late Joel Robuchon to the innovation of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto to the comforting Nellie's Southern Kitchen from the Jonas Brothers family.

If you can't win the jackpot at the casino, try winning your sweetheart a teddy bear instead. Here you can play, from a selection of 200, the latest up-to-date video games and old-time midway games like the dime toss, milk can, bushel basket, Skee-Ball, and Pop-A-Shot. Cash is no longer accepted for the games; load up a Midway Playcard and play away—or turn the kids loose. Beginning at 1:30 pm daily, acrobats, high-wire walkers, jugglers, and trapeze artists perform free shows on the circus stage.

The mini-Manhattan skyline that forms the facade of this hotel is one of our favorite parts of the Strip—there are third-size to half-size renderings of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Chrysler Building, as well as the New York Public Library, Grand Central Terminal, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Inside, portions of the casino floor have been made to look like neighborhoods of the real New York City. The Little Italy/Greenwich Village area is such an accurate replica that many New Yorkers reportedly get momentarily confused. Without question, the big attraction is the Big Apple Coaster. A close second: Hershey's Chocolate World. Then, of course, there's The Park, which sits just north of the back side of the hotel and stretches from the Strip all the way to T-Mobile Arena.

If you don't want to be married by Elvis or a Klingon, head for the Office of Civil Marriages downtown, where a commissioner will do the deed for $77.75 on a credit card. The catch: you must call ahead to make an appointment. At least one witness is required.

Southern Nevada's oldest historic site was built by Mormons in 1855 to give refuge to travelers along the Salt Lake–Los Angeles trail, many of whom were bound for the California goldfields. Left to Native Americans after the gold rush, the adobe fort was later revitalized by a miner and his partners. In 1895 it was turned into a resort, and the city's first swimming pool was constructed by damming Las Vegas Creek. Today the restored fort contains more than half the original bricks. Antiques and artifacts help to re-create a turn-of-the-20th-century Mormon living room.

"Palazzo" is an apt name for this luxe resort. Wide, cavernous corridors give way to an expansive casino, which, in turn, fronts escalators to Grand Canal Shoppes, a mall with nearly 200 stores. Just off the hotel lobby is an array of public art that's changed frequently. The Palazzo Theater is now home to the sleight-of-hand magic of Shin Lim (formerly at The Mirage) and performances by music stars and comedians. With a top-quality energy conservation program and other green amenities, The Palazzo has received LEED Gold distinction from the U.S. Green Building Council.

At this homage to the City of Light, replicas of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris Opera House, Hôtel de Ville, and Louvre, along with an Around the World in Eighty Days balloon marquee, are magnifique, but the crowning achievement is the 50-story, half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, where guests are whisked 460 feet to the top for spectacular views of the Valley. Need more near-authenticity? Look up at the ceiling painted like a sky with clouds and pretend you're actually in France.

This resort opened at the end of 2018 as homage to The Park, which is just outside its door. The property features dozens of nods to nature, including a lobby sculpture designed to replicate the roots of a tree from below. The resort also features a hotel within a hotel: the NoMad's foray into Las Vegas. On-site food and beverage options such as Eataly and Roy Choi's Best Friend make it stand out further. Dolby Live, a spacious indoor amphitheater, has been home to residencies by artists including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and the Jonas Brothers. The hotel still connects to CityCenter and Bellagio via a tram; on hot days, this is a great way to minimize outside time as you travel the Strip on foot.

It's hard to miss this place; the "Pinball" sign is so big, we swear it can be seen from space. This fun facility has more than 25,000 square feet filled with games created between the 1940s and the 1990s, including old wood-rail models, and all of them are available for play for 25 to 50 cents a game. There are more than 350 games, catalogued and mapped on the museum's website. Though this may sound more like an arcade than a museum, it's under the auspices of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is a nonprofit with the goal of preserving these pieces of Americana and sharing the joy of the silver ball. All excess revenues go to the Salvation Army.