Is December a good time to visit Las Vegas?

Good for prices and holiday lights, poor for pools, and it depends on the week. December 13 to 23 is the cheapest stretch of the whole year on the Strip; the rodeo week before it and New Year's after it are the expensive ones.

Three Decembers in one

• December 3 to 12, rodeo week: the National Finals Rodeo sells out the Thomas and Mack nightly, country headliners fill the casino theaters, and hotel rates run well above the season, worst on the south Strip near the arena.
• December 13 to 23: the cheapest rooms of the year, with the holiday displays already lit and the restaurants bookable.
• Christmas to New Year's: rates climb daily, and December 30 and 31 are the most expensive nights of the year, with minimum-stay rules.

Weather

The coldest month, but not harsh: about 57°F by day, 39 to 40°F at night, some nights at freezing, almost no rain, sunset around 4:30 p.m. A sunny afternoon on the Strip is jacket-off weather; an 11 p.m. walk over a windy pedestrian bridge is not. Pools are closed almost everywhere.

What you get

• The Bellagio Conservatory holiday room, the Venetian tree and Fremont's canopy shows
• Ethel M's cactus garden lights in Henderson, through January 3
• The Eagles at Sphere on December 4, 5, 11, 12; the Backstreet Boys there on the 26th, 27th and New Year's Eve
• Raiders home games on December 13, 20, 27

Come December 13 to 23 if price and lights are the point, skip rodeo week unless rodeo is why you are coming, and book New Year's Eve months ahead. Week by week in Las Vegas in December; what is open on the 25th in Christmas in Las Vegas.