The Las Vegas Strip: A Walker's Guide

What the Strip is, and where it is

Officially, the Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South, about 4.2 miles (6.8 km) long, from around the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign in the south to the Sahara in the north. It lies just outside the city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, which are governed by Clark County rather than by the City of Las Vegas. The resorts still use Las Vegas mailing addresses, which is why the distinction surprises people. The Strat, at the north end, is usually counted as part of the Strip by visitors, but it sits inside the city.

The Strip began as the highway to Los Angeles. El Rancho Vegas opened beside it in 1941, the Flamingo followed in 1946, and through the 1950s and 1960s resorts spaced along the road competed with ever-taller neon signs. Most of those buildings are gone. What you see now is largely the product of the megaresort era that started with the Mirage in 1989 and continues today. Most of the boulevard is designated an All-American Road, and its north and south sections are National Scenic Byways.

• 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign: Betty Willis's 1959 sign in the median of Las Vegas Boulevard South, the traditional southern gateway to the Strip.

South Strip: from the sign to Tropicana Avenue

The south end is the newest-looking part of the Strip, built mostly in the 1990s. Mandalay Bay, the southernmost resort usually counted as part of the Strip, opened in 1999 on the site of the Hacienda, whose horse-and-rider sign now stands restored downtown. North of it come the Luxor's pyramid and the castle of Excalibur, and then the busy corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, where pedestrian bridges link New York-New York, the MGM Grand and Excalibur.

The fourth corner of that intersection is a construction site. The Tropicana, which opened in 1957 and was one of the oldest resorts on the Strip, closed on April 2, 2024, and its towers were imploded before dawn on October 9, 2024. A ballpark for the Athletics baseball team has been under construction on part of the site since 2025, with an opening targeted for 2028. You can watch progress from the bridges, but there is nothing to visit yet.

Just west of New York-New York, a pedestrian plaza leads to T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team.

• Mandalay Bay: Resort opened in 1999 on the former Hacienda site at the south end of the Strip. official site
• Former Tropicana site: Closed in April 2024 and imploded that October; a ballpark for the Athletics is being built on part of the land.
• Tropicana Avenue pedestrian bridges: Bridges over both roads linking the corners of the intersection, so you never cross at street level.

Center Strip: Bellagio to the Mirage site

The middle of the Strip, roughly from Harmon Avenue to Spring Mountain Road, holds the densest cluster of famous names and most of the free sights. At Bellagio, which opened in 1998, the Fountains of Bellagio dance across an 8.5-acre (3.4 ha) lake to music, and the show is free to watch from the sidewalk railing along the Boulevard. Inside, the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens change their displays with the seasons and the Chinese New Year, and they are free to walk through; Dale Chihuly's glass ceiling, Fiori di Como, hangs in the lobby next door. Across the road, Paris Las Vegas has its half-scale Eiffel Tower.

Further north, Caesars Palace faces the LINQ, where the High Roller observation wheel, 550 feet (168 m) tall, opened in 2014. Next to it, the Flamingo, which dates to 1946 and is the oldest resort still operating on the Strip, keeps a small garden habitat with Chilean flamingos and other birds that is free to enter.

The biggest change is at 3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The Mirage, which opened in 1989 and is credited with starting the megaresort era, closed on July 17, 2024. Its volcano, once a free nightly show, has been demolished, and a guitar-shaped tower for the new Hard Rock Las Vegas rose on that frontage through 2026, with an opening planned for late 2027. Some Mirage signage went to the Neon Museum.

Behind the Venetian, a short walk east of the Boulevard, is Sphere, the 366-foot (112 m) entertainment venue that opened on September 29, 2023. Its exterior, about 580,000 square feet (54,000 m²) of LED panels, shows changing images every night and can be seen for free from much of the center Strip.

• Fountains of Bellagio: Free choreographed fountain shows on an 8.5-acre lake in front of Bellagio. official site
• Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens: Free indoor garden with seasonal displays, next to the lobby and its Chihuly glass ceiling. official site
• High Roller: A 550-foot observation wheel at the LINQ, opened in 2014. official site
• Flamingo Wildlife Habitat: Free garden habitat with flamingos, pelicans and koi at the Flamingo. official site
• Hard Rock Las Vegas (under construction): The former Mirage, closed in July 2024 and being rebuilt with a guitar-shaped tower; opening planned for late 2027.
• Sphere: Entertainment venue opened in 2023, with an LED exterior visible from much of the Strip. official site

North Strip: Resorts World to the Strat

North of Spring Mountain Road, the resorts thin out and the gaps between them grow longer. This stretch had the most empty lots for years, and it is where most of the recent building has happened.

Resorts World Las Vegas opened in June 2021 on the site of the Stardust, imploded in 2007. Inside is a sculpture based on the Stardust's 1968 roadside sign, whose real letters now glow in the Neon Boneyard. Across the road, the blue glass Fontainebleau Las Vegas finally opened on December 13, 2023, after years of stalled construction under several owners. The Sahara marks the official northern end of the Strip.

Beyond it, the Strat's tower, which opened as the Stratosphere in 1996 and rises 1,149 feet (350 m) to its spire, is the landmark you can see from almost anywhere in the valley. It has observation decks near the top. From here downtown and the Neon Museum are about two miles north, a trip best made by bus or car.

• Resorts World Las Vegas: Resort opened in 2021 on the former Stardust site, with a sculpture recalling the Stardust's roadside sign. official site
• Fontainebleau Las Vegas: Tall blue-glass resort that opened in December 2023 after years of stalled construction. official site
• The Strat: Observation tower and resort, opened in 1996, just inside the City of Las Vegas. official site

Resorts, south to north

Every resort standing on the Strip today, in order from the south end, with its opening date and what it replaced. Dates are checked against Wikidata; see the full timeline for the ones that are gone.

South Strip

Center Strip

North Strip