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Today, we will go over the top 10 attractions in Las Vegas that you can visit with your family. There is already a lot of stuff on the internet about what to do in Las Vegas, what hotels to stay in, and what to eat. However, many people may also be interested in things to do in Las Vegas off the Strip.
So, that is what this article is all about. A lot of tourists coming to Las Vegas never make it off the Strip. They only associate it with nightclubs, casinos, racecars, and crazy expensive stuff. In this list, we will go over a family-friendly and more wholesome side of Las Vegas. So, let us dive into it straight ahead.
High-rated family attractions in Las Vegas
1. Pinball Hall of Fame Museum
Pinball Hall Of Fame Museum
This museum is 10,000 square feet of nothing but pinball. It is located on Tropicana Avenue, just about a mile from the Las Vegas Strip. This museum/arcade has 200 pinball machines and is the biggest pinball museum in the world. It has everything from some of the first pinball machines in the early 1990s to some of the newest pinball machines today. When you go inside, it does feel a bit like a thrift shop. It is a nonprofit. They are not trying to make money out of it. The amount you pay is like a labor of love for the people who work there. They primarily volunteer there to fix the games.
Apart from pinball, they have tons of other classic games in their collection as well. These include Super Mario, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, and more. The museum is fantastic because the games still all run on quarters, and they are pretty cheap compared to any other arcade you would go to. Moreover, the museum is free for admission if you only have to play the games. When a light or a flipper burns out, the volunteers fix it for you within minutes. If you have kids, they would love it here. You can also introduce them to some classic pinball machines that have bells and whistles. If you are a pinball lover yourself, you need to pay a pilgrimage here in the Pinball Hall Of Fame Museum.
2. Chinatown
Chinatown
Chinatown is 2 miles west of the Strip on Spring Mountain Road. It is an easy ride to get there. There is more variety than you might expect in Chinatown. It does not just offer Chinese food. You can even call it Asia Town of Las Vegas if you like. Indeed, one of the reasons people go to Las Vegas is to eat. As there are a lot of perfect places to eat in Chinatown, it qualifies as one of the must-visit places in Las Vegas.
The restaurants include C Chuan, Japanese, Korean, and lots of other Asian varieties as well. If you are visiting Las Vegas, start at the Chinatown Plaza. There is also another plaza that has a lot of Asian restaurants and shops. It is called the Mountain View Plaza. We want to point out that we think it has an exciting concept is Chubby Cattle. It is a conveyor belt-based hotpot restaurant. In Chinese hotpot cuisine, you get a boiling pot of hot soup before you, and then you dip different meats into it. The meat is all raw, and it is on a stick when it comes to your table. You pick it up, dip it into the hot soup, and then that boiling soup cooks the meat. In Chubby Cattle, instead of having to ask a waiter or waitress to bring you the raw meat, you have got a conveyor belt that goes around the entire space. You can take the items you want off the conveyor.
3. Las Vegas Arts District
Las Vegas Arts District
Las Vegas Arts District is located between the end of the Strip and downtown. Therefore, the approach to the district is relatively easy, and you can get to it from anywhere within Las Vegas in a comfortable time. As a result, it is considered Las Vegas’ newest, most fabulous, hippest neighborhood. It is also widely known as 18b. This is so because 18 blocks of Las Vegas were set aside in 1998 to encourage art and artists in this region.
Here, you will find vintage clothing, antiques, art galleries, hair salons, restaurants, and more. The center of this district is clustered around Main and Charleston. The best days to visit the district are Thursday to Sunday. Also, there is one particular time of the month you may specifically want to visit. It is known as the First Fridays. During this, you can see the culture festival where they close off some streets, add more street vendors, and go on to enjoy a super lively event. This festival is a bucket list item, so if you are in Vegas on Friday, you may want to check if that is the first Friday of the month. While you are here, you will see incredible art pieces and get a chance to meet several fantastic artists in and out of the art buildings. This makes it a must-visit place to go to in Las Vegas, especially for artists.
4. Outlet Shopping
There are two large outlet malls on the far ends of Las Vegas Boulevard. The first one is the Las Vegas Premium Outlets South. This outlet is by the airport. There are 140 shops in this mall, and all of them are indoor. The second one is the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North near the downtown end. It has 175 shops in total, and this one is outdoors. So if you are looking to go shopping while in Las Vegas, you will find plenty of budget-friendly shop outlets in these two malls.
These outlets have tons of different stores for you to shop at. If you are visiting near the new year, you will find great deals and sales as well. We would recommend going to these outlet malls on the weekdays when fewer people, fewer tourists, and fewer visitors. If you want to get there, right when the outlets open, you may want to leave around 9:45 AM. This way, you will not have to shop around a crown and wait in long lines. Once it is lunchtime, people will come in rushing to these malls, which is when you will want to be done with your shopping. Do not worry at all. If you arrive before 10:00 or 11:00 AM, you will have plenty of time to visit all the shops before the rush hours start. Also, if you are going to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, do not forget to wear a cap, sunglasses, or sunblock. Otherwise, you won’t be able to shop for long in this outdoor mall, and that too in the scorching heat of Las Vegas.
5. Fremont Street
Fremont Street
You can also visit Fremont Street along with your family to see a fantastic LED show they have got up there. Fremont Street, which stretches between Main Street and Sahara Avenue, was the first paved street in Las Vegas and has been famous since then. Previously, Fremont Street was just a regular street, and it used to have cars drive on it. However, now it has been pedestrianized. There is an LED screen over the top of the street. It runs several blocks and is called the Viva Vision. The screen boasts 16.4 million pixels and is about 1400 feet long and 90 feet wide. It is suspended at 90 feet above the street’s famous pedestrian mall. They hold LED shows every hour in the evening once it starts to get dark. These shows with sound effects and interactive lighting are a treat on their own.
Fremont Street also has live music. They have music bands that set up and play at night. Moreover, the street has a zip line on which you can swing down the length of the entire Fremont Street. The Golden Nugget casino on this street is home to the world’s largest golden nugget. It was found in Australia in 1980 and sold to the casino for more than a million dollars. It is 61 pounds, and you can find it in the hotel by the lobby of the gold tower. Another exciting place to visit at Fremont Street is Denny’s Diner. This diner on Fremont Street also has a wedding chapel that can be booked for a bargain price of just 95 USD.
Think of any movie or a television show that captures Vegas nightlife scenes. It has a glimpse of Fremont Street’s neon signs and grand casinos like the Fremont Hotel and Four Queens Hotel. For those thinking, downtown may not give them a fun and thrilling experience, think twice. Fremont Street is home to some of the city’s biggest attractions. People exploring Fremont Street have many options to choose from.
6. Container Park
Container Park
Now let us take you to the Las Vegas retail venue that was designed similarly as if you were playing a game of Tetris. We are talking about a shopping center made from used shipping containers, giving mobile business a whole new meaning. Once you are contained inside, you will sample some of the best barbecues that Las Vegas has to offer. You will also connect with a Midwestern small business owner who has found his success selling T-Shirts.
Container Park itself is around 60 years old. All over the park, you will find containers of different sizes and colors, which is cool. This is one of the first of its kind park in the entire world. All containers are well insulated, keeping in mind the extreme climate of Las Vegas. The park also has Extreme Cubes. These are like Lego blocks and can be placed on top of each other in any orientation. This container park defines the phrase, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. This park rose from what was once considered an ignored and run-down part of town. It all changed when Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh placed his bet on the area. Hsieh moved his Zappos headquarters and himself to downtown, putting a much-needed cash infusion back into this community.
The mission of the container park is to bring people together and make them feel like they are part of the neighborhood. Since the container park opened in 2013, it has hosted 5 million people, pumping up local businesses and restoring the downtown to its original core. With boxes connecting up to 3 stories high, the container park is home to unique retail shops, restaurants, and entertainment centers. But let us not forget that there are also special containers for the play area. Moreover, where this park lacks neon, it makes up for it through unique art.
7. Museums
Neon Museum
There are a lot of fun museums to visit in Las Vegas. Here, we are going to go over three particular ones. The first museum we are going to talk about is the Neon Museum. It is one of the most remarkable museums in Las Vegas. They offer guided tours of old marquees representing the neon history of vintage Vegas.
The next one is the Mob Museum. Here, you can see three floors of exhibits dedicated to the origins and legacy of organized crime in the United States. You might be thinking about why this museum is in Las Vegas. Well, if you do not know, Las Vegas was built on organized crime. Also, it is a town that likes to celebrate the glory that came from organized crime. A recent addition to the Mob Museum is a speakeasy that is hidden in the basement.
Last but not least is the National Atomic Testing Museum. This museum started as a nonprofit museum in Las Vegas. It did so well and was so popular that on December 31st, 2011, President Barack Obama signed a bill that designated this same museum as a National Museum for the United States. It is associated with the Smithsonian Museum and covers the period from the first test on January 27th, 1951, to the present day. It also includes a Ground Zero theater which simulates the experience of observing an atmospheric nuclear blast. With all the talk about aliens and Area 51, this museum added exhibits regarding Area 51 in 2012. The atomic testing museum also offers tours up to the test area, but you have to be a US citizen for that.
8. Golf
Top Golf
This might not be obvious for a place with a desert climate, but Las Vegas is like a world-famous golf destination. There are over 70 golf courses in the Las Vegas region. All of these are well maintained and manicured as well. You will not find them any different from other golf courses in the country.
If it is too hot to be outside, an exciting place to golf is behind the MGM Grand. This place called Top Golf is kind of like a futuristic video game. They have more than 100 climate-controlled hitting bays. You can get air-conditioned bays with real-time ball speed, distance, path, accuracy, and more. So, if you love golf and you love technology, you need to check out Top Golf.
9. Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden
Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden
This is an exciting place to visit. It was founded by Forrest Mars Senior. Who is Forrest Mars Senior, you might ask, and why is this place named Ethel M? Forrest Mars Senior is the creator of the Milky Way chocolate bar, the Mars bar, and M&Ms. When Forrest opened this chocolate place, he named the brand after his mother, Ethel. The latter made chocolate from scratch right in her kitchen.
You can take self-guided tours. They go along a track that has windows into the chocolate factory. You can also take chocolate tasting classes, and they have also got a gift shop. The other neat thing at this Chocolate Factory is that they have got a giant botanical garden. It has more than 300 types of Cactus, including Texas Prickly Pears. If you want to see the Cactus flowers blooming, the best time of the year to go to this place is the end of April and the beginning of May. Also, in November, they string their garden up with half a million Christmas lights, which stay up until New Year’s Day.
10. Magic Mountains
7 Magic Mountains
They are located just off of Interstate 15, about a 20-minute drive away from the south of the Las Vegas Strip. These were built as a public art exhibit by a Swiss artist. This artwork consists of, as the name suggests, 7 stone totems. They are up to 30 feet tall and were built from boulders from around Las Vegas.
According to the artist himself, he chose this location for the 7 Magic Mountains because it is physically and symbolically midway between the natural and the artificial. This can be described as the best kind of abstract physical act. If you plan to go there, let us tell you that there is only a dirt parking lot. There are no restrooms on-site, so take that into account as well. Also, rattlesnakes have been seen in this area, so you need to wear closed-toe shoes.
Conclusion
In this list of top 10 attractions, we went over a list of places in Las Vegas that you can visit with your family and kids. As you have seen for yourself, there are many things in Vegas that you can do with your family. However, there are tons of other activities and attractions that we could not fit into this list. Most of the attractions we have mentioned should be open as the pandemic restrictions have eased a lot. Still, we recommend visiting the official sites of interest you plan to visit during your stay here in Las Vegas.