Top Free Attractions in Las Vegas: A Visitor’s Guide

We had last visited Las Vegas in the summer of 2023 as part of our journey along Route 66 – https://amidlifeadventure.org/2023/07/18/las-vegas-for-better-or-worse/ and made the decision when we left that we would one day come back.
Well that day arrived a couple of months ago when I was faced with an opportunity to see Carrie Underwood in residence in Vegas. I have loved her songs ever since she walked away as the winner of American Idol Series 4. She has since become a major recording artist in the USA selling over 85 million records worldwide and becoming the most awarded country artist of all time.

Having already visited the city previously I upped my research for this trip in the hope of finding things to do particularly during the day for free. Not because we were being frugal but we wanted to focus our expenditure into the evening. In addition to tickets to see Carrie’s concert at Resort World we also bought tickets to see a third Vegas Cirque du Soleil performance and wanted to revisit The Wynn buffet amongst other items on our agenda.
Our first free adventure was to view the architecture along the Strip. ……

Architecture:

Las Vegas is full of beautiful architecture and whilst some may frown at the duplication of worldwide sites onto the Las Vegas Strip it is a great walk from the southern end of the strip at the Luxor Casino to Caesars Palace. It’s about 2 miles but there are so many architectural spectacles to admire. Depending upon what time of the year you travel you might need to take a break en route and escape from the desert heat. I will be giving you some suggestions of what to visit for free inside some of the casinos on my next post.

The Luxor was opened in October 1993 and was built upon an Ancient Egyptian theme. The pyramid is 30 stories high and contains the world’s largest atrium by volume. Egyptologists were actually hired to create and oversee the Luxor’s theme and when you escape the heat and meander inside you will find replicas of various Egyptian artifacts, made of fiberglass and plaster.

Next door to the Luxor you are then transported to the world of Camelot. With its beautiful medieval castle and turrets topped by colourful triangular roofs Excalibur is named after King Arthur’s mythical Excalibur sword.
Opened on June 19, 1990, it was the largest hotel in the world with 4032 rooms before it was overtaken by the MGM Grand in 1993.
The Luxor and Excalibur along with the Mandalay Bay are connected via the Mandalay Bay Free Tram should you not wish to walk between them. The Excalibur Tram stop is right next to Tropicana Avenue.

Across the bridge from here you will then come upon New York, New York.
We are now architecturally in the city that never sleeps!
Opened on January 3, 1997 this hotel and casino were designed to feature smaller replicas of numerous city landmarks including the Statue of Liberty. The tallest building in Nevada, at the time, became the replica of the Empire State Building which stood at 529 feet tall and had 47 stories. The record, since 2005, is now held by The Wynn Las Vegas.
Travelling around the hotel tower is the famous Big Apple Coaster which reaches a top speed of 67 mph and is also known for its 203-foot drop and the world’s first 180-degree “heartline” twist and dive maneuver. 

Many more casinos sit alongside the strip but the next real great feature for me is the world famous Bellagio.
Opened in October 1998, with 3,005 rooms in a 36-story tower and built at a cost of $1.6 billion, it was the world’s most expensive resort up to that point. You just cannot visit Las Vegas without stopping to watch the Fountains of Bellagio at play. Located at the front of the casino, nestling right next to the Strip itself, the 8.5-acre man-made lake features dancing water fountains that are synchronised to music. With water shooting as high as 460 feet this spectacle is one of the most photographed sites in Vegas and of course featured in the film Oceans 11 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. It is easy to check out the timings on line so you can ensure you are there in plenty of time to get a prime position.

Opposite the Bellagio is Paris, Las Vegas. You may want to cross over the main strip at this point to get a closer look or you could merely admire it from afar. Alternatively you could continue on your way to Caesars Palace and then double back later.
Opened in 1999, architecturally Paris, Las Vegas is of course based upon the capital city of France with a half scale replica of the Eiffel Tower standing at 540 feet. There are also scaled down versions of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris Opera House, the famous Louvre Art Gallery and the Musee D’Orsay.

Moving on up the Strip and right next door to the Bellagio is our final external architectural wonder- Caesars Palace. Opened back in 1966 with a design based upon Ancient Rome, it is fourteen stories high and covers 34 acres of land, certainly worthy of its place on the Strip.
Externally in addition to the beautiful Roman columns reminiscent of Italy’s great capital there is also a twenty foot statue of Augustus Caesar to admire and further along outside the Forum Shops a replica of the Trevi Fountains.

Las Vegas does everything on a grand scale and this is certainly the case for the actual architecture of its key casinos. When you are there it feels like the majority of visitors spend their time indoors gambling on the many and varied casino games but taking a look at these edifices from the outside is definitely worth a walk.

Join me on my next post which highlights free places to visit inside the casinos themselves.