13 Things to Do in Las Vegas at Christmas

If you think this city is all about casinos, it's time to discover the truth: there is a lot to see in Las Vegas, especially at Christmas time. This time of the year is ideal to visit and discover the city with your family. You won't be bored at any time.

Most of the attractions of this season are closely related to the best casinos in town, which are decorated to celebrate Christmas. But, in addition, Las Vegas at Christmas is a spectacle in itself, also if you go with your partner or friends.

What better way to discover the city and especially at Christmas than by booking the Las Vegas sightseeing bus. You have the option to purchase a ticket for 1, 2 or 3 days depending on the length of your stay and your preferences.

Throughout the tour, which lasts approximately two hours, you will be accompanied by a guide on board who will show you the most interesting points of the city such as the Bellagio Fountains, the Mirage Volcano, the Arts District, Circus Circus or the Mafia Museum.

In addition, you have the option to complement your ticket with a non-stop night tour of Fremont Street and Las Vegas, and thus contemplate this dazzling under the illumination.

The most original plan for Christmas is hiring a night helicopter flight over Las Vegas. The trip lasts between 10-12 minutes, but it will be enough time to let yourself be dazzled by the illumination of this great city.

It is a very convenient option because it includes the transfer from the hotel to the heliport and back, so you won't have to worry about how to get there.

And if you want to make your experience even better, you have the possibility to enjoy a delicious dinner at Bonefish Grill, ideal for seafood lovers, or Pampas Brazilian Grill, the weakness of the most carnivorous.

Las Vegas at Christmas time is characterized by temperatures between 3 and 10 ºC, so if you wake up on a cold day you can book it to visit the best museums in the city. Here are my favorites:

• Las Vegas Mafia Museum, from $36, where you can delve into the history of the mafia and enter a speakeasy and a distillery.
• Las Vegas Natural History Museum, from ** $13**, an exciting trip for the little ones of the house, as it includes amazing exhibits of dinosaurs and authentic fossils that will dazzle them, plus they can delve into marine ecosystems.
• Las Vegas Madame Tussauds Tickets, from $40, is another great option to see with family or friends, as you can take pictures with all your idols of music and film. It also includes the Marvel 4D experience that will not leave you indifferent.

Who doesn't want to talk to Santa before Christmas? In Las Vegas, you'll have many different opportunities for you and your whole family to ask for presents. But for that, you'll have to choose the best Santa Claus. On almost every ride, you can have his company and the kids can talk to him, but there is one that is particularly amazing: an Underwater Santa.

If you go to the Silverton Hotel in Las Vegas one of the weekends in December, you can meet the Underwater Santa for free. Although you won't be able to talk to him, you will be able to greet him behind the glass and take great photos that will always be unique, or have you already seen an underwater Santa?

But that's not the only different option to meet Santa, because in Las Vegas there is a fixation for shark aquariums. If you so desire, you can buy tickets to the Shark Reef Aquarium and you also have options like the Mandalay Bay Hotel Aquarium, where you can meet Santa at the Shipwreck, with the Santa Sharks. The Shipwreck is the part of the aquarium where different species of sharks from all over the world swim. This Santa is daring, do you dare to visit him?

One of the best hotels in Las Vegas is the Bellagio, where every year thousands of tourists gamble in its world-renowned casino. But when we talk about this hotel, most of the references are to its botanical and conservatory gardens. Yes, in a hotel. I know it's a bit unbelievable, but it's something worth seeing, because, in addition, it's free.

At Christmas, these internal gardens are even more decorated with a 12-meter high silver fir tree. But it is not the only thing, because there is also a bucolic Swiss chalet, as well as a huge sleigh where Santa Claus keeps his gifts. Perhaps the highlight of the Bellagio is the installation of an artificial snowy mountain range. All this adds to the admiration for all the plants and species that are preserved in these gardens.

Getting to this hotel is very easy and all the tourist buses of Las Vegas usually pass through it, due to its strategic location. If you visit it, at night it can be very attractive, especially because of the lights. Access is free, although if you go by car, the parking is paid.

There is no Christmas without a tree, and at the Venetian hotel they have one of the best in Las Vegas. The classification is not exaggerated, as the Christmas tree, which is usually silver in color, measures close to 20 meters high, which would be similar to a four-story building. This tree is really huge and you could see it from any point of the square.

The hotel installs the tree in Doge's Palace square. It is estimated that along the entire tree there are over 50 thousand lights that remain perfectly functional outdoors all season long. The theme of this hotel is Venice, so there are canals that are also beautifully decorated for Christmas. The Venetian is one of the most prominent large and iconic hotels and casinos in the entire city, and their Christmas celebration is done in style.

If you stay at this hotel, or if you just decide to check it out and spend some time, you will be able to taste numerous special recipes for the occasion. What's more: the Venetian, having one of the best views of the city, can be the place of choice for Christmas dinner.

No natural snowfall while visiting Las Vegas? It doesn't matter. If you need snow to have a beautiful Christmas, then you can go every night to the Winter PARQ, which is part of the LINQ Promenade, next to the LINQ hotel, one of the most prominent hotels in Las Vegas.

How does it work? Very simple. The idea is that this whole area, which is outdoors, is infused with Christmas and that includes all the venues in the area. This place has to be part of the night tours of Las Vegas, because every night there is an artificial snowfall that is produced through machines. All of this is made even better by the light show that is also done every night.

The LINQ Promenade is a kind of promenade in that sector but it becomes a winter park as Christmas approaches. So there is a Christmas tree with lights, musical performances and other festive activities. The visit to this site is free and you can also do ice skating, although that has extra costs.

Practical information

• Price: it's free.
• Location: 3545 S Las Vegas Blvd, at the LINQ hotel.
• Hours: Open 24 hours.

The Bellagio hotel is not only renowned for its fantastic botanical garden, but also for its dancing fountains. December changes the whole setting and all these fountains in the artificial lake dance to the rhythm of Christmas music. If you come to the Bellagio Hotel some night in December you can see how the water comes to compete with the best shows in town, to the sound of Christmas carols.

Going to these performances has many advantages, especially if it is close to Christmas. The performances are done with care and to generate feelings of nostalgia. In fact, in the dancing fountains it is possible to listen to sacred songs like Hallelujah, but also some more transgressive ones like Madonna's Santa Baby.

If you go as a couple or with your family, it is a simple show that is worthwhile and very easy to access, because it is done every half hour in the afternoon and every fifteen minutes in the morning. In addition, it is totally free, so what excuse do you have not to go and enjoy it?

In the months of November and December, a major transformation takes place at the Cosmopolitan Hotel's Boulevard Pool. This pool becomes an ice rink of more than 400 square meters and is an icon of ice skating in Las Vegas. In addition, the entire area around this hotel is full of fun activities.

Have you seen in the movies that they roast marshmallows for Christmas too? Well, that's possible too, as well as sipping cocktails while artificial snow falls. This is all part of the Cosmopolitan's strategy to attract tourists. In fact, you don't have to pay to enter all these facilities, but you do have to pay to skate.

The ice rink usually closes at 11 p.m. during the months it operates, but many of the hotel's restaurants and bars do not, so if you want to stay all night, there are sure to be options. To skate, you have to pay around 28 €, but that ticket would allow you to skate all day long, until your feet can't take the skates anymore. Are you in?

Practical info

• Price: about 28 € to skate, but to enter the space is free.
• Location: 3708 Las Vegas Blvd S, in the Cosmpolitan hotel.
• Hours: opens around mid-morning and closes at 11 p.m., although it varies on holidays.

As you can see there is a lot to see and do in Las Vegas and one of them is to visit Magical Forest, a space offered by Opportunity Village, an organization that is responsible for helping people with disabilities and that surely you will fall in love, because more than 150 thousand people visit it every year.

It is, in fact, a small forest where there are hundreds of trees decorated for Christmas. Yes, hundreds of them, which together add up to more than three million lights. But it doesn't end there, since in this space you can ride on a special Christmas train called Forest Express. It's a real train and with it you can enjoy a trip just like Santa's elves.

Along with all that, there's also a carousel to visit Santa that you can use, so if you're looking for things to do with kids in Las Vegas, it's something you shouldn't miss. And almost every night there will be performances and shows for you to enjoy the best of Christmas at this place, which looks like a North Pole theme park. Are you really going to miss it?

Practical information

• Price: about 20 €. Children under 12 get in free.
• Location: 6300 W Oakey Blvd in Opportunity Village.
• Hours: from 5:30pm. Closed on Christmas, while on New Year's Day they work until 8:30 pm.

Every year in Las Vegas there is a circuit of several NASCAR motor races, which is one of the most recognized sports in the U.S. But at Christmas, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway circuit undergoes a radical change: it becomes an attraction with thousands of lights along the entire route. It is really beautiful.

The process consists of taking your car and driving it through the circuit, where you can see the lights that decorate the entire route. If you do not have a car, then you have the option of taking a small open train, with which you can also see the decorations, although you can not stop wherever you want.

It is an ideal option if you go with your family, because you can go in the same car you use to go to many tourist spots, without getting out of it, while admiring the decorations. In the decorations are improvised tunnels of lights and even scenes of artists. If you go by car, only one ticket is charged per vehicle.

Remember Willy Wonka from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Well, there may be a branch of that factory in Las Vegas. It's Ethel M's Chocolate Factory, which at Christmas time changes completely, as hundreds of cacti are clustered together in an area of just over an acre, all lit up with a bunch of Christmas lights.

It makes no sense, and that's why it's so cool - had it ever occurred to you that it was possible to decorate so many cacti for Christmas? It's a unique garden, which combines with the desert atmosphere of Las Vegas and is decorated with half a million Christmas lights to enjoy it in style this season.

But in this chocolate factory there are not only cactus, but you can find chocolate houses and various shows that occur on different nights in November and December, which are the months in which this attraction operates, which opens between 8:30 and 18 hours, although you can arrive much earlier to see the factory.

Practical information

• Price: you can enter for free, although the chocolates are paid.
• Location: 2 Cactus Garden Dr. in Henderson, outside Las Vegas.
• Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There are so many things that seem unreal in Las Vegas that you don't believe much when you tell them, but they are. The Mystic Falls park, which is part of the Sam's Town hotel is one of those attractions. It's a totally indoor park that even has real trees and features bridges and cabins of sorts. But at Christmas, a beautiful tradition happens, as its decoration changes.

In December there are many things that change in Las Vegas, like the Mystic Falls park, which is decorated with big polar bear stuffed animals, Christmas huts, lots of artificial snow and all the trees will be decorated with lots of Christmas lights.

The small waterfall also acquires a special decoration, so that little by little, it becomes a theme park. However, the most outstanding element at this time of the year is the Christmas tree, usually decorated in gold and red, with which many tourists take pictures. In addition, although it is inside a hotel, this small indoor park is open 24 hours a day and you don't have to pay a single euro to enter. So, how not to visit it?

At Christmas time, the temperature in Las Vegas drops considerably. Although this city is in the south of the United States, where winters are not so strong, you must remember that it is also in the middle of a desert, which is a climate where temperatures are usually extreme. If you decide to go to this city for Christmas, you have to know that there is a lot to do in Las Vegas in winter, but you can not forget to bring enough coats to avoid getting cold.

In general, temperatures around Christmas time, in the second half of December vary between 0 °C and 15 °C, but it is best to check the weather forecasts before going out:

• During the day, although it can be quite cool, you will probably only need to wear a sweater or jacket.
• At night, although there is plenty to do in Las Vegas when the sun goes down, you need to keep in mind that the temperature can drop to 0 °C or even lower, which will make it essential that you wear a good coat or equivalent.

In the same vein, there is another element you need to consider: humidity and winds. The desert environment itself makes it too windy and sometimes, in the daytime, the humidity is so low that everything feels too dry. None of that will stop you from doing all your tours and excursions around the city: with a bottle of water and a good coat, so you can enjoy the weather without any setbacks when you go to visit Las Vegas for Christmas.