Free Shuttles

There is a free tram that runs between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay, but with a twist. The same company owns these two resorts plus the Luxor that's in-between them. In order to get visitors down to Mandalay Bay, which is at the end of the Strip as far as most tourists are concerned, the tram does not stop at Luxor when going from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay (the south-bound run). It only stops at Luxor on the north-bound run, and as mentioned in the Buffets section of the To Do page, you may want to walk "Mandalay Place" back to the Luxor rather than taking the tram. This tram operates 24/7.

The Excalibur intentionally doesn't make it easy for your to find your way out of their casino when you arrive from Mandalay Bay or Luxor. When you enter the Excalibur just follow the path straight ahead and turn right at the table games up to the "Show Tickets" booth and go around it to get to the exit ramp-way.

If you want to get over to the off-Strip Rio, they have a free shuttle bus that stops in the back of Harrah's. Go to the back of the casino and exit near the hotel's registration desk and look for the "Bus Departures" area off to your left. Hours of operation are 10 am to 1 am with a frequency of every 20 to 30 minutes (depending on traffic). Note that when you are ready to leave the Rio to head back to the Strip, you will often have to wait for the second or third bus to come along as they can only fit about 20 people on a bus and they don't allow standing. As an alternative, walking to the Strip is a bit of a hike taking about 20 to 30 minutes.

An hourly shuttle bus leaves the Hard Rock at the top of each hour from 10 am to 7 pm covering the Strip from the Fashion Show Mall to the Polo Towers (just north of the MGM Grand). They don't make a lot of stops but you can flag them down between stops if you see one of these distinctive purple mini-buses. They have the most comfortable seats of any shuttle bus I've ever been on, covered with a fake leopard fur and, what else, rock and roll playing over the speaker. They stop near the Forum Shops at 10 minutes past the hour, and the Fashion Show Mall at quarter past the hour.

There's a free shuttle to Sam's Town (Boulder Highway area) till 10 pm. You can catch it in Harrah's "Bus Departures" area.

Once at Sam's Town, you can catch a shuttle to the California (Fremont Street area). This shuttle runs every 1:15 from 9 am to 10:45 pm. Return trips back to Sam's Town run every 1:15 from 8:30 am to 11:30 pm.

Note: The California, Fremont, Main Street Station, and Sam's Town are all owned by Boyd Gaming. The shuttle information on their Website says that a "Room key may be required" but does not give specifics as to if this is a room key to any Boyd property, if it's only required at certain times, etc. While I haven't encountered this, be sure to hold onto enough cash to take a CAT bus or taxi back to your hotel just in case they start asking for room keys when you try to catch a return shuttle.