Las Vegas Trip Overview
Explore Las Vegas as an outdoor museum of American popular culture on a spirited 2-hour walking tour through the historic Casino District – ending in a neighborhood of famous murals, cozy restaurants & cool bars. With a maximum of six guests, the tour is a private-like experience led by a knowledgeable guide, formerly the City’s Cultural Planner who also once ran the Neon Museum. See where the town began as a railroad stop in the desert, hear about the Mob’s legacy, walk through a few historic Glitter Gulch casinos, be awed by spectacular signs, bump into zany street buskers, salute the iconic neon cowboy Vegas Vic, check out the new Circa Resort that’s changing Downtown, and be dazzled by the soaring digital canopy stretching 4 blocks in the sky. The tour ends in Fremont East, a developing arts district featuring the Container Park and Praying Mantis fire sculpture – and concludes with a complimentary cocktail/beverage at the historic El Cortez Hotel of Bugsy Siegel fame.
Additional Info
Duration: 2 hours
Starts: Las Vegas, United States
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Las Vegas Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Explore Las Vegas as an outdoor museum of American popular culture on a spirited 2-hour walking tour through the historic Casino District – ending in a neighborhood of famous murals, cozy restaurants & cool bars. With a maximum of six guests, the tour is a private-like experience led by a knowledgeable guide, formerly the City’s Cultural Planner who also once ran the Neon Museum. See where the town began as a railroad stop in the desert, hear about the Mob’s legacy, walk through a few historic Glitter Gulch casinos, be awed by spectacular signs, bump into zany street buskers, salute the iconic neon cowboy Vegas Vic, check out the new Circa Resort that’s changing Downtown, and be dazzled by the soaring digital canopy stretching 4 blocks in the sky. The tour ends in Fremont East, a developing arts district featuring the Container Park and Praying Mantis fire sculpture – and concludes with a complimentary cocktail/beverage at the historic El Cortez Hotel of Bugsy Siegel fame.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: The Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101-2956
We meet in front of the Mob Museum where the guide gives an insider view of how the museum started and the role of the Mob in Vegas history. Your guide worked on the museum project as a cultural planner for the city of Las Vegas. The Museum is a separate admission, and it’s recommended before or after the tour.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Casino at The Downtown Grand, 206 N 3rd St, Las Vegas, NV 89101-2931
The Downtown Grand is an upscale Boutique Hotel setting with a cool local neighborhood vibe, a sharp contrast to Strip hotels, with some insights into casino design provied by the guide.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Fremont Street Experience, 425 Fremont Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5620
Fremont, a pedestrian plaza in the heart of Downtown, one of the greatest performance streets in America, with zip line tourists, zany buskers, music on 3 stages, a canopy with the longest video screen, fabulous neon, historic casinos and visitors getting in on the action. A spectacular and dazzling moment in the historic cultural heart of Las Vegas.
Duration: 35 minutes
Stop At: Binion’s Gambling Hall, 128 Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5604
A legendary hotel casino that changed the nature of Vegas gambling and hospitality Downtown, we step through a side door to get an old school Western saloon vibe with some keen insights about why this place is so famous.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Casino at the Plaza Hotel, 1 S Main St at the Plaza Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV 89101-6370
The historic site where the town was founded in 1905, once the town rail road station, now the Union Plaza Hotel, quinessential 1970s architecture – it’s been in lots of movies – and hosts a famed restaurant, Oscar’s, honoring the most famous Las Vegas Mayor of all time, a personal friend of your tour guide.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: SlotZilla Zipline, 425 E Fremont St #160, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
Zip line launch from a giant 8 story Slot Machine, a “superman” ride, 4 blocks all the way to Main Street, 90 feet in the air through the Neon Jungle.
Stop At: Neonopolis, 450 E Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
We’ll stroll the plaza, a transition block between the Casino District and the newer Fremont East District, it is a complex of shops, restaurants, bars: Toy Shack of Pawn Stars fame, a piano bar, a home grown brewery, a cozy wedding chapel, a famed collection of neon signs in the courtyard, and the infamous Heart Attack Grill home to the 9000 calorie hamburger.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Casino at the El Cortez Hotel, 600 Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5614
A 1940s historic and legendary casino on America’s National Register of Historic Properties, once owned by famed Mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel, with the city’s last coin operated slot machines. We end the tour with a complimentary cocktail in the hotel’s Parlour Bar, a unique place that conveys old school Las Vegas charm.
Duration: 5 minutes
Stop At: Downtown Container Park, 707 Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5615
A fun and quirky shopping complex made of shipping containers, built around a 2 story kid’s tree house, and featuring the famed Praying Mantis fire sculpture from Burning Man, complete with shops, restaurants, bars, a stage for programming. A signature project in a development district that sets the tone, style, commerical & cultural character for the neighborhood. A starting point for a self guided walking tour of fantastic murals that populate the area.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Circa Resort & Casino, 8 Fremont Street Experience, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
We’ll check out our newest casino hotel and make a visit to the famed neon sign, Vegas Vickie. It is the tallest structure on Fremont, we’ll see how and why why the place is reinventing hospitality, gaming and the lore of pop culture Downtown.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Vegas Vic, Fremont Street, Las Vegas, NV
We’ll pay our respects to the two most famous neon signs in Las Vegas, the venerated cowboy Vegas Vic and his glamorous girl friend Vegas Vickie, together known as the neon royal couple of Downtown. Vic, the enduring mascot of Fremont Street, is the oldest neon sign in operation Downtown, having just celebrated his 70th year anniversary.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Casino at the Golden Gate Hotel, 1 Fremont St, Las Vegas, NV 89101-5601
The Golden Gate Hotel, once the Hotel Nevada (1906), is an historical landmark: the oldest building in Las Vegas and the oldest Las Vegas hotel with a small charming interior in a Prohibiton Era theme. The cozy bar was a hangout for the famed Rat Pack. It’s rocking mechanical neon sign is a sight to behold.
Duration: 5 minutes
