Family Vacations to Las Vegas

Where to Stay

One of the best family-friendly resorts is Mandalay Bay, located near the south end of The Strip. Its theme is aquatic/South Seas in nature and it features a huge indoor wave pool and faux sand beach area. The complex has enough to keep a family busy for days. Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: One show is a high-flying spectacle that has to be experienced. Seeing performers literally climbing the walls while singing such powerful music is something you and the kids will be talking about for years to come.

The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay is also well worth the admission, with some great up-close experiences, including walking through an acrylic tube below one of the main tanks. Book an evening meal at one of the resort’s signature restaurants, like Fleur by Hubert Keller. If you’re worried it may be too high end for chicken-finger-and-grilled-cheese kids, the restaurant warmly encourages children out of their normal comfort zones and.

Walking The Strip

There’s plenty to ogle walking along The Strip: The New York skyline, the Eiffel Tower at Paris, the erupting volcano at The Mirage and of course, the Bellagio Fountains. The famous fountains are one of the most mesmerizing free shows, with stunning water tricks choreographed to popular music.

Fremont Street Experiment

Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, once the center of Vegas’ casino culture, gradually fell into decline when The Strip became the “in place.” To draw tourists back, the downtown casinos and businesses built an enormous canopy—1,500 ft long and almost 100 ft high—in the mid 90s. An enormous LED display turns the canopy into what looks like a huge curved NFL scoreboard and you’ll find the kids staring open-mouthed at it—and the people riding ziplines along its length—in amazement.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit

Take a walk through actual items recovered from the wreck of the Titanic. The haunting experience feels reverential, with more than 250 pieces on display, including an enormous part of the ships’ hull. When you enter, you’re given the name of one of the passengers on a slip of paper and you don’t find out until the end whether you survived the voyage.

Hoover Dam

About a 45-minute drive from the city, this 726-foot tall arch gravity dam straddles the Nevada-Arizona border and is a feat of modern civil engineering. There are two tours, an hour-long guided tour and a 30-minute power plant tour. While both tours are excellent, note that the longer tour often sells out.

Getting Around

Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport is located right alongside the south east edge of The Strip. The Las Vegas Monorail, 4 miles in length, connects many of the hotels on the eastern side of The Strip, from the MGM Grand to Harrah’s (and beyond to the Convention Center). In the last couple of years, many of the casinos have begun charging for self parking, so be aware that renting a car may now add some extra charges to your vacation bill.