Map distance is a poor guide to walking time on the Las Vegas Strip. Resort footprints run 30 to 100-plus acres each, so two “neighboring” casinos, Caesars Palace and Bellagio, for instance, can be 15 to 25 minutes apart once elevated bridges, moving walkways and winding casino corridors are factored in. The Strip, segment by segment The full Strip covers 4.2 miles from Mandalay Bay at the south end to the STRAT and Sahara at the north.

Las Vegas sightseeing splits cleanly into what costs nothing and what’s worth paying for, and both categories sit within a few miles of each other on and around the Strip. Free The Bellagio Fountains dance on an 8.5-acre lake, weekdays 3pm to 7:30pm every 30 minutes and 8pm to midnight every 15 minutes, weekends from noon. The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, a 14,000-square-foot atrium past the lobby, is open 24/7 with 5 seasonal floral displays a year.

Las Vegas after dark is where the romantic version of the city shows up: lit fountains, a slow ride 550 feet up, and a show that runs long enough to fill an evening properly. The Bellagio Fountains after sunset Free, on the 8.5-acre lake, running every 15 minutes from 8pm to midnight, a shorter interval than the daytime schedule and easier to build a walk around. The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, just past the lobby, stays open 24/7, also free, with 5 seasonal floral displays a year.

Two trips out of Las Vegas are worth planning as overnights rather than rushed single days, and one combination of shorter drives works well strung together over two days instead. Grand Canyon South Rim: build in the night Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim sits 280 miles from Las Vegas, 4.5 to 5 hours one-way, 9 to 10 hours of driving round trip. The National Park Service is explicit that hiking from the rim to the river and back in a single day is not something to attempt.

Distance from the Strip is the single best predictor of whether a Las Vegas day trip actually stays a day trip. Here’s the list in order, closest first. 17 miles: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area A 25 to 30 minute drive west to a 13-mile Scenic Drive, the Calico Tanks Trail, and Ice Box Canyon. Between October 1 and May 31, 8am to 5pm, the Scenic Drive needs a timed-entry reservation at recreation.

The guided tours worth booking out of Las Vegas each come in tiers, and picking the right tier matters more than picking the destination. Hoover Dam, three tour tiers About 30 miles southeast, a 45-minute drive. The Visitor Center runs $15 adult, the Powerplant Guided Tour descends into the 650-foot turbine room for $30, and the Full Guided Dam Tour is $40 with a minimum age of 8, sold on-site only.

Las Vegas activities sort naturally into height, water and desert. Pick one from each category and a day fills itself without much overlap. Height: rides above the Strip The STRAT tower at 2000 S Las Vegas Blvd runs three thrill rides at the top: Big Shot, a pneumatic catapult launching riders 160 feet up to 1,081 feet elevation; X-Scream, a car that teeters 27 feet over the tower’s edge; and SkyJump, a controlled cable descent from the 108th floor, 855 feet down at 40mph, from $130 to $170.