Related Articles.Completed in 1938, Route 66, which once served as the main corridor taking drivers from Chicago to Los Angeles, sparks excitement and a feeling of freedom in many travelers who love the open road. The route reminds some of their parents or grandparents, and for others it taps into a deep feeling of nostalgia for times long gone. Exploring Route 66 takes more research and dedication than many other road trips require – partially because it’s more than 2,200 miles long, but also because there’s so much to experience. Attractions range from mom-and-pop diners to kitschy roadside museums and shops to the majestic, untamed landscapes that define the American West. Length of JourneyChoose a start point and end point. You can drive the entire route from Chicago to Los Angeles, or you can select a segment – such as St. Louis, Missouri, to Amarillo, Texas, or Oklahoma City to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and explore it thoroughly.
Stop for an early lunch at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In, a classic Route 66 diner serving up food along with a side of humor in Seligman, Arizona. If you’re feeling adventurous, drive on toward the Mojave National Preserve’s visitor center, a converted train depot in Kelso, California. How long does it take to drive Route 66. One of the first steps when planning a trip is deciding how long to spend on the road. The bare minimum to complete the entire journey is two weeks. However, this time frame is considered rushed. In order to get the full experience, a driver should plan on three to four weeks.
Driving the complete route takes about 37 hours, which you can spread out over four or five days, or longer, depending on how many stops you’d like to make and how in-depth you’d like your trip to be. A good overview map of Route 66 is available at theroadwanderer.net. AccommodationsReserve accommodations. You certainly can spend the night at big-chain hotels, but half the fun of a Route 66 road trip is staying at quirky, old-school motels off the highway. In Lebanon, Missouri, check out Munger Moss Motel, which offers Route 66 theme rooms and won the 2006 Route 66 Preservation Foundation Business of the Year Award. Other unique lodgings include the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, where you can stay in a concrete replica of an American Indian wigwam; and El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico, which served as a temporary home for many Western movie stars, including John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck and Humphrey Bogart. AttractionsSelect attractions to visit.
The Internet’s oldest website dedicated to Route 66, historic66.com, offers turn-by-turn descriptions of the route and its restaurants, shops, museums and recreation opportunities. Well-known attractions include the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago, the Gateway Arch in St.
Louis, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton and Mojave National Preserve in Nipton, California. Don’t overlook smaller sights, however, such as Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman, Arizona; the California ghost towns of Belleville and Calico; and the five-mile stretch of Route 66-era motels, restaurants and curiosity shops in Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Ever dreamed of hitting the open road and doing an all American road trip? How about a trip down historic Route 66?! Stretching 2448 miles across America, starting in Chicago, Illinois and finishing up in LA, California, taking in a total of 8 States. This is my tried and tested 16 day Route 66 Road Trip Itinerary with side trips to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas (so essentially stepping foot in 9 States!).
I include: the daily miles covered, travel time (with stops), must see roadside attractions, where to stay and where to eat!Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links 16 Day Route 66 Itinerary How Long Does It Take To Drive Route 66?Answering the question ‘How long does it take to drive Route 66?’ is like saying how long is a piece of string. There are hundreds of places you could stop and visit along the Route. You could technically take a month just to drive to Illinois stretch.If you are looking at just driving across the country from Chicago to LA, following the rough direction of Route 66, I-40 is the closest option and a straight through drive according to Google Maps is 30 hours. So if you just wanted to see the changing landscape then that’s just a day and a bit of driving!However this would be doing Route 66 an injustice, you have to stick to the old route AS MUCH as possible. Our total drive time for our 16 day Route 66 road trip, including stops at roadside attractions along the way, restaurants etc was: 85 HOURS.Cutting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas off of that total, would only get rid of around 5 hours, so we were still on the road for 80 Hours!I have split my Route 66 itinerary into the daily miles and driving time, so you can see how far we went each day.
You could potentially easily drive Route 66 within 2 weeks (14 days) if you don’t spend the extra days doing the side trips.Most of our accommodation was booked in advance, for us we liked to know that we had somewhere to sleep without having to worry about trying to find somewhere with vacancies. I think we would have been OK but if you want to stay at some of the more unique lodging options, it’s definitely advised to book those well in advance.Related Reading: Day 1 Arrive in ChicagoWhere we stayed:When it comes to Chicago, you’ve got a couple of options. We decided to stay near the airport in a hotel with free parking, right next to the I-90, making it easy to start the drive.
We then travelled into the city for just one day of sight-seeing using the CTA train from the airport. I’ll be writing a whole post on Chicago tips for Route 66 travellers!Day 2 ChicagoSpend a day exploring the city where the route begins!Highlights include:.
seeing the Route 66 BEGIN sign. Millennium Park. Navy PierWe actually picked up our rental car on day 2 which saved us a day’s rental fee. We collected it from the airport on our way back from our day in the city and then just drove it a little way down the road to our airport hotel. Day 3 Chicago, IL – St Louis, MO 328 miles (12 hours)In all honestly, this day was tough going, for the first day on the road, it was definitely a long one! If we were to do it again, I would suggest stopping somewhere before St Louis.
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