We headed to downtown Vegas first thing as we had lots planned in this area.

Fremont Street Experience

Downtown Vegas has a lot to offer, especially with the Fremont Street Experience. We saw it on arrival, it was naturally much quieter then. But you could see still the beautiful effect of the ceiling even in daylight.

Music was also playing, and I got a good vibe from this area. Yes, there were people wanting pictures. But they seemed confined to circles on the floor which suited us better. We could skirt round them without difficulty then.

Binion’s Million Dollar Display

It’s handy as you can walk in and out of quite a few casinos without having to cross a road. I had to pop into Binion’s for a quick photo with their trademark one million dollars display. How I would love to have that much money…

Mob Museum

We had the Mob Museum booked at 10am. We had paid extra to have two additional experiences at the Mob Museum.  The Crime Lab and Firearm Training Simulator were the ones we choose. Having the boys with us we couldn’t book the distillery tour.

Both experiences were amazing. The Crime Lab was very educational and engaging, they cram so much into the session and the staff member and volunteer were so friendly. You have to guess how a crime was committed by looking at evidence. The boys got to match bullets to casing and do DNA profiling.

I found the Firearm Training Simulator was a little scary. In the UK we are not used to handling a weapon and, in this experience, you actually come face to face with a real person and have to try and talk them down before they go to shoot you!

I thought the second two rooms were tense enough, you had a video screen and had to decide whether to shoot or not. But being in a real life scenario makes you appreciate what the forces deal with every day. I really hadn’t expected to see a real person. So, prepare yourself for that if you book it and make sure you can see where their hands are at all times!

Triple George Grill

Lunch in downtown Vegas was at the Triple George Grill. I had the chicken pot pie it was massive, and I loved every mouthful. I managed with great effort to eat three quarters of it, but I still regret not finishing it. It was such a nice warm wholesome meal that felt very fortifying. The servers were very friendly, and I would recommend eating here. Although don’t bother with the chocolate cake for dessert, it looks lovely but was a bit dry. I think I would have been better finishing my pot pie and skipping dessert!

Pawn Stars Shop

My husband is a big fan of the TV show so we walked here so he could have a look around. The stars are very rarely there, but it was good to see where the show is filmed. It’s not the most exciting of places otherwise, I did make him have a photo with the cardboard cutout for memory’s sake!

I wasn’t that keen on the counter service here either, my youngest considered buying some Pokemon cards but the staff must make a beeline for the big spenders as no-one came to serve him. We gave up with that and left.

Pinkbox Doughnuts

We had heard a lot about Pinkbox Doughnuts, so I was glad to get a chance to pop in one here. I was happy as I managed to get my eldest a vegan doughnut too. He is restricted to three of his lactase enzyme tablets a day, so if he has them at meal times he can’t have any snacks or treats with dairy in-between. So, thank you Pinkbox Doughnuts for catering for more dietary needs and for having such a tempting display unit.

I really struggled to pick which doughnuts to buy.

Big Rig Jig

I had seen this truck statue and loved the look of it online. So, I asked my husband if we could see it. It’s such an unusual statue that creates quite an impact. The great thing by going here we stumbled upon the Container Park, so could get back to that afterwards.

The Container Park

I wanted to come here to see the Mantis, it actually does fire effects at sundown, so I was sad to miss that. It’s flames can reach six stories high! But glad I still saw it up close anyway.

The Container Park is a lovely spot in its own right too, lots of shops and an open lawn event area with live music. We would have stayed longer but we had tickets for The Neon Museum so thought we better head on our way.

The Neon Museum

The final stop on our very long day in downtown Vegas was the Neon Museum. I had booked the tickets for double the glow, so we could see both shows. It is a long session, because they have an interval between shows, so expect to be there a while. Book your show for as soon as it gets dark, otherwise it can get a bit tiring especially after the long day we had.

Our guide for the first section was lovely, she asked questions and if you got it right you won a little duck. My eldest got one and was delighted! We gave her a tip, I am not sure anyone else did (I didn’t notice), but she seemed so bubbly and kind she deserved that acknowledgement. She actually funds the little ducks out of her own money!

The second show is very clever, they have used projectors overlaid on the old vintage signs to bring them back to life! It is accompanied with music too. It is very well done and enjoyable.

I think the Neon Museum is something you have to do once if visiting Las Vegas. But if we had a return trip I wouldn’t book it again, to be honest most of the things we did are a do once kind of thing. It means for a return trip we actually wouldn’t have much left to do as we hit our itinerary hard during our 10 night stay. As you can see from everything we covered on the strip and with Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.

The only thing we didn’t get to on our list for Downtown Vegas was the Natural History Museum.

Is It Safe To Walk?

We walked all-round the area from the Mob Museum and the Fremont Street Experience. Then onto the Pawn Stars shop, to the Big Rig Jig, the Container Park and finally to the Neon Museum from the Container Park. I would say do everything in daylight, but also, I wasn’t keen on the final walk we did. The one between the Container Park to the Neon Museum, I would not recommend despite it being a manageable walking distance. For that section I think it’s best to Uber. It’s lonelier and more rundown getting there as it’s a bit out the way.