Why You Should Skip the Strip and Stay in Downtown Las Vegas Instead

Downtown is old. It's new. It's everything. It's where Las Vegas as we know it began and where the future is taking shape. Yet the neighborhood isn't always easy to put into perspective. While the Strip dominates the tourist market with a clearly defined four-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Downtown is a collection of pockets that add up to a neighborhood that can be hard to navigate.

While Las Vegas is entering a renaissance of sports, resorts, and more, Downtown is stepping into its own spotlight with a something-for-everyone attitude. What should you do and where should you stay in downtown Las Vegas? That depends on who you are, so let us break it down for you.

Fremont Street is where Las Vegas first got its start. The neighborhood is instantly recognizable in music videos by U2, The Weeknd, and U2 again, plus countless movies—including Sean Connery's last big car chase as James Bond. It's where you'll see Vegas Vic, the iconic neon sign of a smoking cowboy, and the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, which is the oldest resort in Vegas, dating back to 1906 (the first telephone in Vegas was installed on site a year later).

The five blocks west of Las Vegas Boulevard are now known as the Fremont Street Experience, a privately owned pedestrian mall that's been closed to auto traffic since 1994. This is where you’ll find tourist attractions like the dual-level Slotzilla zipline and the Viva Vision digital canopy, featuring the largest LED screen in the world (apart from the Sphere, of course).

But Fremont East, the stretch of Fremont Street east of Las Vegas Boulevard, is a little more chill with attractions that cater to both tourists and locals. In addition to the Downtown Container Park, a series of shops and restaurants built out of old shipping containers, the neighborhood is restaurant and bar heavy. Spend your mornings at PublicUs sipping on macadamia lattes, the evenings at Carson Kitchen, the best restaurant in the vicinity, before stopping into Commonwealth and its fantastic speakeasy, the Laundry Room.

You’ll find more old Vegas charm at El Cortez, a historic casino that's popular with locals who understand how gambling works, or Fergusons Downtown, a vintage motel that was renovated into an event space for local shopping, art, and entertainment.

And if knowledge of old Vegas is what you crave, you’ll find it here too. Downtown Las Vegas doesn't have an official museum district, but is home to the Neon Museum, Mob Museum, Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, and Las Vegas Natural History Museum—all within about a mile of each other north of Fremont Street.

The Downtown Arts District is pulsing with energy and excitement in the area west of Las Vegas Boulevard and Charleston. Galleries and thrift shops have been there forever, but the arrival of Esther's Kitchen jump-started the neighborhood as a culinary destination. Chef James Trees recently moved his signature restaurant into a larger, contemporary space to meet demand and will convert the old spot into a globally inspired tasting menu-concept the chef promises will be unlike anything seen in Vegas before.

When it comes to drinks, the Arts District is best known for its beer, prompting some (including the city itself) to nickname the neighborhood Brewery Row. You’ll find at eight breweries and taprooms in the Arts District with more slightly further south in the Gateway District—most notably Able Baker Brewing (named in honor of Nevada's atomic history) and the Silver Stamp (a sign-free, retro-lounge that specializes in unconventional German lagers).

Restaurants like Main St. Provisions, Good Pie, SoulBelly BBQ, and 1228 Main (a commissary of sorts that produces bread for Wolfgang Puck's Vegas operation) round out the top dining options, while bars like Garagiste (wine), Velveteen Rabbit (cocktails), and Bar Ginza (Japanese whiskey) are always buzzing.

The Gateway District essentially connects the Strip to Downtown. Its most notable resident is The Strat, formerly known as the Stratosphere tower, which stretches 1,149 feet into the sky with a circular viewing deck (or "Skypad") that's one of those bucket-list things in Vegas, especially if you choose to have dinner at the Top of World revolving restaurant on the 107th floor. The Strat recently unveiled Atomic Golf, a driving range that faces the Spring Mountains to the west.

The stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard between Sahara Avenue (where the Strip ends) and Fremont Street is known for wedding chapels, bail bonds services, cheap motels, and adult-themed businesses. The arrival of Queen Las Vegas could be the beginning of a new LGBTQ+ district to come.

Midtown could become the unofficial name for the area that bridges the Arts District with Downtown's unofficial "financial district" of offices, City Hall, and the all-important marriage license bureau, as well as Symphony Park, home to the beautiful Smith Center for the performing arts. Weina Zhang, the entrepreneur behind the English Hotel (the only hotel in the Arts District), is expanding her property into Midtown, a mixed-use site with two condo towers, including one affiliated with Marriott, aggressively targeted for 2025.

It's also worth watching development in the Historic Westside, site of the long-gone Moulin Rouge (the first integrated casino in Las Vegas) and now a cultural hub for the Black community. Visit restaurants like Gritz Cafe and Soul Foo Young before heading over to the West Las Vegas Library, which has done a tremendous job of documenting the neighborhood's history and presenting a wide variety of events. The space will double with a new location in 2025.

The Huntridge neighborhood, about a mile west of the Arts District on Charleston is centered around the revival of the Huntridge Theater. Dining options include Yukon Pizza, easily one of the best pizza joints in town, and Winnie & Ethel's, an old-school diner that takes inspiration from the 1940s rather than the ’50s. The area will truly make a comeback if the three-acre Huntridge Circle Park, which dates back to 1957, can be reopened to the public after being fenced off due to crime in the area.

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