Where is the best place to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks in Las Vegas?
1 answer
On the Strip itself, for free: the center stretch near the Bellagio fountains faces three launch rooftops at once. Get there by 8 or 9 p.m.; by then the Boulevard is closed to cars and filling up.
How the show works
America's Party fires about eight minutes of fireworks at midnight from roughly ten resort rooftops spread along four miles. Last year that was Aria, Caesars Palace, Fontainebleau, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World, The STRAT, Treasure Island, The Venetian and the off-Strip Palms, with 600 drones flying alongside. No spot sees everything; you watch the two or three nearest rooftops.
Where to stand
- Center Strip by the Bellagio fountains: the classic spot, facing the Caesars, Planet Hollywood and Aria launches.
- Between Resorts World and Fashion Show: the producer's own tip last year, where the rooftops and the drones lined up.
- South end, Mandalay Bay to Tropicana: the MGM Grand and Aria shots, and a thinner crowd.
Where not to plan
- Pedestrian bridges: police close the center-Strip ones, and stopping on any Strip bridge is a misdemeanor.
- A launch hotel: the fireworks go off on the roof above you.
Rooms that work face the launch rooftops from across the corridor: the Cosmopolitan's terrace rooms over the fountains, Paris's Eiffel Tower View rooms, Caesars' Augustus Tower fountain-view rooms and the Venetian's north-facing Strip-view suites.
Downtown
Fremont Street is a ticketed 21-and-over party ($60 to $65 last edition) with no fireworks under the canopy. The Plaza fires the Downtown show from its towers; the free view is Main Street out front, and the Plaza's all-ages rooftop party is for hotel guests only, which quietly makes a cheap Plaza room the best family ticket in town.
Rules from 6 p.m.
No glass, coolers, strollers, luggage or bags over 12 by 12 by 6 inches, and under-18s must be with a parent. The soundtrack is on FM radio (92.3 and 97.1), so bring earbuds. Closures and the morning-after timeline are in New Year's Eve in Las Vegas.