Two open-top double-decker departures run after dark here, and between them they are the cheapest way to see both the Strip and downtown in one evening. Neither collects you from your hotel and neither has a live guide, and that is exactly what buys the $59 fare.
A seat on the open upper deck of a double-decker, running a fixed loop of the Strip and downtown to recorded commentary, with no hotel collection at either end. You board at a named kerb, ride for two to three hours, and get off where you got on. Nobody guides you in person and nobody drives you home.
That set of trade-offs is what makes it the cheapest way to see this city after dark, and it is why a big bus Las Vegas night tour is the format most first-time visitors should start with. Two of them run here, both by the same operator, and the difference between them is what they add rather than what they cover.
The Strip and Fremont Street are five miles apart with nothing walkable between them, and no other format under a hundred dollars covers both in one run. That is the single strongest argument for this format on a first evening.
Open air, above the traffic, at the height where the resort frontages read properly. On a still evening in October or April it is the best seat in the city, and the Fountains of Bellagio pass directly below you.
English and Spanish, playing the whole way. It is recorded rather than live, which is a real limitation and also exactly what buys the fare.
From $59, which is less than a one-way taxi to downtown and back.
The 8pm departure is 21 and over with a welcome drink included, which is a genuinely different evening from the same bus at 10:15pm.
This is the comparison that matters, because the two formats look similar on a listing and are not. A bus is a seat on a loop; a van or an open jeep is a small vehicle with a live guide that stops and walks you around eight or nine landmarks.
Fares and durations as captured from the operators' own listings.
| Open-top bus | Guided van or jeep | |
|---|---|---|
| From | $59 | $103 |
| Group size | Up to 48 | 7 to 14 |
| Guide | Recorded, English and Spanish | A person, live |
| Hotel pick-up | No | Yes |
| Stops | One photo stop on the late run | Eight or nine, timed |
| Covers downtown | Yes | Yes |
| Duration | 2–3 hours | 3–4 hours |
| Best for | Orientation on a first evening | Photographs and explanation |
Check availability — two hours, from $59
If you want to be told things and photographed doing them, pay the extra hundred. If you want to see where everything is for the price of two drinks, take the deck. The tour options page puts both against the other four formats.
You get: two to three hours on an open upper deck, a fixed loop covering the Strip and downtown, recorded commentary in English and Spanish, and a photo stop at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign on the 10:15pm departure. On the Neon Museum departure you also get 45 minutes inside the museum with evening admission in the fare.
You do not get: hotel pick-up on any grade, a live guide, hop-on hop-off boarding, or an allocated seat. Both departures board first come, first served, and the operator asks you to arrive fifteen minutes early.
Standard and late-night departures board at Stop 3, the High Roller bus loading zone at 3973 LINQ Lane, from 7pm to 10:15pm depending on the grade. The adults-only run meets at the downstairs bar of the Hard Rock Cafe by 7:40pm and finishes at 10:15pm. The Neon Museum departure boards at Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Boulevard South, at 8:15pm.
Book three to five days ahead for a weekend and a day or two midweek. Both refund in full up to 24 hours before departure. Fares run from $59 to $84, and the season decides how comfortable the deck is: in July the normal low is 82 °F and in January it is 40 °F, so pack accordingly. The weather page has the month by month.
Three readers should not book this one. If you want somebody to answer a question, the commentary is a recording and cannot — take a guided van instead. If you are staying off the Strip or need collecting from your own door, no grade here offers pick-up. And if you have back trouble, the seats are firm and unpadded, which is the one consistent complaint about an otherwise well-rated product.
If you want height rather than coverage, this is also the wrong page: a night helicopter flight is ten to twelve minutes airborne for $99 and shows you the whole boulevard at once. And if you came to go out rather than to look, the nightclub tours start where these finish.
Two hours on the top deck, boarding at the High Roller and covering the Strip and downtown in one loop. The 10:15pm departure adds a photo stop at the Welcome sign; the 8pm run is 21 and over with a drink included.
From $59 per person
The same open-top loop, boarding at Treasure Island at 8:15pm, with 45 minutes inside the Neon Museum and evening admission already in the fare. Since the museum charges $35 on its own, that is the better-value grade.
From $84 per person
Standard and late-night departures board at Stop 3, the High Roller bus loading zone at 3973 LINQ Lane. The adults-only 8pm tour meets at the downstairs bar of the Hard Rock Cafe by 7:40pm, and the Neon Museum departure boards at Treasure Island at 8:15pm. There is no hotel pick-up on any of them.
Not at night. The night tours run as one continuous loop to show you the lights, with no boarding in between, and you return to where you started. The hop-on hop-off product is a separate daytime ticket.
The 10:15pm late-night tour, for about 15 minutes. The standard and adults-only runs pass it without stopping. The attractions page has the sign's address and its free car park if you would rather go under your own steam.
One is a straight night loop of the Strip and downtown from $59. The other, from $84, boards earlier at Treasure Island and adds 45 minutes inside the Neon Museum with evening admission in the fare. Since the museum charges $35 for an adult on its own rate, the second one is the better value if the signs interest you.
The standard and late-night departures are, and they take any age. The 8pm run is 21 and over because it includes a drink. The top deck is the attraction for most children, so the standard tour is usually the right grade.
The tour runs. The upper deck is open, so a light waterproof is sensible, and the photo stop at the sign goes ahead unhurried. Las Vegas records only 4.18 inches of rain a year, so the odds are strongly in your favour.
The open top deck is the cheapest way to see both halves of this city in one evening. Every departure is listed on Las Vegas Night Tours.