Distance from Luxor to Circus Circus and the Best Ways to Get There
By Steve Beauregard
It’s a little over 3 miles, or 4.9 kilometers from the Luxor to the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino. You’re basically going from the far southernmost portion of the Las Vegas Strip to close to its northernmost point.
Walking this on the Strip sidewalk would take you about an hour without stops.
To do it, just simply head out of the Luxor and head North (towards the Excalibur), following the sidewalk on Las Vegas all the way to Circus Circus. It will veer off a tad here and there for pedestrian bridges over busy cross streets, but the path is clear, always busy, and always full of interesting sights (and people) to see to help pass the time.
Of course, there are some options to cut back on your walking time. Fortunately there are three free Las Vegas Strip trams that reduce time spent on your feet.
The first one is inside the Luxor. It goes north, to the Excalibur. Technically it also goes South to Mandalay Bay, but I don’t mention it here because the southbound tram does not stop at the Luxor.
(Go here to read more about the free tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay).
So take the free tram to Excalibur, where you’ll get off, follow the sidewalks, which will take you on the pedestrian bridge over Tropicana Avenue, and continue North.
You’ll go past New York – New York Hotel and Casino to Monte Carlo, where you’ll want to enter and proceed to the “Street of Dreams” as they call it. This gets you to the second of the three trams. From there, numerous signs will point you up the stairs to the tram station overlooking the Monte Carlo’s swimming pool area.
(Here’s a Google walking map from Luxor to Circus Circus)
Take the free tram from Monte Carlo and get off at the last stop, the Bellagio. Leaving the Bellagio, continue North past Caesars Palace to the Mirage, where the last of the three trams will take you to Treasure Island. Between the walk from the Strip to the Mirage tram station, and the walk from the TI (Treasure Island) Tram station back to the strip, you’re not really saving any distance, however you are saving time spent on your feet. The other two trams will definitely save you both time and distance walked.
Outside TI, it’s almost exactly one mile walk to Circus Circus, again, staying on the West side of Las Vegas Boulevard. You’ll pass by the Fashion Show Mall, an empty, soon-to-be built mega resort called Resorts World, on the land that used to be occupied by Westword Ho and by the Stardust. Construction on this new hotel and casino is scheduled to begin in 2018.
Beyond that, you’ll pass a McDonalds and Slots-A-Fun and then Circus Circus. By may calculations, taking the trams will save you only around a 1/2 mile in actual walking distance from the original 3 mile walk, due to the walking you’d have to do in the casinos going to and from the various monorail stops.
Nevertheless, the use of the trams will make your journey from the Luxor to Circus Circus a lot more enjoyable (and cooler) than a brutal three mile jaunt under the blazing southern Nevada sun.
Bus From Luxor to Circus Circus
You have two bus options to get from the Luxor to Circus Circus: The Deuce, or the SDX, which stands for “Strip Downtown Express.” Deuce ticket prices are very reasonable.
Taking the Deuce from Luxor to Circus Circus will take you an estimated 47 minutes due to all of the stops.
You’ll want to get on the Deuce at the Mandalay Bay bus stop. This isn’t really at Mandalay Bay, and in fact, is on the south end of the Luxor, on the opposite side (the east side) of the Strip. Approximately 300 feet south of the tall skinny white LUXOR pyramid sign, cross over the strip on Hacienda. The bus stop is just a few feet north of Hacienda. You’ll see it easily.
Get settled in your seat on Deuce and take in all the sights. You won’t get off until the Riviera stop and it’s directly in front of the Riviera Hotel and Casino. From there you just cross the street, as the Riviera is pretty much across the Strip from Circus Circus.
Instead of the Deuce, you could take the gold-colored bus with the “SDX” lettering. However this bus doesn’t stop in front of the Riviera. The closest stop to Circus Circus is what’s called the “Channel 8” stop on Convention Center Drive. From this stop, it would be a nearly 1/2 mile walk to Circus Circus.
Because it has less stops, the SDX would get you from the Luxor to this Channel 8 Stop in about 35 to 40 minutes. You can add ten minutes to that for walking time, to make it a roughly 45 to 50 minute trip.
Driving Directions From Luxor to Circus Circus
Normally I don’t recommend driving from casino to casino, due to (a) all the free drinks offered and (b) the walk to and from casino parking garages often offsets the time you think you’ll save by driving, rather than taking bus, or walking and (c) parking garage fees.
In this case however, driving from the Luxor to Circus Circus is not a bad option, seeing as how far a apart the two resorts are and considering that parking at Circus Circus is free.
The scenic route is to simply go North on the Strip. If you’re leaving from the hotel valet area of the Luxor, you’ll simply go East on Reno Avenue, and take a left at the Strip.
This route is roughly the same as walking, (3 miles) and could take you anywhere from ten minutes, (in a perfect world, where you hit every green light), to an hour if there happens to be an accident on the Strip.
A faster way, is to head north on Strip to the first major street, Tropicana Avenue, and take a left going west. One-half mile ahead will be the ramp to go North (right) on Interstate 15.
Driving almost 3 miles on I-15, you’ll then exit at Exit 40, which is Sahara Avenue. From I-15, it’s just another 1/2 mile drive on Sahara Avenue to the Strip, where you’ll take a right, going south. And yes, it’s causing you to backtrack a little but the time factor makes it worth it.
Now back on the Strip, it’s just about 6/10th of a mile from the intersection of Sahara Avenue and the Strip to Circus Circus, which will be on your right. This 5.3 mile drive should take you only about ten minutes.
Monorail from Luxor to Circus Circus
The last transportation option to get between the two resorts (both owned by MGM Entertainment by the way), would be to take the non-free monorail, called the Las Vegas Monorail.
The nearest station is at the MGM, meaning you’d want to take the free tram to the Excalibur, cross over to the green monster. You’d take the Las Vegas Monorail almost the entire length to the next to last stop, at the Westgate Hotel and Casino, then walk along Elvis Presley Boulevard 1/2 mile to Circus Circus.
While the LV Monorail would take about 10 to 12 minutes from the MGM to the Westgage, that’s not counting the walking to get to these stations. By my calculations, you’d add on nearly a mile of walking. This includes the walk to the MGM Grand station, (and that’s assuming you took the free Luxor tram), and the walk from the Westgate to Circus Circus. So while it is probably overall faster to take the monorail, you’ll do more walking than if you just hopped on the Deuce.