Once a rail hub for produce, today trucks still stop at its Smallman Street docks but the Strip has become Pittsburgh's most popular neighborhood. From morning to mid-afternoon, old and new specialty groceries, restaurants, street vendors and sundry purveyors open for business. Places like: Wholey's, the eating man's aquarium; Penn Mac, whose deli counter takes you around the world in cheese; and La Prima Espresso for a slice of Italy and coffee to die for. Fortify yourself with culture at the Heinz History Center and the Society for Contemporary Craft, because if you stick around for the Strip's merry night, culture will be the furthest thing from your mind. Eleven boasts a classy wine bar, and the enduring 31st Street Pub is where you'll find live booze-and-tattoos punk rock. Around the clock, everyone gorges together on Pittsburgh's famous Primanti's sandwich – with fries and slaw on the inside.

The following bus routes offer service to Downtown and many other destinations: 86 (to Downtown, Bloomfield, Shadyside and East Liberty), the 87 (to Friendship), the 88 (to Children's Hospital, the Penn Avenue Arts District and Bakery Square) or the 91 (to Lawrenceville). The Strip also features access to one of the most popular crosstown bus routes, the 54 (formerly 54C), with service to the North Side, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, Oakland and the South Side.