Downtown vs. The Strip vs. South Strip: Which Las Vegas Bar Crawl Is Right for You?

Short answer: pick the Downtown crawl if you want classic neon, the widest time window, and three prize placings. Pick the Las Vegas Strip crawl if you want an open-air promenade with food-forward bars and the shortest walk. Pick the South Strip crawl if you want an all-indoor route with live music and a free hour of arcade games to finish.

All three work the same way underneath. You buy one ticket in the app, check in at each bar to unlock a free drink and a virtual playing card, and the best poker hands win prizes that day. What changes between them is the neighborhood, the walk, the hours, and the personality of the bars. Here is the side-by-side.

Quick comparison

Which one is closest to you?

Distance is often the tiebreaker. Choose where you are coming from and this will rank all three routes. There is a fuller version on the crawl finder page.

The Downtown crawl: neon, Fremont Street, and three shots at a prize

The Downtown Las Vegas bar crawl runs along Fremont Street between Circa and The D. Six stops in order: Overhang Bar on the second floor of Circa, Club One, MEGA BAR downstairs at Circa, Bar Prohibition at the Golden Gate, Bar Canada on the second floor of The D, and LONGBAR on the first floor. Club One is the bonus stop, so you still collect five drinks and five playing cards across the six.

Two things make Downtown stand out. First, it has the longest window of the three at 11 am to 11 pm daily, which makes it the easiest one to start early or squeeze in before a show. Second, it is the only crawl where the top three poker hands win, not just the best one, so a decent hand still has a shot.

Extra perk worth knowing: show the app at American Coney Island inside The D and you get free fries with your entree. More of those hidden extras are in our guide to secret menu eats along the crawl.

Choose Downtown if you want the most iconic Vegas backdrop, the widest time window, and the best odds of placing.

The Las Vegas Strip crawl: the LINQ Promenade, with food at every turn

The Las Vegas Strip crawl is the tightest route of the three. All five stops sit on the LINQ Promenade, the open-air walkway just off the Strip: I Love Sugar and its Candi Martini Bar, Off the Strip Bistro & Bar, The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery, Flour & Barley for brick oven pizza, and Yard House with its wall of taps.

This is the crawl to pick when the group wants to actually eat. Four of the five stops are full kitchens, and Flour & Barley adds a discount on a slice or on your total bill. Because everything is on one promenade, the walking between bars is minimal, which helps if anyone in the group would rather not cover much ground.

The trade-off is the earliest close of the three at 10 pm, so give yourself a real head start. The daily winner takes a prize from the LINQ Promenade, and those rotate between venue gift certificates, High Roller tickets, VR experiences, and more.

Choose the Strip if you want the shortest walk, the most food, and a promenade you can linger on. There is more on where to drink well in this area in our roundup of the best drink deals on the Strip.

The South Strip crawl: indoors, air conditioned, and built for playing around

The South Strip crawl is the newest of the three and the only one you can do without stepping outside. It runs Swingers The Crazy Golf Club, Rhythm & Riffs Lounge on the Mandalay Bay casino floor, Flanker Kitchen + Sports Bar, House of Blues, and then Play Playground over at Luxor.

The first four stops are all inside Mandalay Bay. The last leg to Luxor is a connected indoor walk of roughly five to seven minutes through the Shoppes at Mandalay Place, and there is a free tram if you would rather ride. Either way you stay in the air conditioning the whole crawl, which matters more in Las Vegas than almost anything else on this page.

It is also the most activity-driven route. Swingers is a beautiful mini golf venue with a huge bar, House of Blues is a real live music room, and your last stop unlocks a free hour of games at Play Playground. One thing worth being clear on: your ticket covers the free drink at Swingers, not a round of mini golf, so book a tee time separately if you want to play. The best poker hand wins a free crawl at any Royal Crawl location, delivered as a code in the app and good for a year. Our first-timer's guide to the South Strip crawl walks the route stop by stop.

Choose South Strip if you want to stay indoors, you like games and live music, or your group is already staying on that end of the Strip.

How to choose in 30 seconds

• It is hot, or someone hates walking outside. South Strip. It is the only fully indoor route.
• You want to start in the afternoon. Downtown, which opens at 11 am and runs latest.
• You want dinner built into the night. The Strip. Four of five stops serve real food.
• You want the best chance at winning something. Downtown, where the top three hands place.
• It is your first trip to Las Vegas. Downtown, for the Fremont Street Experience alone.
• You are staying at Mandalay Bay, Luxor, or Excalibur. South Strip. You can start without a rideshare.
• You have a big group with mixed energy levels. The Strip, because nobody gets left behind on a short route.

What every Royal Crawl includes

No matter which route you pick, one ticket covers the same core: a free drink at each of five bars, your choice of a well cocktail, domestic beer, or house wine, free entry with no cover anywhere on the route, a virtual playing card at every check-in, and entry into that day's poker prize pool. Most groups finish in about two to three hours, and you go at your own pace the entire time. If you are weighing this against a hosted tour, we broke that down in self-guided vs guided bar crawls.

You need to be 21 or older with a valid government-issued photo ID to be served. Gratuity is not included, so take care of your bartenders. Venues and prizes can change, so confirm the current lineup in the app before you head out.

Can you do more than one?

Yes, and plenty of people do. The three crawls are separate tickets and separate routes, so a long weekend can easily hold two of them. A common pattern is the Strip or South Strip on the first night, then Downtown on the second for the change of scenery. Planning something bigger, like a bachelor party, bachelorette, birthday, or company outing? Groups of 20 or more can get planning help through our group and business page.

The bottom line

There is no wrong pick here. Downtown gives you the most Vegas, the Strip gives you the easiest night, and South Strip gives you the most comfortable one. Compare the full stop lists on each crawl page, then download the free app and use promo code VEGAS40 for 40% off your Las Vegas crawl.