Monorail
The Saturday has already put us in a very positive mood and revised our first impression of Las Vegas. On Sunday we now plunge into the old Las Vegas and explore downtown.
You may remember that one good thing came out of the King drama : day passes for the Las Vegas Monorail. The latter is a magnet train that snakes along the back of the hotels in the eastern part of the Strip. In itself a good thing. However, finding the entrances to the monorail turns out to be much more complicated than expected. Since the train runs behind the hotels, you have to navigate completely through the mazes inside the hotel complexes to finally find the stations at the end of deserted corridors and empty shopping areas. Sometimes you also have to walk across a parking deck or conquer a rather provisional-looking metal bridge. All in all, the monorail, although in operation since 1995, seems somewhat loveless and little integrated into the hustle and bustle of the Strip.
Anyway, we have the day passes, so we use the thing too. Already on Saturday Saturday we had spared our tired feet, but on Sunday we actually use the monorail as a necessary means of transport to bring us closer to downtown Las Vegas. Downtown Las Vegas is not directly accessible by monorail, but only by bus. The monorail takes us to Hotel Sahara, from there, we decide, we just walk. There you see something of the real Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street
The real Las Vegas along Las Vegas Boulevard and later along Main Street is less spectacular than one would expect. And to be honest, I didn't really expect much. However, there are finally the wedding chapels so often mentioned in movies, which we have not seen on the Strip so far. Furthermore, vintage stores and second-hand stores (no, that's not the same thing, here you go ...) line up. So there is either a high demand for buying dusty, used and musty smelling objects or there is a surplus of the same. If I look around here so, it is the latter.
From STRAT, the northern end of the Strip - the lively part of Las Vegas Boulevard - and Downtown Las Vegas, it's just under three kilometers. On foot, this is quite manageable in 45 minutes. However, not quite, but pretty much on the way is the North Las Vegas Premium Outlet, where we sink a little while. Since the offer does not convince us, however, we move without shopping bags again from then and further direction Fremont Street. On the way, we discover two architecturally appealing buildings (the county seat of government and Las Vegas City Hall) and meet some homeless people living in front of them.
Fremont Street
When you're out on the Strip and you strike up a conversation with the waiter or waitress at a restaurant, they actually recommend to you every time, "You have to go and see Fremont Street." That is still the original Las Vegas, more authentic and with cool bars and clubs and restaurants and so on. So we set off and finally arrive.
The Fremont Street Experience spans five blocks and is covered by a massive arched roof made entirely of LEDs. This giant LED screen projects intoxicating graphics of flying balls and of loops and other flying, floating, flowing, waving things throughout. Thoroughly impressive. However, it's the only thing that shines and glows. The casinos and bars themselves are equipped with massive neon advertising lights, but unfortunately these are only turned on in the evening when the first shows begin. Therefore, the Fremont Street Experience presents itself to us as rather bland. It rather gives the impression that an attraction had to be created to bring visitors from the Strip to the old town. Our enthusiasm for the FSE during the day is therefore limited.
But now I don't want to talk everything down. In the evening, these many and varied illuminations, which are switched off during the day, are certainly terrific. At least the Internet lets us guess this.
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2 replies on “Las Vegas – Downtown”
Hallo, nach den anfänglichen Querelen hat sich ja Las Vegas doch noch zu einer Stadt gewandelt, die Euch gefallen hat. Ich bin mir aber trotzdem nicht sooo sicher, ob ich da mal hin muss oder will ?!
Ich finde schon, dass man es in real erlebt haben muss. Nur so kann man es einschätzen. War auch skeptisch, aber am Ende bin ich doch eher überrascht und ein wenig auch begeistert.