Las Vegas, as a city, is its own attraction. While many of us never get tired of gawking at the splendor of the Strip, there is a long list of thrilling things to do day and night.
While outdoor attractions like the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon are a short jaunt from the neon lights, for those who crave cultural content, here are 10 things you must see and do when playing tourist.
A Bird’s-Eye View
As spectacular as it is from the ground, Las Vegas and its surrounding areas are sights to behold by air. Maverick Helicopters gives you the view you can’t get anywhere else: 4,000 feet above the ground.
Experiences range from short stints above the Strip and date-night foodie tours to day-long sightseeing excursions to the Grand Canyon and heli-yoga outings on top of the Valley of Fire. These “birds” also serve as a method of transportation during major high-traffic events, such as the Electric Daisy Carnival and NASCAR weekend. Plus, Maverick flies people from Las Vegas to the Coachella Valley for its music festival.
Over-the-Top Golf
If you came to Vegas to play and win, golf is a much safer bet than the tables. Mandalay Bay‘s whimsical mini-golf club Swingers has four courses (themed Clocktower, Hot Air Balloon, Carousel and Meteorite), carnival games, cult-favorite Brooklyn’s Emmy Squared Pizza and a fun cocktail program that puts a new spin on adults-only experiences.
Known for its “competitive socializing” and “crazy golf,” Swingers occupies the resort’s former nightclub space, but the DJ now presides over the action on the course. While you play, cocktail caddies provide liquid luck to help you work around animated obstacles, such as windmills, carousels, jumps and loops.
The Sphere
An architectural feat of an entirely different kind, the Sphere has transformed the Las Vegas skyline since its 2023 debut. One of the city’s — and the world’s — most searched, viewed and asked-about attractions in its short existence, the Sphere lives up to all superlatives. The world’s largest spherical structure came with a $2.3 billion price tag and features a 580,000-square-foot LED Exosphere and a 16K x 16K immersive display plane that is revolutionizing the concert- and movie-going experience.
The Sphere showcases the world’s largest fully integrated, 3D beam-forming and wave field synthesis concert-grade audio system, which delivers audience members their own concert in their seat. When one of its A-list legacy act residencies like Eagles is not performing, the Sphere offers other sensory-tingling experiences: award-winning director Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard from Earth and V:U2, a concert film about U2. Sphere Studios created both movies with the proprietary Big Sky camera systems, the world’s sharpest cinematic lens capable of shooting the visuals for Sphere.
Resort Art Collections
Las Vegas doesn’t have an art museum yet; however, it has some of the world’s best art collections in public view in the most unlikely places, such as casinos and hotel rooms. Stay within a work of art at Damien Hirst’s Empathy Suite at Palms Casino Resort. The two-story villa boasts artwork throughout the 9,000-square-foot unit, from his signature butterflies and pill motifs to two bull sharks suspended in formaldehyde in a white tank set into the suite’s wall. Hirst-designed furniture, drapery, carpeting and sofas make this the perfect stay for an art lover.
Fontainebleau features one of the most significant pieces of art on the Strip, Urs Fischer’s 46-foot Lovers #3, a sculpture made of aluminum, stainless steel and gold leaf, placed within the hotel’s five-story atrium. Adjacent to the main lobby, the five-panel Richard Prince painting Untitled (High Times) (2018-2019) is the largest work the artist has ever completed. And from the street, you can see Gonzalo Lebrija’s History of Suspended Time, a 2,500-pound 1966 Ford Galaxie suspended perpendicular to the ground.
Resorts World Las Vegas has a page dedicated to its art program, which includes local artists and modern and historical fine art pieces. Works of note include Ichwan Noor’s Red Beetle (a balled-up Volkswagen located outside Carver Steak) and the SOFTlab light installation of geometric shapes that illuminates a section of Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Conrad Las Vegas at Resorts World.
Additionally, MGM Resorts offers a self-guided app for those interested in seeing all of its major works, and the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is one of the top cultural institutions in town.
Symphony Park
Home to The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Discovery Children’s Museum and the Frank Gehry-designed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Symphony Park is the heart of Las Vegas’ arts and culture scene. While a major hotel development and the 90,000-square-foot Art Museum supported by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are all coming, today you can dine at Vic’s Symphony Park, which features nightly live jazz; take in a touring Broadway show, the Nevada Ballet and Las Vegas Symphony in The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall; or see a cabaret performance at Myron’s.
A Top-of-the-Line Theater
Las Vegas has many incredible attractions, but for years, it was missing something — an independent film house. That all changed thanks to philanthropist Beverly Rogers, whose namesake Beverly Theater, located downtown, is helping to shape the city’s burgeoning cultural landscape.
Although cool classics and new movies are its primary focus, the theater also serves as a storytelling arena and live music venue throughout the multi-level space and terrace. State-of-the-art Meyer Sound, retractable seats, microphone-free talks and spirited Q&As make this one of the world’s most technologically advanced theaters. If you’ve never seen Goodfellas or The Godfather on the big screen, this is the place to bask in Vegas lore.
Distinct Museums
While everyone patiently waits for the Las Vegas Art Museum to open in 2028, the Neon Museum and the Mob Museum welcome thousands of visitors yearly. Each tells the unique history of an equally unique city. The Neon Museum restores, exhibits and educates through the city’s iconic neon signs, many of which are now re-illuminated. It leads incredible tours filled with historical nuggets, and the brilliant interactive show spotlights signs that have not been restored via projection mapping. It is one of the city’s best photo ops and is a popular wedding venue and destination. The Neon Museum is growing and has secured two new spaces — both indoor and outdoor — that will triple its footprint with a relocation to the downtown Las Vegas Arts District.
Also downtown, The Mob Museum traces the history of the mafia in Las Vegas and beyond. It also features monthly programs introducing luminaries from the crime world and showcasing artifacts and interactive exhibits. “The Crime Lab,” “Firearm Training Simulator” and “Organized Crime Today” exhibits provide a fascinating look into criminal minds. And because it is Vegas after all, visit the accompanying Underground Speakeasy and Distillery for some hooch and conversation after a day of cultural enrichment.
Allegiant Stadium
Due to betting regulations, it took a long time for Las Vegas to get its own professional sports teams. However, that changed in 2016 with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, playing at T-Mobile Arena, and the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, who call Allegiant Stadium home. If you aren’t in town when a game is scheduled, you can still look inside Allegiant, a monumental entertainment venue known as the “Death Star,” due to its futuristic silver-and-black design. The tour includes the Al Davis memorial torch, the broadcast booth, private suites and clubs, the Raiderette locker room, the press conference room, the Raiders locker rooms and the field.
A Hidden City
The massive land-art sculpture City, which took artist Michael Heizer five decades to complete, only permits six visitors per day. Getting there requires preplanning about a year in advance, but note that 2025 reservations are already sold out. Administered by the Triple Aught Foundation, City opens requests for its season every January. Viewings begin in May and end in November, with visitation on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
City is a mile and a half long and a mile wide. It is about 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in Alamo, Nevada, on the Extraterrestrial Highway, near Area 51 and the Nevada National Security Site. After meeting at the foundation’s Alamo-based offices, guests are driven another hour to the site.
Though no cell phones or photos are allowed, what your eyes will capture will be unforgettable. The City is composed of geometric forms, stacked, tiered and filled with compacted dirt, rock and concrete — and made of the land where it resides. The exploration takes about three hours, and there is no guide or right or wrong way to view it. A place of great contemplation and sublimation, City couldn’t be more different from the lure of Las Vegas.
Area 15
There is no easy way to describe Area 15. The indoor and outdoor amusement district, which spans 20 acres, is an out-of-this-galaxy experience filled with events, attractions, interactive art installations, design, retail, technology, bars and restaurants.
There are dozens of attractions to explore and discover, including Liftoff Bar and Ride, Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, Illuminarium, Dueling Axes, Five Iron Golf, Kaia, The Beast, Wink World: Portals Into the Infinite, Museum Fiasco, Superplastic’s Dopeameme Institute for Pleasure Research (D.I.P.R.) with many more coming. If you spend a day, a night or even a week here, you can’t possibly do it all.
