Las Vegas is known for slot machines and buffets, but some of the most memorable cultural stops in the valley don’t ask for a ticket, a hotel key, or a reservation. This weekend, you can see two of them in a single easy walk: the Bellagio Conservatory’s new fall display and the digital art wrapped around the Cosmopolitan’s lobby. Both are open to anyone, and both are free.
Start with the Bellagio Conservatory
The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens covers roughly 14,000 square feet and is tended by about 120 gardeners. The display changes five times a year (Lunar New Year, spring, summer, fall, and the holidays), and each changeover takes about six days, so the garden goes dark between shows. The summer “Paradise” display, with its 22-foot tiger and more than 20,000 plants, closed on September 12. The fall display is scheduled to open September 19 and run into early November. Those dates come from a travel guide, so confirm before you go. Entry is free, and the garden is open around the clock whenever a display is up.
Did You Know? Conservatory Tidbits
- Design planning starts up to a year ahead, and the garden holds 800 to 1,000 varieties of plants at any given time, chosen to fit each show’s design.
- Around 100 team members work around the clock for nearly a week on each installation. Because every piece has to travel on public roads, large props are built in sections that meet traffic regulations.
- A separate off-property warehouse stores thousands of props. The living plants stay on site, and after each show the team reuses, recycles, or composts what it can.
- One profile describes a 27,000-square-foot greenhouse behind the resort where plants wait before they go on display, and hydraulic cranes under the conservatory floor that raise and lower the beds like a theater stage.
- By 2018, the conservatory had welcomed about 150 million visitors and used roughly six million plants across 100 displays.
While You’re at Bellagio
Step into the lobby and look up. Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como ceiling is made of more than 2,100 pieces of colored glass and measures about 65 by 29 feet. Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, at a then-record $1.6 billion, and the name has a story. Designer Jon Jerde vacationed at Lake Como and talked Steve Wynn into visiting the Italian village of Bellagio. After half a day there, Wynn reportedly scrapped ten months of designs for a different concept and started over with an Italian theme.
The Fountains of Bellagio are also free. They run every half hour from the afternoon until midnight (check current times), with 1,214 nozzles, 4,792 lights, and water that can reach 460 feet. The lake holds about 22 million gallons, and “Time to Say Goodbye” is reportedly the most popular song in the show.
Walk Next Door to the Cosmopolitan
The Cosmopolitan opened on December 15, 2010, and at a reported $3.9 billion, it was the most expensive Strip casino built up to that time. Its lobby was designed by Rockwell Group, and the digital art is the first thing many visitors notice: eight columns, roughly 15 to 16 feet tall, covered in more than 350 displays and about 265 million pixels. The piece created for them, called Opulence, imagines an underwater world. More than 60 people worked on it, including dancers and a synchronized swimmer filmed by an underwater cinematography team, and the concept was meant to echo the “pleasure of discovery” under the surface. The same content also plays on the 75-foot registration display and the rooftop Beacon. Programming can change, so what you see may differ.
Did You Know? Cosmopolitan Tidbits
- The resort says nothing is roped off, so you can get close to the art. It also has six Art-o-mat machines, old cigarette vending machines converted to dispense small original artworks.
- A chatbot named Rose offers text-message art tours 24/7, so you can explore at your own pace.
- The three-story Chandelier lounge hangs about two million crystals from the ceiling.
- The parking garage carries graffiti-style work by street artists, including Shepard Fairey and Kenny Scharf.
- The property sits on only 8.5 acres, which is why the building goes up instead of out.
Where to Eat: Secret Pizza
Secret Pizza is on the Cosmopolitan’s third floor, between The Corner Store and Jaleo, and it has no sign. Look for the hallway lined with records. From the Strip entrance, head to the Chandelier Bar and take the escalators up two levels. It’s a small, casual New York-style slice counter that opens at 11 a.m., and one guide lists late-night hours as well. Guides differ on price, with a cheese slice listed anywhere from about $6 to $8, so check when you go. If you’d like a sit-down option, Ghost Donkey is a speakeasy-style Mexican spot one floor below, through a door marked with a small donkey.
Where to Get the Best Selfie
At the conservatory, stand at a corner of the atrium with your back to the tallest centerpiece. Switch to your phone’s ultra-wide (0.5x) lens and hold the phone a little low so the whole display fits behind you. Early morning is the quietest. At the Cosmopolitan, face the lobby columns. The screens supply their own lighting, so the colors change from shot to shot, and a few extra frames will get you one you like. If you’re near Bellagio’s lake at dusk, the fountains make a good third backdrop. And the record-lined hallway outside Secret Pizza is a fun last photo.
Las Vegas Has More Culture Than You Think
Las Vegas has more cultural offerings than its reputation suggests, and much of it is open to everyone. The conservatory, the fountains, and the Cosmopolitan lobby are all free to walk up to. Others charge admission but are worth the ticket. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art opened with the resort in 1998, and a 2004 Monet exhibition ran 16 months and drew about 450,000 visitors. Its most recent exhibition ended September 13, so check what’s on next before you plan around it.
Farther afield, The Mob Museum opened in 2012 inside a 1933 federal courthouse that the federal government transferred to the city for $1, on the condition that it be restored. Its second-floor courtroom hosted the 1950 to 1951 Kefauver Committee organized-crime hearings, and it now has a working speakeasy in the basement. The Springs Preserve is a 180-acre nature and culture center built around the original water source for Las Vegas, with desert gardens, trails, and a state museum. For quick, low-cost stops, the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat and the Pinball Hall of Fame are worth adding to your list, too.
Locals sometimes overlook these places because they’re always there, but that’s the point of living in a city with this much going on. Whether you call Las Vegas, Henderson, or another part of the valley home, these are weekend outings within a short drive. Bring the family, a visiting friend, or just yourself and a camera.
Thinking about making Las Vegas, Henderson, or the surrounding valley your home base? Contact Premier Homes Real Estate to talk with our team about finding a neighborhood that fits the way you spend your weekends.
