Sober-Friendly Strip Tips #4, Visiting the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” Sign

~ Sober In Vegas

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is a unique place to stop by in Vegas, and guess what y’all?!

It’s alcohol-free! And costs nothing! Two big thumbs up for this activity!

And….it’s probably one of the most iconic signs in the WORLD.

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The plaque showing that it’s on the NRHP

It was designed by Betty Willis in 1959 (she was one of the few female commercial sign designers working at this time, re: badass) and it’s part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Getting to the sign is doable both by foot and by car.

On foot, walk south on Las Vegas Blvd past Mandalay Bay.

There will be a crosswalk to give you access. (Please use it! I only say this because I’ve seen people try and get across without it and I really wouldn’t recommend it…!) 

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The line one cloudy afternoon to take your picture with the world famous sign!

If you’re coming by car, you can come from either direction, north from Sunset and Las Vegas Blvd. or south from most large casinos along The Strip.

You’ll see signs from either direction for a pull in to the island for parking which is free and ample.

There is almost always a line to take you picture here. I waited about 15 minutes to get mine taken and the line was relatively short.

Everyone is pretty well behaved and generous–it’s hard not to have a good time when you’re waiting to meet an icon. 😉

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Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!

A few fun facts about the sign:

  • It’s actually not located in Las Vegas–it’s located in Paradise! If you want to go down an internet rabbit hole about Paradise vs. Las Vegas, enjoy some info here…
  • The seven silver circles that the letters in W-E-L-C-O-M-E are inside of are a nod to our state’s nickname, The Silver State, as Willis used the shape of Silver Dollars here to pay tribute.
  • The back of the sign is just as fun as the front! It encourages visitors to “Drive Carefully” and to “Come back soon”
  • Design wise, this represents a style called Googie. Enjoy some info about Googie style & design here in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
  • The design of the sign was never copyrighted, since Betty Willis considered this her gift to the city and wanted it to be in the public domain.

Hope you all will enjoy this as a little alcohol-free activity to do while visiting Vegas and staying sober–and for you folks that live here, if you have never taken your picture here, I encourage you to do so the next time you have guests in town!

Thanks for reading and happy sobering friends!

6 thoughts on “Sober-Friendly Strip Tips #4, Visiting the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” Sign”

  2. You can’t go to Vegas without getting your pic taken by the sign! (But I think it should be at night when it’s all lit up!
    Hey, is there another smaller version down the other end of the strip by Sahara Ave? Someone told me that once but I have never seen it. They said it’s by that big huge general store gift shop or naughty town or whatever it’s called.

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    1. you know what’s funny?! there have been/are two others! One used to be at Las Vegas Blvd. & 4th (but was destroyed in an accident), and another one that is still up is on Boulder Highway north of Tropicana (near where Sam’s Town is if you’ve ever heard of that!) 🙂

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