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Walking may well be the best way to travel the three-mile-long Strip: the sidewalks are wide and the terrain is flat. Since the city covers a large area, however, and is crisscrossed by multi-lane streets, you’ll need a car or public transportation when visiting attractions in outlying parts of the city.

If you are going to be driving, procure a good map (the Rand McNally map, which can be obtained at supermarkets, drugstores, and booksellers, is excellent). The city is laid out on a grid, with only a few principal thoroughfares running obliquely.

In town, be prepared for fast driving and heavy traffic. Avoid driving during rush hours (about 7–9 am and 4–7pm). Congestion on the Strip begins in late morning and continues until after midnight, especially on weekends from mid-March through October and when large special events take place. The city’s major streets are six to eight lanes wide.

Hotel/casinos on the Strip and in Glitter Gulch provide free parking in high-rise garages. Elsewhere they have huge parking lots and/or garages. Almost all hotels offer valet parking. When valet parking is full, preference is given to hotel guests over casino visitors.

When parking on the street, be sure to read all posted signs about parking restrictions to avoid incurring fines or having your vehicle towed away. Fines for parking in disability-reserved spaces without a valid placard range from $100 to as much as $1,000.

Hotel entrances on the Strip and downtown are the best places to find cabs. The standard fare is $2.20 for the first mile, $1.50 each additional mile, plus $0.35 a minute when stopped at a red light or stalled in traffic. In heavy traffic it can cost more than $20 to go from one end of the Strip to the other. Since taxi drivers know the city’s less busy streets, a useful tip is to ask to be taken the quickest way rather than the shortest.

The exact fare of $1.50 is required for the Strip trolley (9:30am–2am daily), which stops at all major locations from the Stratosphere in the north to Mandalay Bay in the south. Free trams connect Treasure Island with the Mirage, Bellagio with Monte Carlo, and the Excalibur with Luxor and Mandalay Bay. The monorail operates along the Strip between MGM Grand and Sahara (8am–midnight daily). A one-ride ticket costs $3.

The least expensive way to travel beyond downtown and the Strip is by CAT bus (Citizens Area Transit); CATs have an extensive network of routes. Fares are $2 on main tourist routes, $1.25 on others; seniors and children aged 5 to 17 pay $1).

You may have to pay for the shuttle service between the airport and some hotels, but others offer a free service to shopping areas and sightseeing destinations.

Bicycling along main arteries is not advised, but riding through residential neighborhoods and at Red Rock Canyon can be very pleasurable. Bikes can be rented from various outlets; fees usually include helmets and water bottles.