Route 66 - Some Tips & Observations
Discussion
We’ve just spent nearly 4 weeks driving from Washington DC to LA including following Route 66 from Chicago. So while it’s still fresh in my mind I thought I’d share some tips and observations in no particular order.
- Route 66 no longer officially exists as a national route across the US although some states still call bits of it State Road 66
- There are several possible ways to complete Route 66 depending on historical facts, locations and in some cases experienced interpretation. We found that Illinois was brilliant with road signs but be careful of which time period you're following as it can get confusing
- You could spend years (and we met some people who have) trying to drive all the variations of Route 66, visit all of the museums, side trips and other attractions along the way so before you do anything, work out what you want to see and do and plan accordingly
- Leave some time for the unexpected, you'll need it
- Make sure you designate enough time to do some bits that look easy for example, we drove from St Louis to Tulsa in a day and spent more than 12 hours on the road with all the stops along the way, there was just too much on our list to see and in hindsight we should have split that over 2 days.
- We bought several guides and books and despite doing our homework still missed things on our list like the Bug Ranch which we only realised after we we’d driven 40 miles past it.
- Take time to speak to people who have renovated some of the buildings and turned them into shops and cafes, they have a wealth of knowledge and know a lot of the other people you’ll meet along the way.
- Spend some money in the establishments you visit, even a $ for a bottle of water will support their efforts to make your trip more enjoyable.
- Remember to fill up your car each day, Fuel stops can get difficult to find especially the further west you are
- Drive from Chicago to LA, that way you gain an hour every few days when you cross into another time zone
- Don’t be tempted to add things to your list based on recommendations, unless you really want to do it. Some of these will add miles and time to your itinerary and may not be worth the investment.
- Drive a cool car (ish). We had a Dodge Challenger and have had a lot of positive experiences because of that.
- Try not to rush, I pretty much stuck to the speed limits the whole way (hence the 12 hour day mentioned above) the journey is the reason for doing it, not the destination.
- If you can fit them in, go to some of the National Parks in Arizona and Utah. Bryce, Zion and Arches are spectacular as is the Grand Canyon
- If like us when traveling to the US you wake up early in the mornings in the first few days, make use of that. We were often getting up at 5 am, packing up the car and out the door by 6. Breakfast is always available somewhere along the way (although the quality and quantity vary greatly)
- Get an eSim for your phone, I used Airalo and 5GB lasted the whole period (we used hotel wifi in the evenings and early mornings
- You will meet some brilliant, sometimes quirky people along the way who want to share their stories and hear yours too. This was what made the trip for us.
- Finally, you will take some wrong turns, drive for miles in the wrong direction and probably get lost several times. Treat that as part of the experience, accept it and move on.
So cool.
In just over three weeks we fly off to Chicago - ready for the epic RT to LA. Cannot bloody wait!
Been planning for over a year now - do have a fear we have bitten off more then we should have - but we will see. The experienced experts here have been awesome, as have a couple of slightly lesser frequented forums.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In just over three weeks we fly off to Chicago - ready for the epic RT to LA. Cannot bloody wait!
Been planning for over a year now - do have a fear we have bitten off more then we should have - but we will see. The experienced experts here have been awesome, as have a couple of slightly lesser frequented forums.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
mattyn1 said:
So cool.
In just over three weeks we fly off to Chicago - ready for the epic RT to LA. Cannot bloody wait!
Been planning for over a year now - do have a fear we have bitten off more then we should have - but we will see. The experienced experts here have been awesome, as have a couple of slightly lesser frequented forums.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
We thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too. In just over three weeks we fly off to Chicago - ready for the epic RT to LA. Cannot bloody wait!
Been planning for over a year now - do have a fear we have bitten off more then we should have - but we will see. The experienced experts here have been awesome, as have a couple of slightly lesser frequented forums.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
One more piece of advice, if you can get down to Adam St in Chicago as early as you can if you want to take lots of pictures and do the same in Santa Monica when you finish. We got into LA around mid day on Saturday and they had road works everywhere around the 101 and after an hour of stop start traffic we gave up and went to our hotel to crash for the afternoon.
Got up at 5am Sunday and we had the whole place to ourselves, took loads of pictures and videos and had breakfast in Mel's drive in where they'll give you a certificate to say you've completed it.
Having completed Route 66 last year and realising we had under estimated the time needed to really appreciate the middle section between St Louis and Albuquerque we made the decision to go back and do that bit again and incorporate a visit to some additional places we've not been to before including New Orleans that has been on my list for decades.
Looking at some of the other excellent threads and updates from other PHers that have recently completed some epic journeys of their own and as it's the 100th anniversary of Route 66 next year, I thought I'd share some more details of this year's adventure having got back a few days ago while it's all still fresh in my mind.
Planning for this trip started shortly after our return last June and flights were booked at the end of July. After looking at good start and end points we decided to fly to and from Atlanta as it was another place we've never been to and was conveniently placed for our planned journey. The key stop offs along the way would be Bowling Green KN, St Louis, Springfield MO, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Dallas, Lafayette, New Orleans and the last few days on the beach on the Gulf (of Mexico
) coast before driving back to Atlanta to fly home.
We were away for nearly 4 weeks and around a third of that time would be spent on Route 66 so plenty of time to stop and see some of the things we missed last year. We took loads of pictures so will share a few of those and if you have any questions let me know.
First stop was Atlanta. We spent a whole day here and planned to go into the city to visit the Coca Cola Museum and the Olympic Park.
The museum and park were nice to see and after lunch we walked around the downtown area for a an hour or so but like a lot of US cities there wasn't a great deal to see so we moved on to our final venue for the day.
Looking at some of the other excellent threads and updates from other PHers that have recently completed some epic journeys of their own and as it's the 100th anniversary of Route 66 next year, I thought I'd share some more details of this year's adventure having got back a few days ago while it's all still fresh in my mind.
Planning for this trip started shortly after our return last June and flights were booked at the end of July. After looking at good start and end points we decided to fly to and from Atlanta as it was another place we've never been to and was conveniently placed for our planned journey. The key stop offs along the way would be Bowling Green KN, St Louis, Springfield MO, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Dallas, Lafayette, New Orleans and the last few days on the beach on the Gulf (of Mexico
) coast before driving back to Atlanta to fly home. We were away for nearly 4 weeks and around a third of that time would be spent on Route 66 so plenty of time to stop and see some of the things we missed last year. We took loads of pictures so will share a few of those and if you have any questions let me know.
First stop was Atlanta. We spent a whole day here and planned to go into the city to visit the Coca Cola Museum and the Olympic Park.
The museum and park were nice to see and after lunch we walked around the downtown area for a an hour or so but like a lot of US cities there wasn't a great deal to see so we moved on to our final venue for the day.
Our final stop in Atlanta was at the Porsche Experience Centre near the Airport. Having been to the Silverstone equivalent several times we thought it would be interesting to see what this was like as we were in the vicinity. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do a driving session but the prices are similar to the UK if you do and they also do demonstration laps if you're so inclined. Best of all you can pay $5 to go as a spectator and that lets you look around their museum and race cars and watch the action out on the tracks.
They have all the same driving experiences as Silverstone including the Ice Hill and kick plate but laid out differently based on local geography. The also have a restaurant and cafe there with an outdoor terrace which overlooks pretty much the whole venue so after walking around and chatting to the very knowledgeable staff we sat and had a coffee and watched people having fun until pretty much closing time.
So all in we had a good day in Atlanta and our next stop is Bowling Green, Kentucky.
They have all the same driving experiences as Silverstone including the Ice Hill and kick plate but laid out differently based on local geography. The also have a restaurant and cafe there with an outdoor terrace which overlooks pretty much the whole venue so after walking around and chatting to the very knowledgeable staff we sat and had a coffee and watched people having fun until pretty much closing time.
So all in we had a good day in Atlanta and our next stop is Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Voodoo Blue said:
Yep, I agree. I must have hired dozens of cars in the US over the years including Mustangs, a Bronco, Suburbans, Corvettes and Cadillacs but the Challenger has been the best of all especially for Route 66.
That challenger looks very cool-how much did it cost to rent for the trip? I had a Challenger when I did a solo Route 66 in 2019, though looks like the posters above got nicer models! I got quite lucky, I booked my trip with Thomas Cook, who went bust two days before I was due to fly, I managed to get everything rebooked, with two days notice (massive thanks to TUI), but the only thing they couldn't get me was the convertible Mustang I had booked, so I got to Chicago and picked up a Chevrolet Malibu, which as soon as I got on the freeway I realised the tracking was way out, so returned to the rental place, and told the chap my story, and he just said "I've got a Challenger if you want it", and I snapped his hand off!
One thing that was really cool at that location, there was, I think, an MGB that was posing for a photo when I arrived. Managed to get a quick snap of it, though wasn't brave enough to strike up conversation.
I loved every minute of the trip, me and My Dad had been talking about doing it for years, but never quite got round to it, he died suddenly in 2018, and I decided to do it in his memory. I would love to do it again one day, or maybe a California coast road trip. If I did Route 66 again I'd probably go with a more regular car, that needed less regular fuel stops.
One thing that was really cool at that location, there was, I think, an MGB that was posing for a photo when I arrived. Managed to get a quick snap of it, though wasn't brave enough to strike up conversation.
I loved every minute of the trip, me and My Dad had been talking about doing it for years, but never quite got round to it, he died suddenly in 2018, and I decided to do it in his memory. I would love to do it again one day, or maybe a California coast road trip. If I did Route 66 again I'd probably go with a more regular car, that needed less regular fuel stops.
and31 said:
That challenger looks very cool-how much did it cost to rent for the trip?
We had the Challenger last year and it worked out $2600 for nearly 4 weeks. Unfortunately they're getting harder to find as I think they stopped making them more than a year ago. The one we had was 3 years old and had 50k miles on it when we picked it up but it made the trip. The car we had this year was less iconic but still very comfortable (and cheaper 
)carlove said:
I had a Challenger when I did a solo Route 66 in 2019, though looks like the posters above got nicer models! I got quite lucky, I booked my trip with Thomas Cook, who went bust two days before I was due to fly, I managed to get everything rebooked, with two days notice (massive thanks to TUI), but the only thing they couldn't get me was the convertible Mustang I had booked, so I got to Chicago and picked up a Chevrolet Malibu, which as soon as I got on the freeway I realised the tracking was way out, so returned to the rental place, and told the chap my story, and he just said "I've got a Challenger if you want it", and I snapped his hand off!
One thing that was really cool at that location, there was, I think, an MGB that was posing for a photo when I arrived. Managed to get a quick snap of it, though wasn't brave enough to strike up conversation.
I loved every minute of the trip, me and My Dad had been talking about doing it for years, but never quite got round to it, he died suddenly in 2018, and I decided to do it in his memory. I would love to do it again one day, or maybe a California coast road trip. If I did Route 66 again I'd probably go with a more regular car, that needed less regular fuel stops.
I'm sorry to hear about your Dad but thrilled to hear you enjoyed your trip and that you got lucky with the car. We found people would just randomly start talking to us about the car in petrol stations etc. and when they found out we were British just kept talking. One thing that was really cool at that location, there was, I think, an MGB that was posing for a photo when I arrived. Managed to get a quick snap of it, though wasn't brave enough to strike up conversation.
I loved every minute of the trip, me and My Dad had been talking about doing it for years, but never quite got round to it, he died suddenly in 2018, and I decided to do it in his memory. I would love to do it again one day, or maybe a California coast road trip. If I did Route 66 again I'd probably go with a more regular car, that needed less regular fuel stops.
Voodoo Blue said:
and31 said:
That challenger looks very cool-how much did it cost to rent for the trip?
We had the Challenger last year and it worked out $2600 for nearly 4 weeks. Unfortunately they're getting harder to find as I think they stopped making them more than a year ago. The one we had was 3 years old and had 50k miles on it when we picked it up but it made the trip. The car we had this year was less iconic but still very comfortable (and cheaper )
Our time in Atlanta was over and so it was time to pick up the car and head off to our next stop. After many years traveling to the US I've found that I hate picking up a car upon arrival and much prefer to pick it up when we're heading elsewhere. The benefit of this is no parking fees if the hotel charges them and Ubers are relatively cheap. The other thing is we are always awake at circa 5:00 AM for the first few days due to the time difference (west coast is usually 3:00 AM 
) so I generally prefer to get up early the day we're leaving, collect the car and go back to the hotel to have breakfast and check out.
This year we booked the same class of car as last year in the hope we'd get lucky and get another Challenger. But alas it wasn't to be. The choices were a variety of SUVs a couple of MB CLAs an Alfa Romeo Gulia, a couple of Audi A4s and several Mustang convertibles. We absolutely didn't want an SUV so these were discounted immediately. We knew from previous experience that our luggage wouldn't fit in the boot of the Mustang so that ruled them out and I really wanted to go for the Alfa but it had 60k miles on the clock and on closer inspection looked really tired and well used. Not something you want to chance on a 4k mile road trip despite having all the relevant insurance products. So that left the Mercs or Audis. Having never owned an Audi we plumped for one of those.
It was less than a year old and was pretty well equipped so we did the paperwork and headed back to our hotel.
Looking at our route we discovered that we would be passing close to the Jack Daniels distillery so decided to make that our lunch stop.
It was an interesting place and the food was pretty good. And of course we bought a couple of samples to bring home
We headed up the road towards Nashville to our overnight in Bowling Green. Now logically we would have stayed in Nashville but they had a huge music festival on that weekend so hotel rates were extortionate plus we've been there before and being that we're both into cars Bowling Green had another attraction we wanted to see.
It was a really interesting place to visit but typically American. Lots of interesting stories around many of the exhibits and actually they have been fairly successful in their relevant motor sports classes. Another unusual fact is that the main building (with the red cone in the centre) suffered a sink hole collapse a few years ago and several cars fell into it including a unique Indy Pace Car (pictured above). Unfortunately it was so badly damaged they couldn't repair it and put it back on display as is. They left an inspection hatch you could look down and although the picture isn't that clear it must have been 30-40 feet deep.
Next stop is St Louis and back onto Route 66
) so I generally prefer to get up early the day we're leaving, collect the car and go back to the hotel to have breakfast and check out. This year we booked the same class of car as last year in the hope we'd get lucky and get another Challenger. But alas it wasn't to be. The choices were a variety of SUVs a couple of MB CLAs an Alfa Romeo Gulia, a couple of Audi A4s and several Mustang convertibles. We absolutely didn't want an SUV so these were discounted immediately. We knew from previous experience that our luggage wouldn't fit in the boot of the Mustang so that ruled them out and I really wanted to go for the Alfa but it had 60k miles on the clock and on closer inspection looked really tired and well used. Not something you want to chance on a 4k mile road trip despite having all the relevant insurance products. So that left the Mercs or Audis. Having never owned an Audi we plumped for one of those.
It was less than a year old and was pretty well equipped so we did the paperwork and headed back to our hotel.
Looking at our route we discovered that we would be passing close to the Jack Daniels distillery so decided to make that our lunch stop.
It was an interesting place and the food was pretty good. And of course we bought a couple of samples to bring home
We headed up the road towards Nashville to our overnight in Bowling Green. Now logically we would have stayed in Nashville but they had a huge music festival on that weekend so hotel rates were extortionate plus we've been there before and being that we're both into cars Bowling Green had another attraction we wanted to see.
It was a really interesting place to visit but typically American. Lots of interesting stories around many of the exhibits and actually they have been fairly successful in their relevant motor sports classes. Another unusual fact is that the main building (with the red cone in the centre) suffered a sink hole collapse a few years ago and several cars fell into it including a unique Indy Pace Car (pictured above). Unfortunately it was so badly damaged they couldn't repair it and put it back on display as is. They left an inspection hatch you could look down and although the picture isn't that clear it must have been 30-40 feet deep.
Next stop is St Louis and back onto Route 66
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