Downtown Las Vegas is also known as Fremont Street or Old Las Vegas and located about 3 miles north of the Strip. Last week, I shared a blog on budget tips for traveling to Las Vegas, be sure to check it out for money saving tips. Staying downtown will save you a bundle and still have a fully walkable Las Vegas experience. Everything in Downtown is less expensive! The hotels, food, entertainment and even gambling. This part of Vegas attracts many seniors and visitors with mobility concerns, so there are elevators, crosswalks and easy access everywhere. Check out this Downtown Free Walking Tour for a full itinerary with 30 minutes of walking and 4 hours if you complete the 2 museums and the Mormon Fort.
The Fremont Street experience is the main attraction in Old Las Vegas and is surrounded by 7 of the original casino resorts. It’s a pedestrian mall and the attraction that occupies the 5 westernmost blocks of Fremont Street in the area known as ‘Glitter Gulch.” Viva Vision is the largest LED canopy screen in the world with 16.4 million pixels over 1,375 feet, suspended over the pedestrian walkway. You will even see people zip-lining down the canopy, which I’m sure is the best view of Fremont Street. During the day it is not as crowded or sinister, but it was pretty crazy by the time we went at 8:00 pm to see the light show that was set to Kate Perry songs. After 4 songs played to the choreographed lights, the street regained its crazy street performers and 4 stages of free live music. If you happen to be in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve, this is the party spot to be at midnight!
Best Hotel Choices in Downtown Las Vegas
Circa Las Vegas is a 1.2 million square foot, 35-story adults only hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and they will ID you at the door! The sportsbook was quite impressive in this casino, I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s also home to an inviting lobby cocktail lounge, tons of restaurants like Barry’s Downtown Prime and Project BBQ food truck, a 2-story casino and a rooftop lounge. The pool area is called Stadium Swim, a multi-level aqua amphitheater with 6 heated pools, 2 swim-up bars and hot tubs, surrounded by lounge chairs and daybeds. They also offer a 14-million pixel screen with the sports highlights running. During winter, the pool is turned into a winter wonderland called Ski Lodge with the city’s largest hot tub, the perfect place for après-ski. If you want to ski, Lee Canyon Ski Resort offers day-lodge facilities to ski their 26 trails with 3 chair lifts.
At the helm of the Fremont madness is the Plaza Hotel and Casino, known for Oscars Steakhouse, but also offers great casual dining at Hash House, Popup pizza and a Fresh Mexican Grill. Pinkbox Donuts is in the lobby of The Plaza Hotel and the perfect spot to grab a coffee and a box of fancy donuts to start the day. The Plaza offers free valet parking (as most of the hotels do to draw people away from the strip), a gym and pickleball courts and 5th floor rooftop pool with a bar and food truck. The Plaza is known for the best Bingo Hall in Vegas and has both manual and computerized options to play. Next to the Bingo Hall is the Plaza Royale Wedding Chapel for intimate weddings of 50 or less. Entertainment at the Plaza includes Miss Behave’s Mavericks variety show and the Sand Dollar Downtown, a location with cocktails, pizza and pool tables. Or try the outside Carousel bar, Omaha bar and sportsbook also in the Plaza Hotel.
Four Queens Hotel & Casino has been my Mother-in-laws favorite spot in her gambling and bowling days with her BFF Pat. They would always stay at the 4 Queens because it was a budget hotel (without a resort fee) right in the middle of all the Fremont Street action! It is still a good spot to stay, with their south tower having been redone with premium and accessible rooms. The north tower is currently under renovation and will have upgrades and a fresh look soon. Rooms at the 4 Queens can look over Fremont Street and there are a few suites available too. This property does not have a pool, but their sister property Binions across the street allows use to guests of both hotels. Sign up for the all access players club and use it gaming at both casinos to wrack up points toward gaming tournaments, room offers, free slot play or to purchase food or merchandise at either casinos players club. Binion’s is known for it’s million dollar display, where anyone 21+ can take a photo with a million dollars!
Golden Nugget Hotel is the only Downtown Vegas place I’d consider staying on a trip with kids, honestly I’d skip Downtown Las Vegas completely if you can. This is the seediest part of Las Vegas and not worth the extra 3 miles. If your itinerary must include it (like ours did for a work conference) there is really only 1 hotel I recommend with kids up there and that is the Golden Nugget. They have an amazing pool with a shark tank that has a waterslide right through it! “The Tank” swimming experience can also be purchased as a day pass and was supposed to be our plan for our last day in Vegas, but the temp dropped 50 degrees overnight and a wind advisory was issued and our day in the pool surrounded by sharks never happened.
Casinos & Bingo Halls
The best place to gamble less expensively is on Fremont Street, specifically at the Downtown Grand, Golden Nugget, Binions and the beautiful new Circa, the only adults only resort! Full list of casinos in Downtown Las Vegas include:
- Plaza Hotel and Casino
- Circa Las Vegas
- Golden Gate Hotel and Casino
- Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino
- Four Queens Hotel & Casino
- The D Las Vegas
- Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel
- Fremont Hotel & Casino
- Downtown Grand Las Vegas
- California Hotel & Casino
- Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel
- El Cortez Hotel & Casino
Every type of gambling and games are available in Las Vegas and Downtown Vegas is where you are going to head to save money or learn and practice a new game. Especially during the day, you can find lots of $5 table games, $2 tables at Binions and even a $1 table at Downtown Grand! Play Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Baccarat and different types of Poker games such as Texas Hold ‘Em or 3-card poker. A tip for gamblers new to a game, ask the dealer’s for their advice or rules. The dealers work for the casino, but they want you to win because it is customary to tip a percentage of the win. There are also gaming classes to give you the cliffsnotes of games like blackjack, craps, poker or roulette. Currently Circus Circus offers blackjack classes at 10:30 am, roulette at 11:30 am and craps at 12:30 pm daily. Golden Nugget has poker and craps lessons at 10:00 am, Pai Gow at 10:30 am, roulette at 11:30 am and blackjack at noon daily.
If table games are not your style, there are miles of slots with every type of theme, character or movie you can possibly think of… trust me, they want you to lose track of time! Bingo halls and Sports betting is also popular in Las Vegas to cater toward every type of gambler. Gambling can be a lot of fun, but remember the phrase, “the house always wins!” Casinos are not designed to give away money, so think of it as any other attraction or experience. Budget the amount of money you can afford to play a day or on the trip total and when that money is gone, enjoy the other parts of Vegas. Las Vegas is not known for the good decisions of its visitors and for this very reason hotel room windows do not open… to prevent people from taking their lives rather than returning from a Vegas vacation.
Things to Do in Downtown
SlotZilla zipline is a flying experience either in sitting or superman positions that let you soar over 11-stories over Fremont Street Experience. Get a bird’s-eye view of the action and unlimited flights for 1 price before 5 pm or from midnight to 3 am get a discount.
Tree House & Play Zone at the Container Park located a few blocks from Fremont Street on the corner with 7th. A 35-foot tall praying mantis sculpture shoots flames from its antennae to welcome visitors from the entrance. The Lawn at tContainer PArk hosts lots of fun activities from yoga to entertainment on the stage. Come play with the lego blocks, graffiti wall, checkers board and more. The boutique restaurants and shops are built in shipping containers, but there is also an interactive play area with towers, slides and games. However, this park only allows kids until 9:00 pm, after which it is a 21+ bar hopping haven.
The Discovery Children Museum is now in Downtown and a great spot for kids 0-12 years old to explore and run around. This nonprofit museum is 58,000-square feet with 3-stories of space located adjacent to the Smith Center. The Discovery Lab, The Summit, Fantasy Festival, Eco City, Patents Pending, Toddler Town, Water World, Energy and Young at Art are all different areas where children can explore and create. This is a great place to bring children for birthday parties, field trips and summer camp experiences as well and a great way to share educational ideas with homeschool students too.
Las Vegas Natural History Museum features 9 galleries of interest including the International wildlife gallery, Treasures of Egypt, Prehistoric, Marine Life, Dinosaur mummy, African Savanna, Wild Nevada, Prehistoric mammals, Geology gallery and young scientist center. The galleries are divided among 4 colored zones that need at least 3-4 hours to explore, but can easily spend the entire day at the museum, which is only open from 9:00-4:00 pm. For teachers in the Las Vegas area field trips, teaching trunks and educational videos can help any lesson come to life.
The Neon Museum features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors, open late from 2:00-10:00 pm. Two different guided tours are available, History brought to Light and Viva Las Vegas! Movies both for 45 minutes and a tour in Spanish are available as well. Founded in 1996, this learning institution includes an outdoor exhibit called the Neon Boneyard, the North Gallery with 250 rescued and unrestored signs and a visitors center located inside the former La Concha Motel lobby.
The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement is most often referred to as the Mob Museum. Real stories and actual events of Mob history through interactive exhibits and artifacts are located in a restored 1933 courthouse and post office just off Fremont Street. There are three levels of tickets, general admission and a deluxe or premier pass including interactive experiences of your choice (crime lab, distillery tour and tasting or firearm training simulator). The exhibits are on four floors of the building teaching visitors about the history of prohibition, mad men, bringing down the mob, historic court hearings, organized crime and its history in Las Vegas. The mob had a large hand in making Vegas what it is today, why not learn more about that dark past, hidden behind very bright lights! !
The World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop made famous by the TV show Pawn Stars is located in Old Vegas. Autographs, collectibles, gold & silver, military items, historic finds, movies & TV, music and other memorabilia bring travelers out of the Vegas sun and into the shop many know from TV. The stars of the family show known as ‘The Old Man,’ Rick, Corey and Chumlee show the modern running of a Pawn Shop, but it started as a coin store by the patriarch of the family and later developed into a pawn shop after Sin City reached a population of 250,000. But don’t expect to see the guys working there every day, be sure to check out the schedule online for tours and visit dates.
The shows in Downtown are like off Broadway shows in New York or up-and-coming niche shows that are less expensive tickets. Both the Black Magic Live and Black Girl Magic review shows are located in Downtown Vegas. The Chippendales, the most famous male review show, has its theater at the Rio located North of the Strip with easy access to Downtown and a photo booth on Fremont Street. Some other popular shows playing in Downtown Las Vegas include:
- Gordie Brown, Lasting Impressions
- Hypnosis Unleashed
- Mac King Comedy
- Best Friends Forever
- Chase Brown’s Vegas Country
- House of Magic
- Elvis: Spirit of the King
- Tina Turner Tribute
- Delirios Comedy Club
- Downtown Comedy Lounge
Food and Drinks in Downtown
Steakhouses like Barry’s Prime in the Circa hotel, Hugo’s Cellar at the 4 Queens and Oscar’s steakhouse at the Plaza Hotel are a great dinner at a fraction of the price! It’s worth the $25 cab ride to have such a great meal and experience gambling in casinos with much lower hand minimums and drinks flowing for free. Named after a former mob attorney and mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar’s Steakhouse is located in a glass dome inside the Plaza Hotel. It’s classic ambience, a delicious menu of steak and seafood and memorabilia displays welcome you back into the past. Hugo’s Cellar is perfect for a date-night dinner because every lady is greeted with a rose, the steaks are delicious, the wine list extensive and you end the night with a complimentary chocolate-dipped treat. The new steakhouse on the block is Barry’s Downtown Prime at Circa Resort. Offering elevated steaks and seafood with table-side preparations with 5 star service. These classics can’t be beat on the Strip or on the wallet. Top of Binion’s Steakhouse has a vintage vibe and gorgeous views from the 24th floor with the typical steak and seafood offerings.
Outside of the typical steakhouses, there are lots of casual restaurants in Downtown Las Vegas. Magnolia’s Veranda at 4 Queens is a diner-like spot with typical American breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Tony Roma’s is located at the Fremont Hotel and Casino and has built a reputation on great ribs and seafood dishes at fair prices. The Garden Court inside Main Street Station, the only buffet in Downtown, serves Brunch from 8-2 pm and Dinner from 4-9 pm with Victorian decor. Beer aficionados are drawn to Triple 7 Restaurant & Microbrewery with 6 beer varieties on tap and their take on gourmet comfort foods. For some other cuisines like Tex-Mex inspired meals try Cadillac Mexican Grill and Whiskey Licker Up, go to Circa for Asian at 8 East or try Project BBQ, their permanent food truck. One block off Fremont Street check out Pizza Rock for the best pizza and brewery at great prices. It’s pizza from every different area, New York, Detroit, Chicago and much more! If you are looking for very casual options Pinkbox Donuts and American Coney Island for hot dogs are the perfect spot.
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