World-class shows, gardens, aquariums and spectacles that cost absolutely nothing — all inside or beside the casinos on our map.
Las Vegas casinos spend fortunes on free attractions because they bring people through the doors — which means some of the best entertainment in the city costs nothing at all. Here are the ones genuinely worth your time, roughly ordered from unmissable to nice-if-passing.
The most famous free attraction in the world: over 1,200 water jets firing up to 460 feet, choreographed to everything from Sinatra to modern pop across an 8.5-acre lake. Shows run every 30 minutes through the afternoon and every 15 minutes from 8pm until midnight (1am Fridays and Saturdays). Each show is one song, so stay for two — they're all different. Best free viewing: the centre rail on the Strip sidewalk (arrive 10 minutes early) or the elevated view from the Paris walkway across the street. Night shows beat day shows, every time.
A 14,000-square-foot indoor garden maintained by a staff of over a hundred, completely rebuilt around five themed displays each year. It's astonishing that this is free. While you're there, look up in the hotel lobby: the ceiling is Dale Chihuly's "Fiori di Como," two thousand hand-blown glass flowers. Go early morning or late evening to dodge the crowds; note it closes briefly a few times a year between display changeovers.
Five blocks of downtown under the world's largest video canopy — over 12 million LEDs running choreographed shows every hour after dark — plus free live bands on multiple stages most nights. The people-watching alone is worth the trip, and you're steps from the classic downtown casinos (Golden Nugget, Binion's, El Cortez). The zipline overhead costs money; everything at street level is free.
Genuine trapeze artists, acrobats and jugglers performing free on the Midway stage roughly every half hour, all day, as they have since 1968. One of the best family options in the city and a slice of old Vegas that has simply never stopped.
A gloriously over-the-top animatronic show of fire, water and feuding gods inside the Forum Shops — hourly from noon. The Forum Shops themselves are worth the wander: full Roman streetscapes with a painted sky ceiling that shifts from dawn to dusk. Free to walk, dangerous to your wallet.
A huge saltwater aquarium with thousands of tropical fish — and live "mermaid" swim performances on select days — free at the Silverton, next to the giant Bass Pro Shops. Off the beaten path but a favourite with families.
Real Chilean flamingos, koi, turtles and exotic birds in a garden oasis behind the Flamingo — a legacy of the property's 1946 origins. A calm ten-minute escape right in the middle of the Strip.
The resorts themselves are the attraction. The Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes with singing gondoliers under a painted sky (riding costs; watching is free). Wynn's flower-sculpture atrium. Paris's cobbled streets beneath a half-scale Eiffel Tower. New York-New York's Greenwich Village streetscape. The LINQ Promenade's open-air buzz, and The Park's shaded art walk between New York-New York and Park MGM. Casino-hopping the interiors is a full free day in itself.
Two free tram lines link the resorts: Mandalay Bay ↔ Luxor ↔ Excalibur on the south Strip, and the Aria Express linking Park MGM, Aria, the Shops at Crystals and Bellagio. In summer heat these are lifesavers — and the views between resorts are half the fun.
The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign (south of Mandalay Bay, free, expect a short queue), the Seven Magic Mountains neon-boulder art installation 25 minutes south, downtown's Container Park and the Arts District's murals and galleries. All free, all very Vegas.
Every casino mentioned here is on our interactive casino map — plot your free-attractions walking route before you go.