Best time to visit Las Vegas

Sin City

Las Vegas is popularly known as just Vegas or officially as the City of Las Vegas is a city in Nevada and is an internationally famous tourist destination. Due to its vast gambling popularity and adult nightlife, it also goes by the name of Sin City. It is primarily renowned for nightlife, entertainment, gambling, and shopping. The city is a part of the Las Vegas valley and is a cultural, commercial, and financial hub of Nevada.

It is world-famous for gambling activities at its luxurious casino hotels, which are among the world’s very best. Having the best tourist infrastructure around it, it is also a popular setting for conventions, global events, corporate functions, music videos, cinema, television, and various other performing arts. The city itself just has over 650,000 residents, while it handles a tourist inflow of around 40 million. That should give you an idea of how popular this destination is and how carefully you must plan to avoid the rush.

When is the right time to visit Las Vegas?

Apart from the huge tourist numbers for just a city, it is also important that you choose the right time to visit Vegas because it’s a really expensive location. Las Vegas is a popular tourist destination all year round. Therefore, you would be sure to break the bank until and unless you choose the right time of the year, month, and down to the week your planning to stay in Vegas. Even for a non-budget traveler, things like accommodation, airfares, city tours, restaurants, attractions need to be carefully planned out to make the most of your time and within the minimum budget. Unless you are into gambling in a big way, Vegas is mostly a seasonal city to travel to. During the peak tourist season or during times of some important activity in the city, the hotel rates can go as high as 5-10 times their usual low season prices.

So it’s a very important decision for every traveler to make first. And it’s about deciding which of these three factors is more important

• If you travel for the unparalleled entertainment available in Vegas
• You value good weather over everything else.
• If you are a budget traveler.

These factors will become more apparent as we discuss this further. But let’s start with the tourist seasons in Vegas first.

Peak season

Not surprisingly, the peak season is limited to good weather conditions, like 90% of the tourist places on earth. Las Vegas is different. Here, the peak season is during the good weather, on weekends, especially when there is a major event. Prices spiral upwards suddenly. So you would be paying $200 for hotel accommodation over the weekend, and chances are it will drop down to half that rate on a Monday. But there is an important event happening on Friday. So the prices will start to spiral at $400-500 during the week itself just because of the event. That’s how crazy it can get if you do not plan right.

· Talking about the travel seasons, the months January through April and the month of October are peak season times. Avoid them at any cost unless you are a millionaire, and then it does not matter. Tourism picks up from January and is the best during the NCAA Basketball Tournament, during which the tourist crowd swells. Even in the spring and autumn seasons, there are scores of tourists who come looking for that pleasant sunny weather when outdoors can be enjoyed. Nevada and especially Las Vegas can get unbearably hot with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius during the other times of the year.

· Overall, there is no clear demarcation of the high and the low tourist seasons. The low season becomes high season if there is an event happening, major tradeshows, or even holidays. So you would have to be careful during Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve when the accommodation and tours may not be available or will be extremely expensive.

Shoulder season

This season lasts from May to June and the months of September and November. These are the months when the tourist activity is not at its peak, allowing you to easily pick up deals and discounts at hotels, restaurants, tours, and activities. Even the weather is moderate and highly tolerable. Vegas sees an increase in tourist activity only past the shoulder season when the Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas, and finally New Year’s Eve build some tourist action, and their numbers increase.

Low Season

The low season extends from July to August primarily due to the brutally high temperatures, which are unbearable and makes treading outside in the open sun almost impossible. But there are still a lot of tourists who have nothing to do with the sun and outdoors. They visit only for gambling or other events. However, if you are visiting as a regular tourist during these times, expect significantly fewer tourists, attractive discounts, short queues, and cheap accommodation, especially during weekdays. You should be ready to spend day time indoors unless you are really adventurous to brave it all and only tread outside in late evenings, nights, and early mornings.

Best time to visit to enjoy good weather

For nice and pleasant weather, aim for the spring and fall seasons when the daytime temperatures are bearable (but not too hot) and the nights are pleasantly cold as well. The best weather will be in winters, but due to the soaring prices for accommodation and everything else, they are better skipped.

Best time of the year for bargains

Peak summers are the best time to go bargain hunting, and you will find several deals. The soaring temperatures keep normal tourists away, and businesses are more than ready to drop prices in order to lure customers and keep the business going during the low season. Nevertheless, you will also find a lot of deals and discounts in the week or two preceding Christmas. So keep an eye out for that perfect deal and be ready to grab it before the offer expires.

Best time to book a hotel

Rather than booking a hotel room, always try and reserve one 3-4 months in advance, which has a zero penalty on cancellation. Then keep looking for discounts and offers. Usually, hotel rooms are the cheapest during weekdays, from Tuesdays to Thursdays, irrespective of the time of the year or the tourist season. If you find a good one, just cancel the earlier reservation.

Best time for cheap airfares

Besides the off-peak season and holidays, you will find cheap airfares during the weekdays and after events. Avoid all the traditional peak seasons and festivals and look out for the months from January to April and September to November.

Best time to avoid the crowds

Contrary to popular belief, you will find light crowds during the peak season too. When the school is in session post-summer, there will be fewer people traveling to Vegas. In the same way, there will be fewer tourists in the late winter/ spring after all the holiday events cease.

We believe that holidays are best if you can enjoy some local and cultural events too. Being a tourist spot, there are several high-profile events taking place every month. Right from sporting events to food and drink festivals and right down to performances, there is a lot happening in Vegas all year round. So we have made a complete list of all events and performances to watch out for. But do check the local events calendar to confirm the same also for additional events that may come up.

January

• New Year’s Day
• Veganuary – Going vegan for January
• International Consumer Electronics Show
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade
• Adult Entertainment Expo
• Hot Air Balloon Festival

February

• Chinese New Year
• Dam Short Festival in Boulder City
• Vegas Shoot – Indoor archery tournament
• Valentine’s Day
• Black History Month Festival –

March

• Dayclub Season
• NASCAR Cup Series
• CinemaCon
• March Madness – NCAA College Basketball Tournament
• Boulder City Beer Festival
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Vegas ToyCon
• Nightclub & Bar Show

April

• Academy of Country Music Awards
• City of Lights Jazz Festival
• Great Vegas Festival of Beer
• Evolution – Wine-tasting festival

May

• Cinco de Mayo – Commemorates Mexico’s win in the Battle of Puebla
• Fremont Street Experience Concerts
• Vegas UnStripped – Culinary event/ Food festival
• Electric Daisy Carnival – Electronic dance music party
• World Series of Poker
• Punk Rock Bowling
• Exodus Music Festival
• Universal Whisky Experience

June

• Reggae in the Desert
• Restaurant Week
• Vegas Fringe Theater Festival

July

• Fourth of July Fireworks
• Las Vegas Tribute Festival
• NBA Summer League
• Big Dog’s Summer Beer Fest

August

• Vegas Tejano Music Week
• Psycho Las Vegas- Heavy metal music festival
• DEF CON – The world’s largest annual hacker convention
• MAGIC – A fashion marketplace

September

• iHeartRadio Music Festival
• Haute Cuisine – Annual food and wine tasting festival
• Life Is Beautiful – Annual music, culinary, art, and learning festival
• Motor Trend International Auto Show

October

• Oktoberfest
• Vegas Golden Knights
• Vegas Pride – LGBTQ festival
• Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival
• RiSE Festival – Lantern festival
• Helldorado Days
• Greek Food Festival
• Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival
• USA Today Food & Wine Experience
• Downtown Brew Festival
• Halloween

November

• Professional Bull Riders Championships
• Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival
• Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
• DSOSN Festival of Trees and Lights

December

• Ethel M Holiday Cactus Garden
• Nevada International Film Festival
• National Finals Rodeo
• Cowboy Christmas
• Glittering Lights
• Cosmopolitan Ice Rink
• MJBizCon
• New Year’s Eve

Special Tips

• No matter when you plan to go to Vegas, just ensure to visit only mid-week as these are the days when accommodation prices are at the lowest. Being a favorite weekend destination, prices will tend to drop off significantly from Tuesday to Thursday.
• Nevada is like a dessert, and just like dessert climates, the winter nights can get quite chilly as temperatures drop off significantly in the evenings and night. Winter temperatures can drop to about 3 degrees Celsius in the night from 20 degrees Celsius in the daytime. So study the temperature charts well, read the forecast before traveling, and pack all the necessary weather protection.
• Do check the city’s event calendar for the month you are traveling to understand the conventions, events, performances that are happening. These events can increase prices, but the days preceding and after the events will find you cheap rates.

Summary

Vegas is an exciting place to travel and enjoy, provided you have planned it right. This is a city that never sleeps and will never fail to impress you. There are just so many things to see and do that you will never run out of activities. And the first step is to understand your needs as a traveler. Like we discussed, you have to figure out if the weather, budget, or events is what you are looking for. Overall it is a great happening place where you will have a lot of fun and be left stunned by the beauty. I hope this information helps you plan out your travel. Cheers, and I wish you happy travels!