Top ten free things to see in Las Vegas

(also see my separate page about cheap thrills)

 Last update:  August 2023

On the strip

1. Bellagio lobby & conservatory.  See the $10 million, 2100 square foot glass sculpture on the ceiling of the lobby, featuring 2000 hand-blown blossoms that weigh about 40,000 pounds, supported by a 10,000-pound steel armature, all by renowned artist Dale Chihuly.  Every day it takes 27 person-hours to clean.  While there, also check out the 14,000 square foot conservatory garden, a dazzling mix of plants, architecture, and lights, which changes with the season.
   
2. Bellagio Water Fountains.  Amazing choreographed water fountains, set to popular music, right in front of the Bellagio hotel.  The Las Vegas Sun says it cost $40 million to build.  Shows begin at Noon on the weekends and 3:00pm M-F, running every half hour until 8:00pm, and then every 15 minutes through midnight.
3. Circus Acts.  In the Circus Circus Midway, every hour from 11:30am to 10:30pm (M-Th), to 11:30pm (F/Sun), and to 12:30pm (Sat).  Way better than you'd expect for a free show. (more)
4. Welcome to Las Vegas sign.  Take your picture at an iconic monument, a Vegas landmark since 1959.  It's in the median on Las Vegas Blvd. (the Strip), 3/4 of a mile South of Mandalay Bay.  In 2008 the county finally made a parking lot in the median, then in 2015 added a signalized crossing, so tourists no longer have to risk death by running across Las Vegas Blvd. to get to the sign.  Here's the Wikipedia article on the sign.  5200 S. Las Vegas Blvd.  Take the Deuce bus straight there.
5. MSG Sphere.  This concert arena is shaped like a giant ball and its walls are the world's largest video screen (visible from the outside).  Check it out at night when it's the most spectacular, taking the form of the Earth, moon, planets, an 8-ball, an eyeball, etc.  From across the street from Fashion Show Mall, walk East on Sands Ave. 0.4 miles (8 minutes).
   
6. Flamingo Wildlife Habitat.  See colorful Chilean flamingos, Ring Teal ducks, Sacred Ibis, pelicans, swans, ducks, koi fish, and turtles.  Open dawn to dusk, pelican feedings at 8:30am & 2pm. (more)
7. Runway fashion shows.  In the Fashion Show Mall on weekends, every hour from noon to 5pm, near Saks Fifth Avenue/Nordstrom. (more)

Downtown

8. Viva Vision.  (Bring earplugs, because it's often not just uncomfortably loud, it's often dangerously loud.  You can buy cheap foam earplugs at most convenience and drug stores.)  A huge overhead canopy is a massive video screen, over four football fields long, and filled with nearly 50 million LED lights.  At night it comes to life, showing amazing animations choreographed to popular music.  In the early 90s the megaresorts that had been appearing on the strip were sucking up tourist attention and nearly put the downtown casinos out of business, so the downtown casinos banded together to finance a spectacle to lure visitors to the downtown area.  Before settling on the video screen, ideas such as a system of canals were floated (no pun intended) (okay, maybe a little).  An upgrade to the resolution in 2004 (which I witnessed) took the video quality from cheesy to damn impressive, and it was upgraded again in 2019, quadrupling the resolution and making it seven times brighter.  It's easy to find: just go to Fremont Street and look up.  If you're on the Strip just hop on the Deuce bus which goes straight to Fremont.  Note, the screen is often mistakenly called the "Fremont Street Experience"; technically, the FSE is the big pedestrian mall where the screen is located, and the screen itself is called Viva Vision.  Shows are every hour on the hour, from 6:00 pm until 2:00 am.  (Visit the official website.)
9. Music concerts.  On three different stages nightly.  Bring earplugs, because it's often not just uncomfortably loud, it's often dangerously loud.  You can buy cheap foam earplugs at most convenience and drug stores.  (more)
10. World's largest indoor TV screen.  Circa casino has the largest sportsbook in the world, which features an incredible three-story, 78 million pixel TV screen.

Largest video screens

Vegas has the five of the world's largest video screens, and some other pretty big ones.

1. MSG Sphere.  This entertainment venue is breathtaking for its size and shape. (580,000 square feet)
2. Resorts World.  Covers one side of this hotel/casino resort.  (161,636 square feet)
3. Viva Vision.  Canopy over Fremont Street downtown. (123,750 square feet)
4. Alegiant Stadium.  On the outside, facing east to I-15.  (27,600 square feet)
5. Palms.  Covers this hotel/casino resort building. (21,488 square feet)
6. Circa building.  The north side of the building of this downtown casino hotel. (11,856 square feet)
7. Circa pool, aka Stadium Swim.  This one isn't free ($20 admission as of 2023), unless you're a guest of the hotel.  (5535 square feet)
8. Circa sportsbook.  The largest video screen at any sportsbook in the world is at this downtown casino. (4484 square feet)

See my Vegas Strip Map to see where all this stuff is (besides Circa, which is downtown at the end of the overhead video screen).

(Source: 8 News Now)

Changes

• Replaced Lounge Shows (#6) with MSG Sphere (#5). (8/1/23)
• Started this article. (9/21)

Related:

• Cheap thrills (not free, but pretty cheap)
• 69 free things to see in Vegas
• Ultimate list of things to do in Vegas
• Vegas4Locals has a huge list of free things to see and do