How Much Does a Trip to Las Vegas Cost? (Hotels, Fees, Food and Shows)

Working out how much a trip to Las Vegas costs starts with the hotel, and the hotel is never just the room rate: a resort fee, 13.38% room tax and often parking land on top. The estimates below use only official figures, with the math shown so you can swap in your own numbers.

How much does a trip to Las Vegas cost? Sample 3-night budgets

These budgets assume two adults sharing one room (68% of 2025 visitors had two people in their room) for three nights and four days, close to the LVCVA’s 2025 average stay of 3.2 nights. Flights are excluded because they depend entirely on where you start. Every figure is an estimate built from the sources noted below the table, and real prices vary according to travel dates and availability.

Per person, 3 nights	Value (Downtown)	Mid-range (center Strip)	Splurge (Strip luxury)
Hotel: rate + resort fee + 13.38% tax, split by two	$234.27	$420.75	$429.34 or more
Food and drink (LVCVA average per trip)	$582.86	$582.86	$582.86 or more
Getting around	$20.00	$60.98	$30.13 plus rideshares
Shows and attractions	$0	$34.75	$164.00
Estimated total	$837.13	$1,099.34	$1,206.33 or more
Per person per day (4 days)	About $209	About $275	About $302 or more

How each line is built:

• Hotel. Value uses Downtown’s 2025 average rate ($98.75) plus a $39 resort fee (Plaza’s and Downtown Grand’s at last check in October 2026), for $156.18 a night with tax. Mid-range uses the Strip’s 2025 average ($197.45) plus a $49.95 fee (Horseshoe, Flamingo, The LINQ, Harrah’s): $280.50 a night. Splurge uses the Strip average plus a $55 fee (Bellagio, ARIA, Vdara, The Cosmopolitan): $286.23 a night. Luxury rooms usually price above the Strip-wide average, so treat that column as a floor.
• Food. The LVCVA’s 2025 average food and drink spend per trip, used in every column because it’s the most reliable benchmark available. It’s also the line you control most.
• Getting around. Value is an RTC 3-day Strip & All Access pass ($20), good on the Deuce and RTC’s other routes, including the airport buses. Mid-range is a taxi each way to a center-Strip zone ($26.25 flat fare plus the $3 card fee and 3% excise tax, or $30.13 a ride, split by two) plus a 3-day Monorail eTicket ($30.85). Splurge takes the same taxis; rideshare prices change with demand, so they aren’t priced here.
• Shows. Value sticks to free sights. Mid-range is an evening High Roller ticket ($34.75, plus taxes and fees). Splurge swaps in the High Roller’s 21+ Happy Half Hour with drinks ($60) and adds The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which started at $104 when tickets went on sale in June 2025. Current Sphere prices are dynamic, so check before you budget.

Not included: flights, shopping (the 2025 average was $222.05 per trip), tips and gambling.

What a Las Vegas hotel really costs per night

The formula is simple: (room rate + resort fee) × 1.1338, plus parking if you drive. The 13.38% is the combined room tax on the Strip, and Clark County treats the resort fee as part of the rent, so the tax applies to both.

Here’s the math at the Strip’s 2025 average rate with a $49.95 resort fee:

• Room rate: $197.45
• Resort fee: $49.95
• Room tax at 13.38%: $33.10
• Real nightly cost: $280.50, 42% more than the rate alone

The fee by itself costs $56.63 a night once taxed, or $169.90 over three nights. At a $55 fee it’s $62.36 a night.

For benchmarks, the LVCVA’s average daily rate was $184.43 citywide in 2025 ($197.45 on the Strip, $98.75 Downtown) and $183.60 from January through August 2026. Hotel guests without a package or comp reported spending $174.52 a night on lodging in 2025.

Room tax ranges from 10.5% to 13.38% across Clark County, and the City of Las Vegas charges 13% outside the gaming corridor, which should cover most of Downtown; we use 13.38% throughout, so the Downtown lines may run slightly high. If your dates are flexible, our guide to the cheapest time to visit Las Vegas shows how far rates move by month, and where to stay in Las Vegas compares the areas.

Resort fees, taxes and parking

Resort fees are mandatory daily charges. Since May 12, 2025, the FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees has required hotels and booking sites to include them in the total price they display, though taxes can still be shown separately. At last check in October 2026, the hotels in our registry ranged from no resort fee at Four Queens to $55 + tax per night at Bellagio, ARIA, Vdara, The Cosmopolitan and Waldorf Astoria. The Las Vegas resort fees guide explains what the fees cover, and our list of hotels without resort fees is the shortcut if you’d rather not pay one.

Hotel	Area	Price level	Resort fee	Parking	Booking.com
Bellagio Las Vegas	Center Strip	Luxury	$55 + tax per night	Self-parking $20/day for hotel guests; valet $40/day	Check prices
Caesars Palace	Center Strip	Upscale	$54.95 + tax per night	Paid self-parking and valet; free for Caesars Rewards Platinum and above	Check prices
Park MGM Las Vegas	Center Strip	Mid-range	$50 + tax per night	Self-parking $20/day for hotel guests; valet $40/day	Check prices
Horseshoe Las Vegas	Center Strip	Mid-range	$49.95 + tax per night	Paid self-parking and valet; free for Caesars Rewards Platinum and above	Check prices
The LINQ Hotel + Experience	Center Strip	Mid-range	$49.95 + tax per night	Paid self-parking and valet; free for Caesars Rewards Platinum and above	Check prices
Golden Nugget Las Vegas	Downtown	Mid-range	$46 + tax per night	Free self-parking for hotel guests; valet $20/day	Check prices
The D Las Vegas	Downtown	Budget	$39.95 + tax per night	Free self-parking and valet for hotel guests	Check prices
Four Queens Hotel & Casino	Downtown	Budget	None	Self-parking $5/day for guests (waived with a free players card); free valet	Check prices

Parking is the cost drivers forget. As of October 2026, MGM Resorts charges hotel guests $20 a day to self-park and $40 a day for valet, so three nights of self-parking adds $60. Waldorf Astoria is valet-only at $45 a day. Caesars resorts charge as well, with free parking for Caesars Rewards Platinum members and above. Downtown is kinder: Golden Nugget, The D, Plaza and Downtown Grand include self-parking for hotel guests. Our Las Vegas parking fees guide has the full list.

Getting there and getting around

Airfare depends on where you fly from, so it isn’t in these budgets. Harry Reid International Airport is about 2 miles from Las Vegas Boulevard, and the transfer costs are easy to pin down:

Airport transfer	Cost	Notes
Taxi to the south Strip (Zone 1)	$22.25	Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, MGM Grand
Taxi to the center Strip (Zone 2)	$26.25	ARIA, Bellagio, Paris, Horseshoe, Planet Hollywood
Taxi north of Flamingo Road (Zone 3)	$30.25	Caesars Palace, The LINQ, Harrah’s, Wynn, SAHARA
Rideshare	Varies	App prices change with demand
RTC bus	$6 for a 2-hour Strip & All Access pass	Route 108 and the Red Line stop at Terminal 1

Taxi flat fares apply to direct trips in either direction. Add $3 if you pay by card, plus the 3% excise tax on fares and fees, so a center-Strip ride paid by card comes to $30.13. Two special surcharges apply in 2026: $15 on airport and Strip-zone trips during F1 week (Nov. 19–23) and $10 on Strip-zone trips on New Year’s Eve, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

On the ground, the Monorail costs $5.75 a ride or $13.95 a day online ($6.25 and $15.50 at station machines), and the Deuce bus costs $4 a ride or $8 for 24 hours. The average 2025 visitor spent $162.33 on local transportation per trip, well above either transit plan in our sample budgets. RTC has proposed raising the Strip single fare to $5 and the 24-hour pass to $10, and dropping the 2-hour and 3-day passes, from Jan. 31, 2027 if its board approves, so recheck before a 2027 trip. Our guide to Las Vegas without a car covers routes and stations.

Food and drinks

The LVCVA’s 2025 Visitor Profile put average food and drink spending at $582.86 per trip, or $589.36 among visitors who spent anything. Over the average 4.2-day visit, that’s about $138.78 a day.

That average hides a wide range. Food halls, happy hours and a grocery run for water pull it down; steakhouses, tasting menus and nightclub tables push it up. Menu prices change too often to quote reliably, so budget the daily average and adjust for your style.

Shows, attractions and free things to do

Only 21% of 2025 visitors went to a show, which is why the LVCVA’s average spend on shows and entertainment looks small at $68.48 per trip. If you plan to buy tickets, here are official prices:

• High Roller: $23.50 adult daytime (noon to 5:59 p.m.), $34.75 from 6 p.m. and $60 for the 21+ Happy Half Hour with drinks included, plus taxes and fees.
• Sphere: The Wizard of Oz at Sphere started at $104 when tickets went on sale in June 2025; current prices are dynamic.
• F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix (Nov. 19–21, 2026): single-day general admission from $50 and three-day general admission from $492, including taxes and fees.

The free list is long. The Fountains of Bellagio, the Bellagio Conservatory, Fremont Street’s Viva Vision canopy shows, Wynn’s Lake of Dreams, the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat, the Forum Shops’ Fall of Atlantis show and the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign all cost nothing.

Gambling: set the number before you go

In 2025, 81% of visitors gambled, for an average of 2.6 hours a day, and gamblers set an average trip budget of $848.95, according to the LVCVA. Treat that as a budget, not a forecast. Decide on an amount you can afford to lose, split it by day and keep it separate from your food and show budget. If gambling stops being fun, the problem-gambling helpline listed by the LVCVA is 1-800-522-4700.

Hidden costs to budget for

Hidden cost	Example
Tax on the resort fee	13.38% on the Strip: a $49.95 fee becomes $56.63
Card hold at check-in	The STRAT holds $75 a day, up to $300 per stay; Plaza holds $100 per reservation
Early check-in	Plaza: free from noon when available, $30 + tax before noon; Downtown Grand: from 1 p.m. for $35 + tax
Parking	$20 a day for MGM hotel guests; included at several Downtown hotels
Taxi extras	$3 card fee, 3% excise tax and special-event surcharges
Monorail at the machine	$6.25 a ride versus $5.75 online
Tips	Customary for bartenders, servers, housekeeping, valets and drivers; build a cushion into your daily budget

How to do Vegas on a budget

• Go midweek or in summer. July 2025 averaged $154.72 a night against October’s $203.89, and weekends ran 12 points fuller than weeknights.
• Stay Downtown. The 2025 average rate was $98.75, half the Strip’s, and several Downtown hotels include parking. Browse our Downtown Las Vegas hotels.
• Pick a low-fee hotel. Four Queens charges no resort fee, and El Cortez’s $30 amenities fee includes garage parking. More options are in our guide to cheap Las Vegas hotels.
• Skip the rental car. An $8 Deuce day pass or a $13.95 Monorail day ticket costs less than a day of MGM self-parking.
• Lean on free sights. The fountains, the Conservatory and Fremont Street’s canopy shows cost nothing.
• Cap the gambling. Decide the number before you land, not at the table.

FAQ

How much does a 3-day trip to Vegas cost?

About $840 to $1,210 or more per person for three nights, before flights, shopping and gambling, by our estimate. The low end assumes a Downtown hotel at the 2025 average rate, buses and free sights; the high end a Strip hotel with a $55 resort fee, taxis, the High Roller and Sphere. Food, at the LVCVA’s $582.86 average per trip, is the biggest single line.

How much money do I need for 4 days in Vegas?

Four days usually means three nights, so plan on roughly $840 to $1,210 or more per person plus flights, with gambling money on top. If you stay a fourth night, add one more night of hotel, about $78 per person Downtown or $140 to $143 on the Strip at the average rates used here, plus another day of food.

How much should I bring to Vegas for gambling?

Only what you can afford to lose. The average gambler’s trip budget in 2025 was $848.95, according to the LVCVA, but that’s an average, not a target, and 19% of visitors didn’t gamble at all. Set your number before you go and split it by day.

Is Las Vegas expensive right now?

Room rates are roughly flat. The citywide average for January through August 2026 was $183.60, up 1.9% on the same months of 2025, and August 2026 averaged $150.32, down 7.4% year over year. What makes a trip expensive is timing: October and big-event weeks cost far more than a midweek summer stay. On a first trip, our first-time Las Vegas guide covers the rest of the planning.

How much is an Uber from the airport to the Strip?

There’s no fixed price: rideshare fares change with demand, so check the app’s quote. Taxis give you a benchmark, with flat zone fares from the airport of $22.25, $26.25 or $30.25 depending on where on the Strip you’re going, plus $3 if you pay by card and a 3% excise tax. Rideshare pickup is in the parking garage at both terminals.