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The area called Glitter Gulch encompasses about eight blocks that front on Fremont Street between Main and Fourth Streets. Along this stretch is the most concentrated dazzle of neon on the planet. Not only are all the Fremont Street casino fronts decorated with neon, but the street signs and light shows (see Low-Cost Food & Entertainment) above contribute to the dazzle. Nighttime, of course, is when the lighting is at its most intense. The crowds on the malled walkway are heavy until after midnight, and the entertainment adds to a feeling of carnival.

The part of Fremont Street associated with Glitter Gulch is now under cover and the site of lavish free entertainment collectively labeled the Fremont Street Experience. Alongside spectacular nightly sound and light shows, special events take place throughout the year, such as the March St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, Mardi Gras in April, May talent showcase national finals, the June Las Vegas Jazz Festival, Summer in the City in July, the Rock and Roll Bandstand in August, Oktoberfest, and the Holiday Festival in December.

Along with all the outdoor activity on Fremont Street, there’s action inside the casinos, too. They may not be as glamorous as the big hotels on the Strip, but the Fremont Street and other downtown clubs have more history – some date back to the 1940s. They are also known for their bargain meals.

You may not be able to see forever exactly but, from the top of the tower on a clear day, parts of Arizona and California come into view. Count the 40 seconds it takes for the high-speed elevators to whiz up to the tower’s floor-to-ceiling glass observation floor, which is 900 ft (275 m) above street level. The tower is a tourists’ after-dark favorite for viewing the mesmerizing lights of Glitter Gulch and along the Strip.

Mormons built the fort, along with a trading post in 1855, as a defense against the Native Americans (who turned out to be peaceful). It is the oldest building of its type in Nevada, but of the original structures only a small adobe building that was part of the stockade remains.

Mormon Fort

Chainsaws, boom boxes, fake Rolex watches, belt sanders, diamond rings, car jacks, and hundreds more items are piled on counters and hung from the ceilings in the shops of the plaza. This astonishing assemblage is testimony to the fact that some gamblers will sacrifice almost anything. Nevada law permits a monthly six percent interest on pawn shop loans – few pledges are redeemed.

The mother-of-all-souvenir-stores includes such delights as miniature slot machine banks, X-rated bumper stickers, Elvis motifs on black velvet, sequinstudded hats, personalized dice, and gambling chip-encrusted toilet seats. The place is enormous, crowded with tourists, and crammed with anything that can possibly be marketed as a souvenir of the city.

Fifty feet (16 m) tall, Vegas Vic is a survivor from the early casino days. In bygone days not only did he smoke and wave but he also talked, saying “Howdy pardner, welcome to Las Vegas.” Now, Vic’s voice box works only sometimes, but he still provides the backdrop for thousands of visitors’ photographs each year.

According to the Guinness World of Records Museum, the enormous eight-reel contraption within the Four Queens Hotel-Casino is the largest slot machine in the world. Up to six players at a time insert from one to three-dollar tokens into the slot of the 9-ft (3-m) tall and 18-ft (6-m) wide machine; an employee pulls the giant-size handle; and everyone watching holds their breath. Winning combinations are posted on the machine. Should you be tempted to try, bear in mind that the more reels a machine has, the more difficult it is to hit winning combinations.

From Main Street, Jackie Gaughan’s may look like just another casino, but if you walk on through you will find railroad tracks on the back side. The railroad station justifiably claims to be the only one in the world that is inside a casino, which was built around the existing Union Pacific Railroad depot in the 1970s. A map of the railroad’s West Coast–Eastern Utah route is illustrated with an old-fashioned iron horse and a futuristic bullet train. Note that Main Street Station is further north.