Las Vegas has always been one of those places I’ve been curious about without ever being completely convinced it was for me. I’ve travelled extensively around the United States and loved everything from the great cities to the freedom of an American road trip, but casinos and the artificial glitz of the Strip have never particularly appealed.
Then again, Las Vegas has a habit of cropping up whenever I start thinking about another journey through the American West. Route 66 isn’t far away, the landscapes of Nevada and Arizona are on the doorstep and there is something undeniably fascinating about a city that has created such an enormous reputation in the middle of the desert.
Perhaps I’ve also watched Elvis in Viva Las Vegas one too many times.
One person who certainly doesn’t share my reservations is travel professional Gill Matthews, who loves Las Vegas and has returned several times. What interested me about Gill’s story was that some of her favourite experiences weren’t actually on the famous Strip at all.
Her Vegas adventures included getting married in a helicopter above the city, visiting the Grand Canyon and eventually discovering a very different side of Las Vegas around Downtown and Fremont Street.
A Wedding Above Las Vegas
Gill’s first Las Vegas holiday lasted five nights, which she initially thought would be plenty of time to see everything on her carefully prepared list. She soon discovered that Vegas had rather more planned for her than she had anticipated.
Staying at New York-New York, she packed an extraordinary amount into those few days, including exploring the enormous resort hotels, shopping, visiting the Grand Canyon and getting married while flying above Las Vegas in a helicopter.
It is difficult to think of a wedding experience that could be much more Vegas than that.
Downtown Las Vegas wasn’t originally high on Gill’s list and her first visit there was largely practical, as she needed to collect her marriage licence. Once she arrived, however, she realised that the older part of Las Vegas was a destination in its own right.
She enjoyed it so much that when she returned the following year, she chose to stay Downtown rather than on the Strip.
Discovering Downtown Las Vegas
Mention Las Vegas and most of us immediately picture the enormous casino resorts lining Las Vegas Boulevard. Downtown feels rather different.
This is where the city’s early gambling and entertainment history developed, long before the modern mega-resorts transformed the Strip. Fremont Street became synonymous with extravagant neon signs and classic casinos, and although Downtown has changed enormously over the decades, much of that old Vegas character remains.
Today, the Fremont Street Experience forms the heart of the area, with a huge LED canopy stretching above the pedestrianised street. The Viva Vision light and sound shows take place overhead while live entertainment, street performers, casinos and bars create an atmosphere that is unmistakably Las Vegas. The canopy has been substantially upgraded since Gill’s original visit and the light shows remain free to watch.
Gill found Downtown less polished than the Strip, but that was precisely why she liked it. There was history amongst the neon and a sense that this part of the city hadn’t completely reinvented itself as an enormous luxury resort.
🎰 Vegas Tip: Even if you’re staying on the Strip, allow at least one evening for Downtown Las Vegas. Fremont Street after dark provides a very different experience from Las Vegas Boulevard.
Old Vegas and Fremont Street
Part of the enjoyment of Downtown is discovering reminders of Las Vegas history amongst the modern attractions.
The Golden Nugget is home to the Hand of Faith, a huge gold nugget discovered in Australia, while its swimming pool is famous for incorporating an aquarium containing sharks. Elsewhere, classic neon signs provide reminders of an earlier era of Las Vegas.
Fremont Street itself is entertainment enough. You can watch the Viva Vision displays overhead, listen to live music or simply find somewhere to sit and enjoy the people-watching, which in Las Vegas can be every bit as entertaining as a ticketed show.
For something more energetic, the SlotZilla zip line sends riders above the crowds beneath the enormous canopy, while the surrounding Downtown streets contain museums, bars, restaurants, murals and restored neon.
Gill’s advice was to venture beyond Fremont Street itself, and I think that remains good advice. Downtown is more interesting when you explore the surrounding neighbourhood rather than simply walking beneath the canopy and heading straight back to the Strip.
The Mob, Neon and Las Vegas History
If you want to understand how Las Vegas became Las Vegas, Downtown contains some of the city’s most interesting attractions.
The Mob Museum explores organised crime and law enforcement in America, including the mob’s relationship with Las Vegas. Appropriately enough for the subject matter, there is even a basement speakeasy.
The Neon Museum provides another perspective on the city’s history by preserving many of the signs that once illuminated hotels, casinos and businesses across Las Vegas. For anyone interested in photography, design or simply the extraordinary visual history of the city, this is somewhere I would particularly want to visit.
These attractions help tell a story that can easily be missed if your entire experience of Las Vegas revolves around modern casino resorts.
The Las Vegas Strip
Of course, you can’t really talk about Las Vegas without talking about the Strip.
Even for somebody like me who has little interest in gambling, I can understand the attraction of seeing it. The sheer scale of the hotels and entertainment complexes is part of the experience, with each attempting to create its own version of excess.
You can wander through Venice at The Venetian, see the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas, visit the gardens inside Bellagio or simply walk along Las Vegas Boulevard trying to take everything in.
One attraction that has stood the test of time is the Fountains of Bellagio, where more than a thousand fountains perform choreographed displays accompanied by music. The shows remain free and take place throughout the afternoon and evening, making them one of the easiest Las Vegas spectacles to experience without spending anything.
The Strip has also continued to evolve since Gill’s original article. Perhaps the most obvious modern addition is Sphere, the enormous entertainment venue near The Venetian whose exterior has become an attraction in its own right. Inside, concerts and immersive productions use the vast wraparound display to create an experience that simply didn’t exist when the original version of this article was written.
Entertainment Tip: Las Vegas shows, residencies and attractions change constantly, so I wouldn’t build a trip around recommendations from an old travel article. Check what’s actually playing shortly before you travel.
Eating and Drinking in Las Vegas
Gill particularly enjoyed the choice of places to eat Downtown, from casual pizza and street food to traditional steakhouses.
That’s another area where I would avoid giving too many specific prices or claiming one restaurant is definitively “the best”. Las Vegas restaurants change frequently and prices have moved considerably since Gill’s original visit.
Instead, part of the fun is choosing according to the kind of Vegas experience you want. Downtown still offers everything from quick slices of pizza to classic steakhouses and cocktail bars, while the Strip has developed into a major dining destination with restaurants from internationally known chefs alongside enormous casual dining venues.
For Gill, food and drink were part of exploring the city rather than simply something fitted around gambling, which is another reason Las Vegas surprised her.
Beyond the Casinos
One of the things that has gradually made me more interested in Las Vegas is discovering how much there is to do without placing a single bet.
There are museums, live shows, concerts, enormous entertainment venues, observation wheels, rooftop bars, shopping and some extraordinary people-watching. The Bellagio fountains cost nothing, as do many of the sights around Fremont Street, while simply wandering through some of the themed resorts can occupy hours. Las Vegas tourism authorities continue to promote a surprisingly long list of free attractions around both the Strip and Downtown.
Then there is everything beyond the city.
The Hoover Dam can easily be incorporated into a wider road trip, while the landscapes of Nevada and neighbouring Arizona provide a dramatic contrast to the neon of Las Vegas. This is perhaps the version of Vegas that appeals to me most: a couple of days experiencing the madness of the city before collecting a car and disappearing into the American West.
Road Trip Tip: If you’re already travelling through Nevada, Arizona or along Route 66, Las Vegas can work brilliantly as part of a wider itinerary rather than necessarily being the entire holiday.
Is Las Vegas Worth Visiting If You Don’t Gamble?
I think this is the question I’ve always asked myself about Las Vegas, and Gill’s experience probably provides the answer.
You don’t need to be interested in casinos to find the city fascinating.
Las Vegas is entertainment on an enormous scale, but it is also a city with history, unusual museums, extraordinary architecture, restaurants, live music and one of the most distinctive night-time cityscapes anywhere in the world.
Downtown adds another dimension entirely. Fremont Street and the surrounding streets provide glimpses of an older Vegas alongside the modern light shows and entertainment, while the Strip delivers the unapologetic spectacle most people have travelled to see.
Would I fly across the Atlantic solely to spend a week in Las Vegas? I’m still not convinced.
Would I include it for a few nights on a road trip through the American West?
Absolutely.
And knowing me, I suspect I’d arrive insisting I wasn’t interested in Vegas and leave wondering why I’d waited so long.
About This Las Vegas Experience
This article incorporates the experiences of travel professional Gill Matthews, whose love of Las Vegas led her to return several times after her first visit and even get married in a helicopter above the city.
Her original contribution to Just One For The Road has been updated to remove outdated prices, shows and promotional information while retaining her enthusiasm for Downtown Las Vegas and the experiences that made her visits memorable.
