Downtown Las Vegas

Fremont Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street is where you’ll find the original Las Vegas, which is always referred to as Downtown Las Vegas. This densely-packed area is one casino after another for five blocks, with hotels above many of them featuring varying degrees of quality.

It would be criminal to visit Las Vegas and not make at least one quick stop in this historic district. Sure, it’s seen better days, but it packs a lot of fascinating sights and sounds into one small and easily walkable area.

Parking

There is a huge free lot between Las Vegas Blvd. and Fourth Street just behind Fremont Street. Follow the signs when you get close. But you can also park for free at many of the casinos and hotels, including free valet parking for the price of a tip. Binion’s Horseshoe has an easy to reach valet entrance in the back on Ogden Avenue, which is one block north of Fremont.

Fremont Street Experience

In 1994 the Downtown section of Fremont Street was permanently closed to car traffic and construction on a massive light and sound show begun. At the end of 1995, the Fremont Street Experience debuted as a new attraction for visitors to the lagging Downtown area. Every evening beginning at dusk, a massive show begins overhead every hour on the hour.

After a major 2004 renovation, the system is now called Viva Vision and features over 12.5 million synchronized LED lights that create animation and other effects backed by a 550,000-watt sound system. The light show is on the entire overhead canopy, which covers more area than 5 football fields.

A different show goes every hour, each with a different theme: Area 51, American Free, Above & Beyond, Lucky Vegas, Fahrenheit, Aria, Odyssey, Shag, and The Drop. If you’ve seen the previous version, the new update promises to be far more impressive.

What else to see

Small slot casinos

These odd places with loud bells and the constant sound of coins hitting trays are quite an interesting sight compared to the relative calm of the Las Vegas Strip. A few of them offer super cheap food items at small fast food restaurants in the back in order to lure potential gamblers in the front door.

Vegas Vic

This 40-foot-tall neon cowboy still stands over what used to be the Pioneer Club and is worth a photo or two.

Neon Museum

At the corner of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip end of Downtown) you’ll find this small museum that houses many restored and historic neon signs from Las Vegas’s early days. The 80-foot-tall Sahara sign was recently donated to the museum. More information on the Neon Museum website.

Where to stay

The largest and nicest hotel in the Downtown area is the Gold Nugget, with nearly 2,000 rooms and suites. Partly because of its Downtown location, it can actually be quite inexpensive much of the year, which makes it a great bargain compared to similarly nice places on the Strip that charge double or more.

There are several other hotels that are decent and can be good value if you like this part of town including: Binion’s Horseshoe, the Plaza, the Fremont, Main Street Station, Fitzgerald’s, and the California Hotel.

Bars in the area

The seediness and low rents in the area have recently attracted quite a few trendy bars and restaurants, most of them on the streets just off Fremont itself. These include Beauty Bar, Brass, Downtown Cocktail Room, Griffin, Sidebar, Triple George, but there are several others. This area can feel weird at times, but it’s really not dangerous. If you get tired of the overly sanitized and artificial Strip hotels, spending an evening Downtown can be a nice return to earth.

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