How to Get Around the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas strip is 4-miles long. At first glance it doesn’t seem like it would take that long to get from one hotel to another it actually does.
The hotels in Vegas are huge, which means you will do a lot of walking just getting from one end of a single hotel to the other end. Just keep this in mind when choosing your footwear.
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Options for getting around the Vegas Strip:
Walking & Pedestrian Bridges
Years ago pedestrians could and would walk out into traffic where ever they found an opening along the Strip. Thankfully the city installed barriers to prevent people from doing just that and to prevent vehicles from entering the sidewalks.
Every major hotel has a pedestrian crossing walk so that you can safely cross the street. The safest option is to use the elevated pedestrian bridges.
Where are the Pedestrian Bridges?
If you plan on walking the Las Vegas strip it is helpful to know where the elevated pedestrian bridges are. You can take a pedestrian bridge at the following locations:
- Cross the street from New York, New York hotel to MGM Grand.
- Pedestrian bridge between Showcase Mall and MGM Park
- Cosmopolitan Hotel to the Harmon Retail mall
- Bellagio to Grand Bazaar Shops at Bally’s
- Caeser’s Palace to shopping near Flamingo Hotel
- Mirage to the Grand Canal Shops at the Venetian
People often ask if they can walk from the Las Vegas strip to Fremont Street. Can you? Certainly. Have I done it? Yes. Would I recommend it? No. Take a taxi, a ride share, the bus or a car to get there.
Monorail
Las Vegas monorail is on the west side of the strip. Starting from MGM Grand, visitors can ride the monorail all the way to the Sahara hotel. There are seven stops in all.
Monorail stops include:
- MGM Grand
- Bally’s/Paris
- Flamingos/Ceaser’s Palace
- Harrah’s/The LINQ
- Las Vegas Convention Center
- Westgate
- SLS/Sahara
From MGM Grand to Harrah’s the monorail runs in an almost straight line, from Harrah’s it moves further west behind the Wynn and then over to the Sahara.
Monorail tickets can be purchased per ride, a 24-hour pass or daily pass up to 7 days. You can ride the rails on the weekends until 3 a.m.
Tram
Three free tram systems run on the east side of the strip.
- One of the trams runs from the Mandalay Bay Tram Station to the Luxor Tram Station and ends at the Excalibur Tram Station.
- The tram from the Excalibur Tram Station goes to the Mandalay Bay, the tram will stop at the Luxor on the return trip from Mandalay Bay. Just stay on the tram if you want to be dropped off at the Luxor.
- Another free tram runs from Park MGM near the Aria hotel entrance to the shopping center Crystals near Cosmopolitan hotel. This tram ends at the Bellagio. You can access T-Mobile Arena with this tram.
- The third free tram on the Las Vegas strip is a short rail to connect the Mirage hotel (Future Hard Rock Hotel) and Treasure Island.
On the weekends the trams run well past midnight. If you utilize the trams you will still do a fair amount of walking, but the tram does give your tired feet a rest.
Taxi & Ride Shares
A ride share is our transit of choice when we want to explore Fremont Street or want to eat at one of our favorite restaurants off of the strip. Each hotel has a pick-up area for taxis and ride shares.
By Car
The Las Vegas Strip is a very congested street and traffic moves s-l-o-w-l-y. It can take an hour to drive 4-miles depending on the time of year and day. Since we drive rather than fly to Las Vegas we usually park our car at the hotel and use an alternative route of transportation while visiting.
A car is not necessary in Las Vegas unless you want to explore areas off of the main strip, which I do recommend. There are some really fun day trips from Vegas.
Visit our post on the Ultimate Guide to Las Vegas for First-Time Visitors
