Las Vegas is a party city no matter when you visit, but what can you do during the winter when the weather is too cold for pool parties? Enter: Christmas in Las Vegas! My husband and I spent a weekend in Las Vegas in mid-December for my birthday last year, and we loved their Christmas festivities even more than their notorious pool parties. Here are some of the best holiday festivities in Las Vegas!

(Average Las Vegas Weather in December: High of 67 degrees, low of 20 degrees)

Rooftop Ice Skating

@ The Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan is one of the hottest hotels on the Strip and is renowned for its multiple luxury pools. During the winter months, the hotel transforms its rooftop pool into a snowy wonderland, complete with an ice skating rink! Artificial snow falls every 30 minutes on weekends in December! Skaters can access the ice rink for unlimited time for $30/per person. 

For those not wanting to ice skate (or wanting to prolong the experience), the hotel also takes reservations for their rooftop “Chalet” for hot cocktails, festive couches, and a communal fire pit. S’mores kits are available for purchase, and personal fire pits can be reserved in advance on the hotel’s website.

Special events are held on the rooftop throughout the winter, including a tree lighting ceremony, movie night date skate, and a New Year’s Eve party to see fireworks over the Strip!

Colton and I reserved a table at The Chalet when we went, and it was lovely. During our two-hour reservation, we enjoyed the grilled cheese with tomato soup, multiple hot cocktails, and a campfire s’mores kit for two! It was relaxing and warm beside the fire; we would love to return here! I highly suggest that you make reservations as early as possible, especially if you have a large group or children. This was our favorite activity when we spent Christmas in Las Vegas.

Note: New in 2022, the Cosmopolitan has a “cozy, rinkside, casual dining option” called the Overlook Grill! Reservations required.

Admiring Christmas Lights

@ The LINQ Promenade

Along with their centrally-located resort hotel, the LINQ Las Vegas Hotel & Experience owns the “LINQ Promenade,” a street filled with Christmas decor, shops, boutiques, and restaurants!

We found multiple Christmas trees in this area and enjoyed browsing the various shops along the road. The High Roller Observation Wheel towers over the far end of the Promenade, so you try it while you’re there!

After admiring the beautiful decor of the Promenade, we were drawn to the colorful Candy Martini Bar at the center of the street. This huge candy store’s crown jewel is their expansive bar on the second story! Giant candy-topped martinis, sugar shots, vodka-soaked gummies, and endless sweet drinks filled their menu, and I was thrilled to try EVERYTHING!

Check out the pictures below of my favorite drink and some photos of us along the Promenade!

We took a cute video while on the Promenade too! You can find it here. 🙂

Tour the Elaborate Christmas Gardens

@ The Bellagio

The crown jewel of the Strip, the Bellagio Hotel carefully curates a 14,000-square-foot indoor Bellagio Botanical Garden that changes with the seasons. Luckily for us, they go all-out for the Christmas holiday!

This year’s theme is “Gingerbread Dream,” and according to the website, the Garden is filled with towering Christmas trees, sugar-coated gingerbread houses, and polar bears! The Bellagio’s horticulture staff consists of 120 full-time staff members who have created incredible masterpieces throughout the seasons. Previous themes have include floating floral hot air balloons, detailed arrangements of fauna wild animals, and woodland wonderlands! The Gardens rotate as follows:

• Holiday (11/19/22 – 1/1/23)
• Lunar (1/9/23 – 3/4/23)
• Spring (3/13/23 – 5/20/23)
• Summer (5/28/23 – 9/17/23)

The Christmas Gardens are indoors and nearby the Bellagio’s famous shops and restaurants. It was nice to be able to stay warm inside for a while on a colder day!

Take Professional Christmas Photos

@ The Strip

One of my favorite suggestions that I give new travelers is to hire a professional photographer when you visit a new place. I usually use Airbnb Experiences to find a local photographer who is experienced with the area and can show us unique views or photoop locations in the area! The photographers usually charge $25-75 per person to take our photos and we spend about 30-60 mins doing so. We get our pictures in less than 24 hours via email. Knowing that we’ll have high-quality keepsakes helps me relax and not take photos of every single thing I see! I highly recommend trying this.

We found a fantastic photographer to take photos of us in Las Vegas and spent over an hour taking pictures along the strip! Click here for her page on Airbnb Experiences. We took photos in front of The Bellagio, The Eiffel Tower replica, the Trevi Fountain at Caesar’s Palace, The Flamingo’s flamingo habit, along the LINQ Promenade, and in front of the Venetian Hotel. A third person was in our booking group, but the photographer gave us plenty of attention and we loved cheering the other girl one while she posed for photos!

BONUS: 3 new “Christmas in Las Vegas” events going on now are below, but we haven’t been to them before!

• The Nutcracker immersive attraction – 30 minute immersive ballet light show
• “Glittering Lights” – 3 million lights, 170 Christmas trees, 2.5 mile course, and a LIVE nativity
• “Christmas in The Park” – Christmas caroling, live shows, and waffles on sticks

For more holiday content, read my popular article, “Holiday Gift Guide: 5 Great Gifts for Travel Nurses!”