3 Unique Indoor Activities in Las Vegas to Beat the Heat

“It’s … hot.” – “It’s always hot.” – “It’s incredibly hot.” – “Why are we here?!” For the uninitiated Vegas traveler, yes, it can be quite warm in the summer (Koppen climate classification Bwh: Hot Desert, if you want to get specific) so expect temps to soar into the high 90s, if not 110s, during your summer stay.

Of course, the city is fully aware of the sunshine and has many ways to cool off: A/C’s pumping 24/7, frosty frozen drinks and treats around every corner and, of course, hundreds and hundreds of unique pools to soak in. But if you’re getting pruny in the water, what to do? Here are three absolutely unconventional, “only-in-Vegas” ways to beat the heat!

Get Your Putt On

Unless you’re up at 5 a.m., you’re not going to get 18 holes of golf in during your stay without some serious sunshine beating down. Instead, try your hand at golf in the miniature at Swingers. Located within Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, this wild take on mini golf features four “crazy golf” courses, all surrounding a faux English country house. The courses feature familiar miniature golf trappings like windmills, as well as wilder challenges like jumps and loops.

The family-friendly venue also features carnival games, Detroit-style pizza, delicious burgers and a delightful drink menu (and yes, some are frozen!). Best of all, the entire venue falls under the merciful layer of famed Vegas A/C, so you can wile out the heat of the day, having a blast and trying for that elusive hole-in-one.

Soar Over the West

Of course, it’s not just Vegas that is hot during the summer months – we all live within that extended dome of high temps that comprises the American Southwest. So, no matter where you go for a weekend escape, you’ll be feeling some perspiration, whether you’re in the desert here or eyeing quick summer escapes to Cabo or Sedona instead. Why not soar above it all? Flyover in Las Vegas, a unique movie-meets-ride-meets-experience, offers an immersive (and mercifully cool) way to see the splendor of our region.

Hanging over a giant screen, you’ll soar and move over stunning scenery from the West, including the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Lake Tahoe, all while feeling the mist, the breeze and the ups and downs of your adventure as your seat sways, swoops and caroms over the wraparound visuals. It’s as close as you can come to being there, but one thing the designers edited out was the heat!

From the Grand Canyon to Free Fall, Without Ever Leaving the A/C

You can already see the Grand Canyon from above without leaving Vegas, Flyover covers that. What it doesn’t cover is the actual falling part, and that’s a separate business entirely. iFLY Las Vegas runs an indoor wind tunnel built to simulate real skydiving. An instructor suits you up, gives you the two-minute version of what not to do with your arms, and then a column of air lifts you a few feet off the ground for about a minute. It’s short. It’s loud. Somehow it’s still worth doing twice.

Vegas markets itself hard on outdoor activities too: Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead, that whole list. Fine in January. Rough in July, when the same drive feels less like a day trip and more like a dare. Getting your adrenaline fix indoors just holds up better this time of year.

Catch an Outdoor Movie

Wait, what? L.A. has Cinespia. It’s a very fun way to see a film outside – and L.A. gets cool at night. Why would you want to watch a movie outside in Las Vegas’ summer? What if it’s a “Dive-In Movie”? At the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ Pool District, fan-favorite movies will be projected on their enormous marquee screen overlooking the Boulevard Pool on Mondays during the summer season.

As the sun goes down and the heat backs off a bit, you can settle in with your feet in the pool and a frozen cocktail to catch The Goonies (June 23), Despicable Me (July 7) or even Elf for a little “Christmas in July” (on the 25th during a special Friday showing and a themed night with special cocktails and bites). You can even get fancy and rent a cabana for the all-ages event, but let’s be real here – in the heat of the summer, why wouldn’t you take in a fine feature film from the pool itself?

If quirky and immersive is more your speed, AREA15 delivers. Its centerpiece, Omega Mart, is a surreal grocery store built by the art collective Meow Wolf, and the interactive experiences are hidden in places you wouldn’t think to check: behind a shelf of fake cereal, inside a walk-in freezer that isn’t actually a freezer. Nothing about it gets explained. You just wander until something clicks, or it doesn’t.

The Sphere goes a different route. It holds the title of world’s largest spherical structure, and the inside is one continuous wraparound screen that makes a concert feel like you’re standing inside it rather than watching one from a seat. You don’t need to like the artist performing to understand why people keep posting about it.

Indoor Attractions for Instant Relief to Escape the Las Vegas Heat

When the Las Vegas heat is just too much, the best escape is to stay indoors. Luckily, Las Vegas has plenty of air conditioned havens that offer you a break from the extreme heat conditions. These indoor attractions are a great time and a fun way to beat the heat and keep your vacation going.

A favorite way to get out of the sun is to explore the massive resorts along the Strip. The air conditioning is always cranked up, and you can spend hours walking through the various casinos, shops, and restaurants without ever stepping outside.

Many people spend their afternoons just doing a “resort walk,” going from one air conditioned building to the next via connected hallways or even pedestrian bridges. It’s a simple but effective way to stay cool.

Another great indoor place to visit is the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It’s a completely immersive underwater experience with thousands of marine animals, including a wide variety of sharks. This is a great family-friendly option that feels like a world away from the scorching heat outside. You can take your time, relax, and enjoy the cool, quiet atmosphere. It’s the perfect midday break when the temperatures are at their peak and the sun is at its highest.

Lionfish, also known erroneously as the Scorpionfish at the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

Discover Downtown’s Weirder Side at the Pinball Hall of Fame

Downtown Las Vegas has a museum built out of one collector’s pinball machines, stacked wall to wall, most of them older than the tourists playing them. The Pinball Hall of Fame charges by the game instead of admission, keeps its doors open daily, and doesn’t care if you’ve never touched a flipper before tonight. Somebody there will explain the rules whether you ask or not.

Ten minutes north, the Mob Museum covers Las Vegas’s organized crime history through interactive exhibits housed inside the actual federal courthouse where the Kefauver hearings took place in 1950. There’s a real electric chair upstairs and a working speakeasy in the basement. It’s a heavier stop than pinball, and worth the extra hour if true crime is your thing. Tours run regularly for anyone who wants context instead of just wandering the exhibits alone. If you’d rather test your odds than your memory, Fremont Street’s casino floors keep their slot machines running well past midnight, with noticeably shorter lines than anything on the Strip.

Ride the High Roller, Then Cool Off Where the Shopping Is

The High Roller settles the “best view in Vegas” argument better than most things on the Strip, and it’s one of those do-this-once Vegas experiences that actually lives up to the hype. It’s a 550-foot observation wheel, the rotation takes about half an hour, and the cabins run their own air conditioning separate from whatever’s happening outside. July is somehow a better month to ride it than October.

Once you’re off the wheel, the shopping starts almost immediately. Caesars Palace has the Forum Shops. Fashion Show Mall sits at the north end of the Strip. Miracle Mile Shops connects directly into Planet Hollywood, so you never really feel like you left one building. Wynn Las Vegas keeps its own indoor garden going year-round, tucked behind the casino floor where you’d never expect a garden to be, and it’s one small part of the unexpected wealth of fine art in Las Vegas that hides in plain sight around the city. The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens changes its display several times a year, and whatever’s up when you visit is usually worth the fifteen minutes it takes to walk through.

Treasure Island sits close enough to fold into the same afternoon. So does a spa, if the point is to just stop moving for an hour.

Sit Down for Afternoon Tea, Because Yes, That’s a Vegas Thing Now

Afternoon tea has turned into one of the stranger indoor dining trends in Las Vegas, and it’s not tucked away in some tiny tearoom either. Circa runs High Tea in the Sky on a rooftop, tiered trays and all, a strange pairing with a sportsbook two floors down that somehow works.

For something heavier, downtown has options that skip the tea altogether. Andiamo Steakhouse does Italian in a dining room built for a two-hour dinner, not a quick bite before a show. Bacon Nation is the opposite: loud, casual, comfort food, the kind of place where ordering a second plate doesn’t raise eyebrows. Toca Madera serves modern Mexican food with Mediterranean touches folded in, which reads strange on a menu and tastes better than it sounds.

Bring people. A table of four gets through more of the menu than a table of two ever will, and there’s still a whole week left to walk it off.

There’s no shortage of evening entertainment either. Cirque du Soleil still runs “O” at Bellagio and “Ka,” plus “Michael Jackson: ONE” back at Mandalay Bay for anyone who wants Thriller choreography over acrobatics, and those Las Vegas F1 weekend shows and activities slot in easily if you’re already planning a race-focused trip. Blue Man Group is still doing its residency at Luxor. Comedy clubs show up in casino corners you wouldn’t expect, and T-Mobile Arena covers everything from hockey games to concerts on nights when a stage isn’t dramatic enough. Circa brings its own nightlife downtown, built around a rooftop pool and one of the largest sportsbooks in the country.

Kids complicate the plan a little, but not by much. Discovery Children’s Museum is built for touching, climbing, and generally ignoring “do not touch” signs. The Adventuredome at Circus Circus is a full indoor amusement park, roller coaster and all, sealed under a pink dome that blocks every bit of sun. Play Playground at Luxor is basically the adult version: games, food, a bar, built for people who missed recess. The Venetian still runs its indoor gondola rides along a fake canal, which nobody can fully explain but everyone seems to enjoy anyway. Grab a group and book Zero Latency at MGM Grand instead, a free-roam VR setup built around shooting things with friends rather than each other.

Other Ways to Stay Cool

While the Strip has tons of things to do, the greater Las Vegas area, including Henderson, also has some incredible indoor attractions that provide an instant relief from the extreme heat. The average high temperatures in August are over 100 degrees, so it makes sense to have other options besides the casinos.

If you want to do some exercise without the risk of heat stroke, you can visit one of the many indoor rock climbing gyms or trampoline parks. It’s a fantastic way to get active and sweat while being in a temperature-controlled environment. You can also visit some of the world-class museums in the area. The Atomic Testing Museum and the Neon Museum are two very cool places to explore that are completely indoors.

Even just running simple errands can be a challenge. So, instead of going from store to store in the middle of the day, save your errands for the evening when the temperatures have dropped, and if your cool-down starts at the airport, the Sidecar Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas makes waiting for a late flight feel more like a nightcap than a chore.

If you have to go out, make sure your car is parked in the shade. You can also take a bottle of ice and fill it with water throughout the day. You’ll thank me later. The main thing to remember is to listen to your body and a little common sense goes a long way when the Las Vegas heat is on. Don’t be a hero – stay indoors when you can.