Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 506,423	$ 234,466	$ 281,713	$ 405,855
Investment securities available for sale	237,767	172,534
Accounts receivable - trade, net	15,753	12,159
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	108,257	93,496
Deferred income taxes	28,264	50,479
Income tax receivable, net	12,769	0
Restricted assets	2,555	1,785
Other current assets	28,532	23,392
Total current assets	940,320	588,311
Property, plant and equipment, net	80,332	79,258
Real estate held for sale, net	10,669	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	27,239	20,788
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	17,842	8,595
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	133,629	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	11,581	11,981
Deferred income taxes	64,712	51,474
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	269,247	271,111
Prepaid pension costs	27,663	26,080
Other assets	59,428	53,553
Total assets	1,642,662	1,260,264
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	141,808	151,577
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	7,768	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	10,180	10,260
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	20,040	18,655
Income taxes payable, net	3,156	6,423
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	16,809	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	66,545	84,658
Deferred income taxes	51,433	45,734
Accrued interest	29,926	21,968
Other current liabilities	31,708	34,147
Total current liabilities	380,312	405,110
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	853,669	540,766
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	183,786	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	48,564	47,917
Deferred income taxes	153,481	137,650
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	53,963	57,496
Total liabilities	1,673,775	1,281,873
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(107,520)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	76,407	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	(31,113)	(21,609)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,642,662	1,260,264
Parent/Issuer [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	398,119	151,342	273,219	401,344
Investment securities available for sale	178,626	114,886
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	516	509
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	23,164	45,578
Income tax receivable, net	21,428	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	724	513
Total current assets	622,577	312,828
Property, plant and equipment, net	3,148	3,641
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	26,541	20,041
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	17,842	8,595
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	447,514	410,442
Restricted assets	1,596	1,895
Deferred income taxes	52,448	35,000
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	47,780	38,374
Total assets	1,219,446	830,816
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	108,566	112,275
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	7,768	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	932	1,509
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	0	16,870
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	37,862	32,309
Accrued interest	29,926	21,968
Other current liabilities	3,671	6,103
Total current liabilities	188,725	210,162
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	842,458	524,182
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	183,786	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	32,195	31,462
Deferred income taxes	78,506	65,759
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	1,296	1,353
Total liabilities	1,326,966	925,852
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(107,520)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(107,520)	(95,036)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,219,446	830,816
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	15,086	11,812	7,779	3,776
Investment securities available for sale	59,141	57,648
Accounts receivable - trade, net	12,282	10,154
Intercompany receivables	20	0
Inventories	108,257	93,496
Deferred income taxes	5,100	4,901
Income tax receivable, net	0	10,447
Restricted assets	1,141	1,060
Other current assets	7,988	12,579
Total current assets	209,015	202,097
Property, plant and equipment, net	56,644	55,093
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	9,985	10,086
Deferred income taxes	8,488	12,766
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	107,511	107,511
Prepaid pension costs	27,663	26,080
Other assets	10,494	10,126
Total assets	429,800	423,759
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	33,029	39,013
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	4,721	4,136
Intercompany payables	0	39
Accrued promotional expenses	20,040	18,655
Income taxes payable, net	11,815	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	16,809	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	66,545	84,658
Deferred income taxes	13,571	13,425
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	8,699	10,495
Total current liabilities	176,168	182,981
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	10,882	12,573
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	16,369	16,455
Deferred income taxes	39,112	37,602
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	50,597	54,924
Total liabilities	293,128	304,535
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	136,672	119,224
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	136,672	119,224
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	429,800	423,759
Subsidiary Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	93,218	71,312	715	735
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	3,471	2,005
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income tax receivable, net	0	0
Restricted assets	1,414	725
Other current assets	19,820	10,300
Total current assets	117,923	84,342
Property, plant and equipment, net	20,540	20,524
Real estate held for sale, net	10,669	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	698	747
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	133,629	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	3,776	3,708
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	161,736	163,600
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	1,154	5,053
Total assets	450,125	427,087
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	213	289
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	4,527	4,615
Intercompany payables	536	470
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	0	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	19,338	17,549
Total current liabilities	24,614	22,923
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	329	4,011
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	35,863	34,289
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	2,070	1,219
Total liabilities	62,876	62,442
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	310,842	291,218
Non-controlling interest	76,407	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	387,249	364,645
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	450,125	427,087
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	(536)	(509)
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income tax receivable, net	(8,659)	(10,447)
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(9,195)	(10,956)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	(447,514)	(410,442)
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(456,709)	(421,398)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany payables	(536)	(509)
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	(8,659)	(10,447)
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(9,195)	(10,956)
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	0	0
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Total liabilities	(9,195)	(10,956)
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(447,514)	(410,442)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(447,514)	(410,442)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	$ (456,709)	$ (421,398)