The Best Way to Get From Las Vegas to Phoenix: Route, Distance, and Drive Time

The Drive at a Glance

The fastest way between the two cities follows US-93 south out of Las Vegas, connects to I-40 near Kingman, and then picks up US-60 into Phoenix. It’s a well-traveled corridor with gas stations, food, and towns spaced out along the way, so you’re never far from a place to stop.

The Fastest Route, Leg by Leg

Here’s how the drive breaks down, measured without stops or traffic:

• Las Vegas to Boulder City: 44 km / 28 mi, about 30 minutes
• Boulder City to Kingman: 125 km / 78 mi, about 1 hour 15 minutes
• Kingman to Wickenburg: 211 km / 131 mi, about 2 hours 5 minutes
• Wickenburg to Phoenix: 106 km / 66 mi, about 1 hour 5 minutes

Added up, that’s the full 486 km / 302 mi and roughly 5 hours behind the wheel. Each leg is short enough to make a natural stretch break, refuel, or meal stop, which is part of why this route works well even if you’re not in a rush.

Should You Take the Route With Fewer Highways?

There is an alternative that avoids most of the interstate and highway driving, but it runs 714 km / 444 mi and takes about 11 hours 10 minutes — roughly 124% longer than the fastest option. Unless you have a specific reason to follow backroads the whole way, this isn’t a practical alternative for a Las Vegas–to–Phoenix trip; it’s simply too slow compared to the main route.

Where to Stop Along the Way

Because the fastest route passes directly through a few towns, it naturally suggests some stopping points:

• Boulder City is the first town out of Las Vegas and a logical place for an early coffee or gas stop before the longer stretches begin.
• Kingman sits roughly a third of the way in, at the junction with I-40, and is a common point to stretch your legs or grab lunch.
• Wickenburg is the last town before the final push into Phoenix, useful if you want to time your arrival for daylight or avoid driving into the city at night.

None of these require a major detour — they’re right on the route, which makes the drive easy to break into manageable chunks without adding much time.

Flying vs. Driving

For a distance like this, flying is an option, but it comes with its own overhead: airport time, security, baggage, and a rental car once you land, which often erases much of the time you’d save in the air. Driving also means you keep the car for exploring once you’re in the Phoenix area, and you’re not tied to a flight schedule. For most travelers, especially those planning to explore along the way or continue beyond Phoenix, driving the 486 km / 302 mi route is the more flexible choice.

Las Vegas and Phoenix, Compared

The two cities make for a natural road trip pairing, but they offer different experiences. Las Vegas is known for its round-the-clock casinos, headline shows, and a food and nightlife scene that extends well beyond the Strip into dive bars and the Fremont Street area; it’s popular for foodie trips, weekend getaways, and family visits, with most travelers spending 2 to 4 days there. Phoenix, by contrast, is a larger metro area — with a 2025 population of about 1,675,144 compared to Las Vegas’s roughly 678,922 in 2024 — built around outdoor adventure, desert scenery, and cultural attractions, with typical stays running 2 to 5 days.

What to Do Once You Reach Phoenix

Phoenix has a long list of things to see once you arrive. Popular options include the Desert Botanical Garden, the Heard Museum, the Musical Instrument Museum, and the Phoenix Art Museum for those interested in culture and design. Families often head to the Phoenix Zoo or the Arizona Science Center, while outdoor-minded visitors gravitate toward South Mountain Park and Preserve or Papago Park for hiking and desert views. If you’re interested in architecture, Taliesin West is worth building into your schedule.

Extending the Trip

Phoenix also works well as a launching point for a longer road trip. If you’re continuing north, it’s worth checking The Best Time to Drive from Phoenix to Grand Canyon and The Best Route from Phoenix to Grand Canyon before you go, or How Far From Phoenix to the Grand Canyon if you’re still deciding whether to add it. Heading west instead, The Best Time to Drive from Phoenix to San Diego covers that leg of a Southwest loop.

Planning the Logistics

Once you know the route, the harder part is often fitting in stops, meals, and places to stay without the schedule falling apart. This is where a planning tool like Journey Builder, and others like it, can help — Journey Builder in particular builds the Las Vegas-to-Phoenix route automatically, with the distance and drive time for every leg and alternative routes if you want them. It also ranks towns along the way and shows whether each stop is right on your route or how far off it is, so you can decide if a detour to Boulder City, Kingman, or Wickenburg is worth the extra time. Once you’ve picked your stops, its auto-scheduler turns them into a day-by-day plan built around your wake-up and bedtime, drive times, and check-ins, and it won’t schedule a visit somewhere that’s known to be closed at that hour. For a drive this short, that kind of planning can be the difference between a rushed one-day trip and a well-paced couple of days that actually lets you see something along the way.

Ready to Plan Your Trip?

In this series

• Road Trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix: Routes, Stops, and Planning Tips
• How Long Is the Drive From Las Vegas to Phoenix?
• Things to See Between Las Vegas and Phoenix: A Desert Road Trip Guide
• The Best Way to Get From Las Vegas to Phoenix: Route, Distance, and Drive Time
• How to Plan a Road Trip From Las Vegas to Phoenix