Christmas in Las Vegas

Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday, which makes it a long holiday weekend — and Las Vegas does Christmas better than people expect. The hotels deck out their lobbies, the Strip glows, there's an ice rink on a pool deck, and the desert gives you a 60-degree Christmas instead of a shovel. Here's where to stay and what to see.

The lights are the main event

Las Vegas goes all-in on holiday decor, and most of it is free to walk through. The Bellagio Conservatory turns into a full Christmas scene — giant ornaments, a towering tree, and the fountains running holiday music out front. The Venetian decks its canal and painted-sky ceiling top to bottom. Wynn and Encore fill their atriums with carousels and hanging gardens of ornaments.

Off the Strip, two drive-through and walk-through light shows run all December — the Ethel M Holiday Cactus Garden in Henderson wraps its whole cactus garden in lights, and the bigger ticketed displays set up at the speedway and the park. They draw families every night in the two weeks before Christmas.

A warm-weather Christmas

A Vegas Christmas is a 60-degree day, not a snowstorm. The pools mostly close for winter, but the ice rink on the Cosmopolitan's Boulevard Pool deck opens for the season — outdoor skating with the Strip right there. The shows run through the holiday too, several of them in Christmas editions. Book those before you book the hotel; the good nights sell out.

Where to stay for Christmas

These six put you inside or next to the best holiday displays in the city, so the lights are a walk from your room, not a drive.