At 11pm our last night in Vegas, we still hadn’t made it to The Strip, so we decided to at least stop to see the Bellagio Fountains.
I had already looked up the schedule, perused the long list of songs played during shows, and found out there was free parking in the garage next door at Caesars Palace.
Leaving the parking garage puts you directly into the middle of a casino (of course) with no exits in sight (of course) where you end up wandering a labyrinth of glowing slot machines, poker tables, crowds and clubs and concert venues in a disorienting blur.
A pedestrian bridge, creepy garden, and near-collision later, we had finally made our way to the Bellagio – via, perhaps, the most circuitous route possible – only to find ourselves in some kind of never-ending shopping mall.
We doubled back, and eventually found our way out to the fountains, just after a show had ended (of course) and hung out until it was time for the next one.
Without warning, Elvis’s “Viva Las Vegas” started blasting and the fountains sprang to life, jets of water illuminated by gold lights shot into the air and twirled to the music.
As the song ended, water crashed back into the pool, and the gold lights shut off. I waited in the dark for more, but the show was over. We turned around and began the long trek back to our car.
– More Fountains of Bellagio Info –
- If you’re not in a rush, there are several restaurants in the Bellagio that have a fountain view. Reservations are generally recommended.
- Getting there: Most resorts have property maps online (Caesars Palace, Bellagio), or you can consult Google Maps ahead of time. (I didn’t get very good signal inside.)
- Parking: The Bellagio and other MGM Resorts have started charging for parking. There is free parking at (relatively) nearby Caesars Palace, Flamingo, and The Tropicana. Vegas.com has a whole article on parking garages, which is particularly helpful since resorts don’t always make it easy to find their parking information.
- Cost: It’s free to watch the fountains outside.
Monday – Friday:
3 to 8pm, show every 30 minutes
8pm to 12am, show every 15 minutes
Saturdays + holidays:
12 to 8pm, show every 30 minutes
8pm to 12am, show every 15 minutes
Sundays:
11am to 7pm, show every 30 minutes
7pm to 12am, show every 15 minutes
Oh, that is so cool. I’m sorry it was such a windy road to get to the fountains, but so glad you caught that show!
Me too! I wish it had been longer than 3 minutes, but at least we got to see it!
Those fountains must be amazing in person! One of these days, I might get around to seeing them myself – in the meantime, thanks for sharing this, so I can live vicariously through your pictures/video. :D
Not a big fun of Las Vegas, every time I have been there it has been due to work, so it’s funny to read this story and close my eyes and see myself trying to make my way to see this water show. Yes, it is the “most circuitous route” indeed.
Ha! Yeah, we only went because of a friend’s wedding and had a lot more fun *not* on The Strip.
The Convention Center is right near the Arts District/Downtown. That seems like a little more your scene: https://www.travelcraftjournal.com/vegas-off-the-strip/ At least there are a couple nice murals. :)
I haven’t been to Vegas since I was a kid, but I have no memory of the fountains. (Maybe they went in after the last time I was there?) But the video you took reminds me of the fountain show at Epcot. I loved that!
I was surprised to find out they went in sometime in the 1990s, so relatively recently for how iconic they seem.