Las Vegas has no big free museum and no citywide free day. The Mob Museum and the Neon Museum charge every day. What exists is smaller: the Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV asks for a suggested donation, the City Hall galleries are free on weekdays, the Shelby Heritage Center shows its cars at no charge, and the Pinball Hall of Fame lets you walk in free and pay by the quarter only if you play.
Always · Tue–Sat 10 am–5 pm. Closed Sunday, Monday and state and federal holidays. Free, with a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $2 for seniors and children.
The university's art museum, in a former gym east of the Strip, showing contemporary work with a strong line in Nevada and Southwest artists.
Free when
Always · Tue–Sat 10 am–5 pm. Closed Sunday, Monday and state and federal holidays. Free, with a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $2 for seniors and children.
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
45–60 minutes
How to get there
4505 S Maryland Pkwy, entered from E Harmon Ave. RTC bus 109 along Maryland Parkway. Parking outside is metered on weekdays, free on weekends and after 1 pm Friday.
Worth it? Yes.The one real art museum in town you can enter without paying, and it is rarely busy. Saturday is easiest because campus parking is free all day.
A 25,000-square-foot hall of working pinball machines from the 1950s to the 1990s, run by a nonprofit. Walking in and looking is free. Playing is not.
Free when
Always · Sun–Thu 10 am–9 pm, Fri–Sat 10 am–10 pm.
Free for whom
Everyone. Entry is free, games cost 25 or 50 cents each.
Reservation
Not needed
Time needed
45 minutes to as long as your quarters last
How to get there
4925 Las Vegas Blvd S, across from Mandalay Bay and a 10-minute walk north of the Welcome sign. Deuce bus southbound. Own parking lot.
Worth it? Depends.Free only if you can stand in a room of 1970s pinball and not play, which few people manage. Bring two dollars in quarters and call it the cheapest hour on the Strip.
Two city-run exhibition spaces inside City Hall: the Grand Gallery on the ground floor for sculpture and installations, and the Chamber Gallery upstairs for paintings and prints by local artists.
495 S Main St. Deuce bus to Bonneville Transit Center, then two blocks west.
Worth it? Depends.Small, quiet and air-conditioned. Worth 20 minutes if you are walking between Fremont Street and the Arts District on a weekday, not a destination in itself.
Shelby American's showroom of Cobras and Shelby Mustangs, from early 1960s race cars to current builds, attached to the factory where the cars are still made.
Free when
Always · Mon–Sat 9:30 am–5 pm, Sun 10 am–4 pm.
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed for a self-guided visit.
Time needed
30–45 minutes
How to get there
6405 Ensworth St, about 10 minutes by car south of Mandalay Bay, near the I-15 and I-215 interchange. Free parking.
Worth it? Depends.A treat if you care about cars and a quick loop of one room if you do not. The exit is through a large gift shop.
If you spend on one thing in Las Vegas, make it this.
The Neon Museum after dark
The free signs on Las Vegas Boulevard are a sample. The Boneyard holds the Stardust, Moulin Rouge and Sahara signs in one lot, close enough to see the bulbs and rust, and the night visits show them lit. Nothing free in town tells the city's story this well.
Everything above is free. This is the only paid pick on the page, chosen because no free option replaces it.
