Here’s where to visit during your trip to Las Vegas for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23. including casinos, nightlife, museums and tourist attractions further afield in Nevada.
- Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
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Las Vegas Hotels & Casinos
Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? Las Vegas is home to some of the biggest and most luxurious casinos anywhere in the world. There are around 60 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip alone – although the number of establishments in which you’ll find slot machines is much higher than that!
Las Vegas’ hotels and casinos are often intertwined, with the hotels featuring casinos within them. Because of that, the majority of the United States’ largest hotels are located within Las Vegas. Free trams which operate between hotels are a great way of getting around the city. You can easily fill in hours walking around the resorts, given that some of the hotels have their own shopping malls within them, offering a chance to browse designer clothing and luxurious gifts.
The largest of them all – The Venetian – takes this to another level, offering a hotel with 7,000 rooms, a casino, shops, shows and even canals inspired by Venice within it, complete with replica architecture inspired by the Italian city. And yes, you can take a gondola ride on the canal! Inside The Venetian you can check out the Minus 5 Experience – a unique bar where everything is made of ice!
Themed hotels are big in Las Vegas. Paris Las Vegas is likely to feature heavily on television coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Its half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower is 46 storeys high. The tower is a great place to take in some panoramic views and is a unique viewpoint for watching the Bellagio’s water fountain show. New York-New York is also themed around the city after which it is named. The Big Apple Coaster is a unique attraction within the hotel.
Perhaps the most well-known resort in Las Vegas is Caesars Palace, the car parking lot of which formed the race track for the Caesars Palace Grand Prix back in the early 1980s, which until 2023 was the last time that Formula 1 visited Vegas. These days, the Casino area is famed for its Sportsbook – a paradise for sports fans featuring a 138-foot LED video wall showing all of the day’s top games and events.
The Bellagio is known for its fountains within the 8-acre lake outside. Inside, you’ll find fine dining options and luxury brands in its shopping centre, along with the world’s largest chocolate fountain plus the Bellagio conservatory – which is decorated with stunning seasonal floral displays. If you want to see the fountains in action in the iconic water show, shows take place every half hour during the day and every 15 minutes in the evening.
Other must-see hotels include the MGM Grand, the third largest hotel resort in the world, where magician David Copperfield’s spellbinding show is in residency; the Aria, complete with its popular nightclubs; and the Wynn Las Vegas – which is selling $1 million ticket packages for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Check Out the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip usually dominates the typical tourist’s itinerary during a trip to Sin City. Many are unprepared for the fact that the Strip itself is some 7 kilometres (4.35 miles) long. The monorail can be an enjoyable and convenient way of traversing the area. It connects seven stations on the east side of The Strip, with trains arriving every 4-12 minutes.
Its position as the most popular tourist area in the city is for good reason, given the wealth of experiences on offer here. The Pinball Hall of Fame is a haven for retro gamers, M&M’s World and Hershey’s Chocolate World are made for those with a sweet tooth and the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay offers fun for all of the family.
The famous 25-foot tall ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign is located at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. It’s one of the city’s most popular tourist sites, with hundreds lining up daily to take selfies or have their photo taken beside the sign.
Las Vegas Shows
There’s a wide variety of entertainment in Las Vegas to suit a whole range of tastes. You can experience the best in comedy, music and magic across the city, or get a little bit of everything in a variety show.
Among the most popular include a range of Cirque Du Soleil shows – O at the Bellagio, The Beatles Love at Mirage and Mystère at Treasure Island. Some of the famous musical names performing across Las Vegas at the time of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix include Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and Donny Osmond. An extensive list of performances can be found here.
Explore Fremont Street
Before there was the Las Vegas Strip, there was Fremont Street. Las Vegas’ original downtown hub, Fremont Street was home to some of the city’s original casinos and its iconic neon signs. While the Strip may be Las Vegas’ hotspot for tourists, a trip to Fremont Street is still very much recommended for an authentic taste of yesteryear’s Las Vegas.
While the pedestrianised area retains its old school charm, parts have been modernised in recent years. Some of the street is covered by a huge LCD display screen overhead, featuring regular light shows. You can get up close to the lights by taking a zipline ride! Look out for street performers, souvenir shops and the famous novelty restaurant – Heart Attack Grill! Downtown Container Park, the outdoor shopping mall, is the place to be for shops and restaurants.
Head for Heights?
The Stratosphere is the tallest free-standing observation tower in the country and it can also serve as a helpful landmark if you lose your bearings on the Strip (the tower is to the north). 1100 feet above the city, The Strat Skypod is home to some of the highest thrill rides anywhere in the world. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can even skyjump from the top of the tower!
Until 2021, Las Vegas’ High Roller, in the centre of the Las Vegas Strip, was the tallest Ferris wheel of any in the world. It may have been surpassed by Dubai’s Ain Dubai, but a 30-minute ride on the High Roller is still one of the best ways to soak up 360 degree panoramic views of the city and its surrounding area. Reaching 500 feet above the city, the High Roller is open until midnight every day.
Sightseeing Passes in Las Vegas
If you’re planning on visiting a range of tourist attractions during your visit to Las Vegas (and further afield), we recommend checking out the GoCity sightseeing pass. All inclusive passes are available for two to five days, while the ‘Explorer Pass’ offers savings when visiting multiple attractions.
Las Vegas for Adrenaline Junkies
Want to get behind the wheel yourself over the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend? Check out the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Take a drive in a NASCAR race car, or be driven around the track by a professional driver. Other racing events – such as drag racing – are also taking place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the month of November.
A similar experience can be found at SPEEDVEGAS Motorsports Park, where you can drive supercars around the circuit, race in go-karts or go off-roading in race trucks!
The Adventuredome at Circus Circus is fun for all the family – but there are some thrill rides which will appeal to adrenaline junkies. Experience 4G of acceleration on the Sling Shot, ride the all-new NebulaZ or take a spin on the Disk’O. Just around the corner from Circus Circus, you can go indoor sky diving at Vegas Indoor Skydiving.
Further Afield in Nevada
Get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city and expand your horizons a little further out in Nevada. The Mojave Desert is located around a two hour drive south of Las Vegas, while the Grand Canyon is a two hour drive to the east. Also to the east is Lake Mead – a great place to recharge your batteries after a busy few days in Vegas – plus the unique architecture of the impressive Hoover Dam – one of the largest dams anywhere in the world.
Just south of Las Vegas, you’ll find Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains art installation. When it was installed in May 2016, the exhibition was supposed to be on view for only two years. However, it has become a popular landmark and looks set to remain in place for the foreseeable future.
The Grand Canyon is pretty big (the clue is in the name), so while the South Rim and North Rim are only 10 miles apart, it’s a 215 mile (or five hour) drive to get between the two points. For that reason, helicopter tours are a very popular way of checking out the river valley. The nearby Valley of Fire State Park is also worth checking out.
A two hour drive west of Las Vegas will take you to Death Valley, the largest national park in the lower 48 states. Its stunning geography alone is good enough reason to take the trip. To the north is the similarly stunning Red Rock Canyon. The one-way 13 mile scenic drives through the red sandstone landscapes offer amazing views of the area and there are opportunities to go hiking, biking and climbing.
Las Vegas Museums
Looking to delve into the city’s history? There are some great museums in the surrounding area, covering a wide variety of local history.
Take a trip through Las Vegas’ history via the unique medium of neon signs at the Neon Museum. Some of Las Vegas’ most iconic neon signs can be found in the Neon Museum. Somewhat of a neon scrapyard of former business and attractions, the museum gives interesting insights into long-since demolished establishments.
The Las Vegas Mob Museum takes a darker look at the city’s past by analysing the history of organized crime and its impact on American society, while the Atomic Museum delves into the history of the Atomic Era through technology, science and pop culture. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, located at the Luxor Hotel, is also highly recommended, being one of the highest attended exhibitions in history.
Las Vegas Nightlife
With the Las Vegas Grand Prix taking place at night, Saturday’s Grand Prix is expected to end just before midnight. With Las Vegas’ status as a 24 hour city, that give you plenty of time to check out Sin City’s nightlife scene. With an abundance of cocktail bars and hardcore dance clubs, there are establishments to suit all tastes across the city.
Zouk Nightclub is the most technologically advanced nightclubs in Vegas and has quickly picked up a reputation as being THE place to be. Zouk has regular performances by world-leading DJs – and three yet to be announced guest stars will play over the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. Other top rated clubs include the elegant XS Las Vegas, the ultra-modern Omnia and leading karaoke bar KAMU Ultra Karaoke.
