What happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas anymore; the stories should follow you home and inspire you to come back with friends for more.
The Neon City is a premier nightlife destination, known for its epic day parties and luxurious clubs, but the approximately 142-square-mile city is so much more than that. Las Vegas has an array of activities on and off its famed Strip, and it starts with the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets. You’ll likely touch down with a well-stocked suitcase in tow, but the venue’s 140-plus stores will have you going home with more.
You can feed yourself in between spending sprees at an assortment of buffets, including the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Buffet. Once you’re full and rested, it will be time to throw on your newly-purchased ensemble and hit the art district, where you’ll view a few art installations, engage in interactive, culturally-themed activities, and lose yourself in a place that allows the impossible to become possible at every turn. Your time will be so memorable that there’s no moment you won’t want to share with a friend.
So if you’re ready to rewrite your Vegas narrative, but don’t know where to start, here are seven adventures to embark on—without having to break your bank account—and spice up your stories when you head home.
Colors of Mexico (Located Inside Fashion Show Las Vegas)
Las Vegas is in the heart of the Mojave Desert, which is rich with Mexican and Mexican-American traditions. To honor this, the city invites visitors and locals to experience Colors of Mexico, an immersive art experience—complete with an authentic restaurant and bar—located right on the Strip.
The attraction introduces the public to the intricacies of Mexican folklore using paintings, sculptures, dioramas, and symbols to creatively educate audiences about Mexican culture, customs, and their influence in Las Vegas.
Attendees will see hand-painted sculptures, known as Alebrijes, which symbolize imagination and the ways physical and spiritual realms co-exist; and Mexican dioramas, known as Nichos, which are miniature depictions of the traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Colors of Mexico doesn’t just feed your curiosity, it feeds your appetite, allowing visitors to indulge in delicacies from all four regions of the country and custom cocktails to match.
The Venetian Resort Las Vegas
The Venetian Resort Las Vegas is a luxury hotel that offers experiences to match. The Venetian Resort Las Vegas honors the City of Waters by offering resort guests and surrounding visitors the opportunity to sit back and relax on a gondola ride—one of the culture’s most notable pastimes—through the Grand Canal. This unique body of water is lined with shops, bars, restaurants, and, of course, the Las Vegas Strip. You can book a gondola for two or secure a ride for the family, but either way, you’ll find yourself floating underneath bridges and past cafes like you’ve been transported to Venice when you’re vibing out in Vegas.
Museum of Illusions
The adage, ‘you can’t always believe what you see’ comes to life at the Museum of Illusions. This is a place where nothing is as it seems, and people leave saying “what the…” You’ll lose yourself as you walk through perspective-changing rooms and puzzling installations, as you gain more questions than answers. The experience teeters with your senses while providing an educational moment about our internal sensory boards and how we perceive information. Guests can take on the attraction with a tour guide or go solo. Guided tour ticket options allow guests to go at their own pace, enjoying experiences that usually last 45 to 90 minutes. No matter how you do it, there will surely be a story to tell.
AREA15
Not to be confused with Nevada’s Area 51, Las Vegas’ AREA15 is an entertainment district located just minutes away from the Strip, and it’s open to all. Sitting on 200,000 square feet, AREA15 also offers an assortment of VR and AR adventures in sports, racing, space quests, and adrenaline-chasing vibes. This interactive sector brings a new meaning to escape room through the John Wick Experience, where the stakes are high and any misstep could place your name on the hit list. Will you make it out? Who knows? But if you do, you can find your way to Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, a neighboring art exhibit—featuring a New Mexico-born art collective—that doubles as a customized grocery store (and yes, you can shop there). Just know every box of cereal or janitor’s closet located inside the store is a potential entryway to another world hidden away inside the store. And this August, the district is unveiling Universal Horror Unleashed, a year-round horror show for all the fear-chasers out there.
Dig This Vegas
Vegas isn’t just about entertainment; it’s also about adventure. So if you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to visit a playground as an adult (with a family in tow), then Ed Mumm’s Dig This Vegas is the “super-sized sandbox” for you. It’s a heavy metal, equipment-filled playground that allows adults and families to relive recess and tear up a gigantic construction site, rage-room style (but without the rage). You can book the experience as a team-building exercise, or take it on solo and find out what you’re made of. It’s a great way to stay active and something to talk about when you go home.
Seven Magic Mountains
Art is what you make it, so Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone created Seven Magic Mountains, a large-scale, site-specific art installation for all to see. It sits just 10 miles south of Las Vegas, in a location that Rondinone says is “physically and symbolically mid-way between the natural and the artificial: the natural is expressed by the mountain ranges, desert, and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, and the artificial is expressed by the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.” The seven mountains used to create this piece are brightly colored boulders stacked more than 30-feet high, and exist to show “human presence in the desert.” So when you’re in Vegas, don’t be shy, visit the Seven Magic Mountains and let your presence be known.
Silverton Aquarium Mermaid Show
Mermaids don’t just live under the sea, they’re swimming around Las Vegas’ Silverton Aquarium, too. The aquarium is named the “Best Free Attraction in Las Vegas” and is home to thousands of tropical fish, which, believe it or not, includes mermaids. These fantastical creatures may exist as legend to some, but those who visit the Silverton Aquarium get to see them up close, loving life in their magical element. And if visitors want to level up their experience, they can opt to attend Mermaid School and swim around the aquarium like their favorite childhood mermaids. The aquarium also gives the thalassophiles out there a chance to admire three species of stingrays and sharks, and visibility into the Mermaid Lounge, which features a 500-gallon jellyfish aquarium lined with LED lights.
Learn more about everything you can experience on your next trip to Las Vegas here.