Nostalgic Las Vegas Strip Driving Tour taped July 7, 2001 - vintage narration by knowledgeable local 

Am I the only one that wants to jump into that video and live in that reality again?

Breaks my heart. Vegas was so special in the 90s-00s

RIP Tropicana and RIP Mirage

Vegas Looks better in 2001 than it does now

Reading "vintage" in the same sentence as 2001 hurts my 30 year old heart

So funny how he’s complaining about the new Vegas in 2001. And here we are wanting the 2001 Vegas in 2024. Can’t wait to watch a 2024 Vegas video comments in 2044.

This guy is a great narrator!!!! "Who would ever be interested in going to an M&M theme store?!!" 😂😂😂

2 months and 4 days after this video, the world changed forever.

I was 6 years old when this video was filmed. I grew up in Vegas and vivdly remeber the strip looking like this. Thank you for the video and great commentary!

I was born in Las Vegas just two months prior. This is truly breathtaking footage.

Who has noticed that there are no orange traffic cones all over the roads?? What's up with those cones & the horrible road conditions today?? This was a really good historical video. 😊 TY for sharing. 👍

I was absolutely glued to my screen the entire video. This has got to be the single best Vegas Strip history video I've ever seen, despite the fact that it's 23 years old. Also RIP Mirage and Tropicana 2024. Glad I got to visit last year and see that awesome volcano show.

Hearing him say its expensive there back then "these days"...and it was probably a bargain in 2001 compared to now!

Back when $10 buffets on the strip existed

So cool. I had a VHS recorder back in the day. Recorded so much stuff and my mom threw them away. These are jewels!

This guy should be a tour guide...

2001 looks like such a chill time from January - August...ahh so nice

This is the greatest narration of Vegas strip history ever done.

*During the summer of 2001, I visited Las Vegas for the first time as a 17 year old with my dad and step family. I don't recall the dates, but it is possible that I was there during this filming. We stayed at the Stratosphere. The main things that I remember are the guys that passed out the escort cards and the little escort magazines that littered the sidewalks. I picked one up and kept it for years as a souvenir lol.*

I first visited Vegas in 2003 and this is how I remember it.....fantastic video.

WOW! This is incredible. There is not much footage from this time period on RU-vid so thank you for uploading. So much has changed but some things never change! And oh man, the commentary is AMAZING! What a wealth of knowledge! You really know your Vegas history. It's funny too how 23 years later, people still complain about old Vegas getting replaced and how Vegas is no longer a bargain destination! Ha! Some things really never change! Thank you so much for this.

Used to be more greenery on the blvd. Now, its all cement and glass.

My childhood strip, I was 11 years old in 2001. Born and raised here and loved every second of this nostalgia… thank you! 🥹✨

It's wild how much has changed! Thanks for this time capsule. As a kid, my parents took me and my brother to Vegas at least once a year since 1980. Then we went twice a month in the 90s when we were teenagers, when they could give us $20 and leave us in the arcades all day lol. I continued the trips with various friends through out the early 2000s. I live in Vegas now, since 2009. After working in the casino industry for almost a decade, I barely step into a casino or the strip anymore. Maybe 2-3 times in the past 5 years. Video tours on youtube are the best.

Wow look at how beautiful life was. I was born in 2004 so I kind of remember life looking like this at a very young age from the 2000s. Why couldn't I be born way sooner or be my age now at that time. Man awesome times

I miss the Monte Carlo - and all those glitter entrance ways that were right off the Las Vegas Blvd.

I moved here to Vegas 9/1/2006 just 3 weeks before I turned 24. The start of this video felt so odd to watch when you passed the Stardust. I never got to go to the Stardust before it closed a couple months after I moved here. Now I work at the casino that stands in place of it, at Resorts World. Seeing how it looked then vs what it does today is crazy. Also looking at all the changes mid strip blows my mind as now the Aria & Cosmo stand there along with all the sky rise condos & such. I started dealing in Seattle prior to moving here in 2006 & when I got here I started at casinos off the Strip like South Point & Cannery in north Vegas before moving to the strip. Spent a year at Monte Carlo, then 10 years at Harrahs before moving to Resorts World last year. Now with FB opening last year & the Mirage closing to make way for the Hard Rock, the strip will once again look different than it did just a year ago. 20 years from a video of the strip in 2024 will show up & 60+ year old me will watch it (if I’m still on the earth) & think “wow” I can’t believe how different the strip looks now vs when I worked down their in my 30s & 40s. Life passes so fast & what seems like so long ago really only feels like yesterday.

WOW! what a difference in just over 20 years

Awesome video. Excellent tour guide! This is precious. I miss this time. Got a bit misty passing the Mirage.

I stayed at the Circus Circus Campground back in the early 80's. Time has flown by...

I was in Vegas about two years before this was shot in summer 1999 and again 6 years later in summer 2007. What a journey back in time. RIP Riviera.

This is amazing, I first went here as a 10 year old during spring break of 2001 a few months before this. Family relocated here permanently in 2017

I couldn’t agree more with the commentary. I miss Vegas, even as it was in the early thousands before the Riviera and Stardust closed. It’s turned into boring corporate subrbia. If time travel becomes real, I’m going back.

Got married at the Excalibur in Oct of 2001. We are still married and went back for our 20th in 2021 and probably won’t ever be going back. 😂😂😂

Absolutely gold. Thank you for uploading.

This is so COOL!! I stayed at the Stardust in 2001. LOVED Slots of Fun, back in the day.

“The town will never be the same. After the Tangiers, the big corporations took it all over. Today it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and Junior's college money on the poker slots. In the old days, dealers knew your name, what you drank, what you played. Today, it's like checking into an airport. And if you order room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday. Today, it's all gone. You get a whale show up with four million in a suitcase, and some 25 year old hotel school kid is gonna want his Social Security Number. After the Teamsters got knocked out of the box knocked out of the box, the corporations tore down practically every one of the old casinos. And where did the money come from... Junk Bonds”.

What an absolutely incredible commentary and drive of Vegas. I absolutely loved this video and was fascinated by the vast changes made in such a short space of time. I cannot thank you enough for sharing this for us Vegas fanatics who would have never saw the strip in this much detail in 2001 if it wasn’t for your video and expertise. I have to ask - what promoted you to make this video back then? Before RU-vid and other video uploading was popular, because it’s perfect and almost before its time in terms of home video and commentary. Also, what do you think of Vegas now; and some of your predictions coming true?!

so cool at 25:25 you drove by The Glass Pool Inn i stayed there in the 90s as a kid it was the most epic pool as a kid. you could see all the circles along that wall those were actually windows into the pool. little did i know how cool the pools were just down the road haha. place closed in 2002 i believe and tore it down in 2004. core childhood memory!!

My 10th b day. Now I’m 33 crazy how time flies by. So glad I got to experience some of the 90s.

Thanks for the Memories 🥲

RIP Mirage ;-;

This is so cool! Thank you for uploading this! I visit Vegas a few times a year and I really appreciate getting to see the history of one of my favorite places! Wish I could experience old Vegas just once. Making me emotional since Mirage just closed! Seeing the riviera again was so nostalgic too! Wow!

Excellent! I was only going to check out a few minutes and wound up watching the whole thing. Thanks for sharing.

I went for the first time in 2004 with my parents, at 6 years old. I remember my neck hurting so bad from looking up at the light so much. It was hypnotising, I remember saying to myself how much I need to go back. Objectively, the whole atmosphere was different and it was just better.

That Rita Rudner advertising on the back of the cab uprooted a core memory I didn't think I still had.

Boardwalk casino, Purple Reign, favorite free show on the strip with beautiful women. No one was on their smartphones ): I'm glad I experienced both worlds.

This was the beginning of the end.

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, our first trip was in 2015, but seeing Stardust, Frontier and that part of the strip being so alive is so surreal! Aria and cosmo are now considered center strip, but back then it was completely empty.

Just think no one in this video knew that in about 2 months' time, the world as we knew it would dramatically change and would never be the same again.😢

This is a really good video and narration. The quality is amazing. Thank you 4 posting. RIP to the "old" Vegas

Las Vegas was a special place until the late 80s. The narrator thought things were pricey in 2001, but has anyone experienced the nightmare the place is today? I went back for my birthday 9/2023 and spent about 3k for 5 days, for just myself. $5 for a small bottle of water, over $200 per night plus resort fees, taxes, et al for the room. Traffic was insane due to upcoming F1 race. And the machines are so tight they squeek and getting a drink (bottle of much needed water) from a server, while playing, was impossible! I could go on. I could have gone to NYC for what I paid for that trip and gone to equally, if not better restaurants, museums, and a Broadway show and probably a better room to boot! I much preferred it when there were only 225k residents and "only" 1 million visitors per month (or less).

This was shot a month before I was born in Phoenix! I love watching this. We later moved to Vegas and were here from 2004-2017. I miss it to death. I’m a little nervous to go back it’s so different. A number of the casinos I grew up with, even though I haven’t really been in some of them have gone. That Klondike casino you drove by near the airport is long gone. Closed in 2006 then demolished in 2008. It’s now the site of a Harley Davidson dealership.

Damn, I was in the first grade in 2001, that was twenty-three years ago and it is already vintage.... I'm sad.

Wow i haven't been to Vegas since 2001! I went right after 9-11 the streets were empty!

Fantastic commentary and the video is very well shot too.

That treasure island skull sign 😍

Wow, I remember going to Vegas with my family every summer as a kid. Summer of 2001 I remember very clearly, it was such a wonderful time for a young kid! I would do anything to go back to that pre 9/11 world; thanks for bringing back my childhood memories.

This is amazing I live in Las Vegas currently and I have lived here for almost 20 years now I came in 2004 a few years after

It always struck me as a mistake that the Strip hotels underwent a "de-theming" process during this time... You can stay in a luxury hotel anywhere in the world, but where else can you stay in a castle, or a pyramid? Stuff like that gave Vegas an air of otherworldliness, an entire city built on fantasy. In reality, this was an attempt to increase Vegas' reach by catering to families with kids. Unfortunately, Vegas saw this as a failure, and began to try to reinvent itself as a destination for adults, substituting generic beige luxury in place of its sense of fun and excitement. Fast-forward to the 2020s. We live in a time where video games have long since replaced Hollywood as our biggest entertainment, and it's perfectly normal for adults to dress up as our favorite characters for conventions. We grownups have FINALLY learned it's okay to play, yet so much of Vegas' playfulness is now gone.

The year I turned 21 I was in Imperial Palace which is now the Linq. I watched the Stardust implosion from the roof of the Walgreens across the street. I miss the old days

Great video! I turned 21 in January 2002, and this video brings back so many memories. Vegas was awesome in the early 2000's, and footage like this is so refreshing to watch.

The camcorder video quality makes this seem older that it is. The movie "Oceans 11" came out this year and would have been filmed far before this date. This isnt some "Old Vegas video" like an early 90's or 80's would be.

it's wild that this feels so old but it was only about 7 years before the first Hangover movie.

there were about 2 billion less people on earth when this was filmed. crazy

I lived in Vegas 2001-2008 I think those were the best times

My First Trip to Las Vegas was in 2001 in June i was 13 years old. I don't Remember much but i do Remember that Christina Aguilara song Lady Marmalade being overplayed all over the strip.

Amazing video, thank you for posting.

As a kid who went to Vegas a TON in the early 2000's let me just say WOW what a nostalgia time capsule. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing footage. The narrator makes for an amazing proto-vlogger and sounds a lot like a popular Vegas RU-vidr, "Lone Wulf Rick". I wonder if it's him? 🤔

Interesting fact: 9/11 hijackers made six visits to Las Vegas between late May and mid-August of 2001

23 years ago on that day I turned 15 🎉 Damn I’m old😂

crazy how jockey club is still there tucked away in whats now city center. driving by that area is nuts seeing it basically empty

Great video! Aside from enjoying the blast from the past it was a real treat to watch a travel video and not hear, “Don’t forget to subscribe and click the like button!” every three minutes.😆 Thanks for sharing the vid!

It’s like looking into an alternate universe

I sure would like to know what you do now. Your very good at narrating. What an amazing video. Already watched it twice. Its in my favorites for sure. I was there 9 years before this 1992. I loved Las Vegas back then where it took you a half hour or more to walk to each hotel.

Was there only one time in march that year 2001 stayed in the glass pool motel on the strip lol 😅 maxed two credit cards out first night won most of it back last day there . Changed since then a lot obviously . Good memories

This was an awesome video ! And the narration with the facts is really nice ! I learned and saw some look stuff I didn’t know thank you !

Yeah I remember this vividly. Yes, I am old. Oh and this guy’s narration was really good

Thank you for sharing wow you know Vegas excellent job …

Wow!!! This is pretty cool. You were definitely spot on with this

Thank you for uploading this

Back when it didn’t smell like weed everywhere

I have no idea why, but whenever I think of a "default date" I always think July 2001. It's pretty cool to see a video from that exact time.

Lol, I used to work for my grandpas business inside of the Riviera, I was an arcade attendant, and on a lot of night's you would've seen my car sitting right outside the doors @56:37

Wow i dont remember the Fashion Show looking like this. Aww the old CAT bus. We had a Blue Note???! This was great, thanks for uploading!

This is fascinating, I went to vegas once and that was in june or july 2001.

This was a great video and history lesson. Thanks for uploading

I was actually in Vegas around this time for a dance competition. I would love to go back and experience it as an adult because I was only a child and it looks a lot more fun compared to now.

I remember when I was a kid my family would take a trip to Las Vegas in dec 1999 to celebrate Y2K

Great Time Capsule!

Shit has me nostalgic for something I didn’t even experience

2001 is not vintage. its not a year thing, its a vibes thing. 2000s is just nostalgia.

Huh. This was recorded a day after I was born. Neat.

I was one day old when this video was taken

I moved to Vegas in late 2002 to 2010. Nice to see the version I knew.

Awesome upload, thanks 🤩👍🔥.

Even back then people had the same complaints about cheap beer and cheap food

westward ho is now mcdonalds and a metro substation, and then transistions into resorts world where stardust was. frontier and silverslipper lot are still empty so to say nothing really built on it but trump tower is deep back in there wow, fashion show is DRASTICALLY different Spring mountain corner has no more pedestians due to the bridge TI whole front is gone, has shoppes now and bars and a huge TV screen at the corner CP at the mirage exit is so different now with the mall, and i think that sig and roy thing is gone now. the mirage strip side isnt all that different, and to think its gonna be gone in a week. the CP sign at the main entryway is gone. that looked so cool with their event sign....not digital old school. what a shame. the strip is full of oversized TVs that just display advertising now. as you drive by that sign, the front of CP is packed with stuff you cannot even see the bellago from that viewpoint until you get to the flamingo intersection ballys sign is not gone! and its a bigger TV screen bellagio hasnt changed much, but they added that tower to the south end, to think you can still see the jockey club from the strip, and now its drowned out of visual existence that available land sign is now cosmo and that whole aria vdara city center thing now all those mom and pops before MC are all gone, except the CVS building the walforf hotel added and monte carlo now park mgm expanded outward to the sidewalk with shops and stuff, that beautiful entry way from the strip is all gone, cant even see the park mgm anymore from the strip. funny when say NY is crammed, as they added the arena behind it, cramming that in there too MB all the way to russel is crazy seeing how empty it was, its packed now with that convention center etc. that sign now is a whole parking lot. klondike is long gone, now harley and pinball hall of fame all those cheap models across from MB/luxor are all gone, or trashed. nothing really there anymore. such a dead area of the strip Trop is gone now, and it didnt change much since this classic video either. it was striving then, and did til now lol all it really ever got was a slap of paint and a the name was a trendy new style to it. The MGM hasnt really changed a whole lot, so much has been added to that dennys, you cant see the polo towers anymore from the strip, the shopping area after the walgreens is now getting a new high end shopping place. travel lodge, HD cafe, etc all that corner up to harmon is all gone now. the alladin, now gone to planet hollywood is drowned out now too, the NE corner of harmon is built up with mall expansion, restaruants etc down harmon to the PH harmon entrance. and massive TV billboards. Paris hasnt changed much, but where paris ends and ballys begins, (now horseshoe) is another property with tons of shopping propped up the entry way and again, all drowning out the hotel behind it from the street. no more cool entryway up to the main entrance anymore. Barbary coast gone, cromwell....a common thug place these days, as well as the flamingo which really hasnt changed much. osheas corner is gone now, that street is closed, all the linq district. IP now linq, and it still floods in the back!!!!! and you cannot enter Linq via the front anymore. can only go all the way around the back now. mom and pop at veneian are all gone added palazzo, DI is wynn and encore. that cathedral still stands, but is so drowned out by the encore property and signs near the blvd the irorny of the taco bell is a tacos del pastor now HAHAAH! that whole plaza is popular now. silver city gone, and land all behind that is new convention center add on, and property up to the strip and butt up against peppermill is all empty and torn down. something today is being built there....not sure what. old riviera corner ALGIERS! that was what i could not recall is what is there today, the fontainbleu. the shara seems to thrive and its so much different now, no more coaster the lot of rancho vegas town towards circus circus drive now is a hilton, sky towers and up to the sahara corner is just a festival lot. the tourist trap store on the NW corner is still there and strong. the holy cow is a walgreens! lol!!!!! and behind that is a weed shop.

Great video.

Never been to Vegas. Thanks for the tour 🤙🏽🔥🔥