Festive ways to spend the holiday season in Las Vegas

Las Vegas may not be the first place people think of when asked where to spend the holidays, but visitors will find there’s no shortage of festive things to do.

The city has several merry attractions, like the holiday drive-through spectacular Glittering Lights, which boasts more than 3 million lights along a 2.5-mile course at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens is another holiday favorite, as it transforms into a winter wonderland complete with playful polar bears and a 42-foot-tall tree.

Jolly St. Nick can be found scuba diving inside Shark Reef Aquarium’s Shipwreck exhibit at Mandalay Bay with his toothy holiday helper, Santa Jaws.

Several productions perform special holiday shows to get audiences in a festive frame of mind, such as “Legends in Concert” at Flamingo, Terry Fator at the Mirage, Human Nature at the Venetian and “Tournament of Kings” at Excalibur.

Visitors can go ice skating in the desert, too! From Nov. 21 to Jan. 3, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas transforms its Boulevard Pool into the Ice Rink overlooking the Strip. With so much to see and do, visitors are guaranteed holidays unlike any other.

— Heather Turk, Tribune Content Solutions