Getting around Las Vegas

Fares from the Nevada Taxicab Authority, the Las Vegas Monorail and RTC; airport details from harryreidairport.com; parking from each resort company's own page. Checked October 17, 2026.

Getting from the airport to the Strip

Harry Reid International Airport (code LAS) has two passenger terminals. Terminal 1 has Allegiant, American, Delta, Southwest and Sun Country; United, Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier, Hawaiian and the international airlines use Terminal 3. Check your boarding pass; airlines move.

Taxi fares from the airport

Las Vegas taxis are regulated by the Nevada Taxicab Authority, a state agency, and trips between the airport and Strip hotels are charged a flat fare by zone instead of by the meter. The current fares took effect at 2am on April 9, 2026, under a Taxicab Authority order that added a fuel surcharge.

The airport's own taxi page still links an older flat-rate sheet, "revised 8-5-24," that shows $21, $25 and $29. The April 2026 order replaced it. The $19, $23 and $27 in older guides predate both.

The Taxicab Authority's zone FAQ says the fare is the same in both directions and covers a direct trip only; a stop on the way puts the ride on the meter. The driver may take "the most direct route between a zone and the airport including the freeway or surface streets," so the tunnel and I-215 are allowed, and on a zone trip the route can't change the price. A $2.40 airport pickup fee is also listed, without saying whether it's inside the zone price, so a card-paid ride to Bellagio is at least $29.25 before the 3% tax.

Taxi stands are outside exit doors 1 to 4 at Terminal 1 and near door 52 on Level Zero at Terminal 3. Long-hauling is illegal under NRS 706.8846; complaints go to the Taxicab Authority at 702-668-4005 with the cab number.

Uber, Lyft and the bus

Uber and Lyft pick up in the parking garages, not at the curb: Level 2 of the garage at Terminal 1, the Valet Level at Terminal 3. Your app shows the fare before you book. Don't assume your hotel runs a free airport shuttle; Wynn, for one, says it doesn't.

The public bus stop is at Terminal 1 only, on Level Zero, so Terminal 3 arrivals first take the free inter-terminal shuttle, which runs about every 20 to 30 minutes. Two routes stop there, Route 108 on Paradise Road and the Red Line (the airport notes it was "previously known as Route 109"), and neither runs on Las Vegas Boulevard. Reaching a Strip hotel by bus means changing to the Deuce, and the cheap residential passes are valid on the Strip routes only with a local ID, so visitors need a Strip-tier pass for the second bus.

Unless you're traveling light with time to spare, I'd take the taxi.

Getting around the Strip

What each option costs, from each operator's own fare page:

For three days, the Deuce's $20 pass is cheaper than the Monorail's $30.85 eTicket and reaches the west side and Downtown, which the Monorail doesn't.

The Strip is longer than it looks

These times are measured on the Las Vegas Boulevard sidewalk in front of each resort, using pedestrian routing at about 3.2 mph, so they include the bridges and detours. Getting from your room out to the Boulevard adds more, often 5 to 10 minutes at the big resorts.

At the big intersections you go up and over on pedestrian bridges, so Bellagio to Caesars Palace, a 0.24-mile gap on the map, is a 0.46-mile walk. Downtown is a ride, not a walk: the STRAT to the Fremont Street Experience is 1.9 miles with little to stop for.

Walk between neighbors. I'd ride anything over about 20 minutes on the table above, especially in party shoes.

The Deuce bus

The Deuce is RTC's 24-hour route along Las Vegas Boulevard, from the Fremont Street Experience past the STRAT and every big resort to Mandalay Bay, then on to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and the South Premium Outlets (per RTC's 2024 stop map). Visitors pay the Strip tier: $6 for 2 hours, $8 for 24 hours, $20 for 3 days. Buy passes on the rideRTC app or at ticket machines; drivers can't make change. The SDX express that older guides list was cut in 2020. Expect special schedules during Formula 1 race week.

The Las Vegas Monorail

The Monorail runs about 4 miles along the east side of the Strip, with seven stations from south to north:

1. MGM Grand
2. Horseshoe / Paris (formerly Bally's / Paris)
3. Flamingo / Caesars Palace
4. Harrah's / The LINQ
5. Boingo Station at the Las Vegas Convention Center
6. Westgate
7. SAHARA Las Vegas

Trains run every 4 to 8 minutes. The southern end is MGM Grand, not Mandalay Bay, and there's no station on the west side of the Boulevard: for Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian or Wynn you walk from the nearest east-side station, then cross the Strip.

During Formula 1 race week the Monorail runs nonstop, from 7am Tuesday, November 17, 2026 to 3am Monday, November 23. It closes early at midnight on October 29, 2026 and on various nights between November 29 and December 15, so check the ticket-page notice before counting on a late train.

The cheaper fares are mobile eTickets only, bought at tix.lvmonorail.com. Multi-day passes start at your first fare gate, and each "day" is 24 hours, so a pass first used at 8pm is good until 8pm the next day. Children 5 and under ride free with a paying adult, and every station has elevators and level boarding.

The Monorail is worth it if your hotel is on the east side (MGM Grand, Horseshoe, Paris, Flamingo, The LINQ, Harrah's, Westgate, SAHARA) or you're going to the convention center. From Bellagio, Cosmopolitan or Wynn, the walk to the station eats most of the time it saves.

Renting a car and paying to park

Rental cars are at the Rent-A-Car Center, 7135 Gilespie Street, about three miles south of the airport, by shuttle bus. Through the end of December 2026, allow extra time: since August 10, 2026, the Airport Connector tunnels the shuttles use have been cut to two lanes from 5am to midnight and one lane overnight, Sunday to Friday, and the airport warns to "expect delays to and from the Rent-A-Car Center."

Published daily parking rates are below; for resort fees on top, see where to stay in Las Vegas.

Caesars valet charges start the moment you hand over the keys, and valet tips are cash only. Caesars Rewards Platinum and MGM Rewards Pearl members and above park free at their company's resorts.

If you'll spend most of the trip on the Strip, I'd skip the car. Four nights of hotel-guest self-parking at $20 is $80, more than a Zone 2 taxi from the airport and back ($52.50 before the card fee and tax). Rent one for the days you leave town: Red Rock Canyon's scenic drive is about 35 minutes from the center Strip and Hoover Dam about 45, and the day trips guide covers tours if you'd rather not drive.

Rules first-timers trip on

Under 21 on the casino floor

Nevada's gaming law, NRS 463.350, says anyone under 21 may not gamble, and may not "loiter, or be permitted to loiter," in the room where licensed games are played. It's a misdemeanor for the minor and for the casino. The word that matters is loiter. Families walk through casinos to reach restaurants, shows and elevators; what a child can't do is stop at a slot machine or stand behind you at the blackjack table.

Smoking and cannabis

Nevada bans smoking in indoor workplaces, restaurants and malls, but NRS 202.2483 exempts the casino areas where minors are barred from loitering, which is the same gaming floor families walk through to dinner. Cannabis is a different rule: using it in a public place, in a dispensary or in a vehicle is a misdemeanor under NRS 678D.310, with a fine of up to $600, unless you're in a licensed consumption lounge.

Drinks on the Strip

Plastic cups and cans on the Boulevard are normal. Glass is the catch. Clark County bans pedestrians from carrying any glass drink container, alcoholic or not, on Las Vegas Boulevard between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue (County Code chapter 12.43, as reported in local press). Downtown and Fremont Street are in the City of Las Vegas, which has its own rules.

Nightclub dress codes

Each club sets its own door policy. OMNIA at Caesars Palace is strictly 21 and over and says "sports attire, athleisure / casual loungewear, and swimwear are not permitted"; it won't check backpacks or large bags. XS at Wynn requires business casual: dressy jeans and well-kept sneakers pass, but tank tops, athletic wear including hats and sweatpants, sandals, work boots and torn or baggy clothing don't. XS also bars outside drinks, water bottles included. At Wynn's venues, bottle service adds 8.375% tax, a 15% venue fee and a 15% gratuity, so know that before you agree to a minimum.

Time zones and the Arizona clock

Las Vegas is on Pacific Time and observes daylight saving time. In 2026 it ends at 2am on Sunday, November 1, and it starts again on Sunday, March 14, 2027. Arizona doesn't observe daylight saving (the Navajo Nation is the exception), and most big day trips from Las Vegas cross into Arizona.

In winter, a 4pm tour slot at Antelope Canyon is 3pm on your Las Vegas phone. Antelope Canyon operators run on Arizona time, not Navajo time; the trap is your phone jumping to a Navajo or Utah tower near Page. The Grand Canyon tours guide and the Antelope Canyon guide cover each trip.

Your first night

For a short first evening, the High Roller observation wheel is at The LINQ, which has its own Monorail stop (Harrah's/The LINQ), and the Strip helicopter night flight leaves from the Maverick terminal at the airport you just came through.