Route 66: visitor guide

Route 66 runs southwest from Chicago through eight states to the Pacific at Santa Monica. The modern interstates (I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, I-10) shadow much of it, and the surviving drivable sections are marked as Historic Route 66 (check).

You do not drive the whole thing on one continuous road. You hop between old alignments, frontage roads and short interstate stretches, which is why a navigation app plus a paper or offline map of the historic alignment is the practical setup. Signage is good in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona, patchier in Kansas and the California desert (check).

Distances below are approximate driving distances between the main stop towns, not the exact historic mileage (check).

Treat the trip as four chunks. The Midwest (Chicago to Oklahoma) is farmland, small-town diners and the best-preserved urban stretches. The Texas Panhandle and New Mexico bring wide skies, Route 66 motels and Pueblo country. Arizona has the longest surviving drivable sections, including the Seligman–Kingman stretch. California crosses the Mojave before dropping to the coast (check).

Do not try to see everything. Pick two or three anchor stops per state and let the rest be drive-by. The classic stops are Springfield and St. Louis in Illinois and Missouri, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Seligman and Kingman, then Barstow and the Santa Monica pier (check).

Book the car early if you want a one-way rental; drop fees between Chicago and Los Angeles are common and vary by company (check).

Spring and autumn are the sweet spots. April–May gives mild desert temperatures and wildflowers in the Southwest; September–October brings cooler driving days and clear light. Both windows avoid the worst heat and the worst snow (check).

Summer is doable but punishing: Mojave and Arizona desert highs regularly pass 40 °C, and the long empty stretches between towns have little shade. If you drive in July or August, start early, carry more water than you think you need, and plan short afternoon legs (check).

Winter is a different problem. Flagstaff sits at about 2,100 m and gets real snow; mountain passes in New Mexico and Arizona can close. The southern desert is pleasant then, so a winter trip works if you accept that the high country may be off the table (check).

Motels are the traditional Route 66 stay and many restored ones still operate along the alignment, especially in New Mexico and Arizona. Book ahead in Flagstaff, Santa Fe and anywhere near the Grand Canyon in peak season; walk-in rates there are high and availability is thin (check).

In the big cities — Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Los Angeles — chain hotels and short-term rentals give better value than roadside motels. In small towns the opposite is true: the independent motel is often the only option and part of the point (check).

A practical pattern is to drive 300–450 km a day and sleep in a town you can walk for dinner. Camping is possible in national forests and some state parks along the way, but not on the desert stretches without planning (check).

You need a car. There is no practical public transport along the historic alignment; Amtrak and Greyhound serve some of the cities but not the road itself. Rent from Chicago or Los Angeles and confirm the one-way drop fee in writing (check).

Carry more water than feels necessary, especially across the Mojave, the Texas Panhandle and eastern Arizona. Fuel stations can be 80–160 km apart on the old alignments, so fill up when you see a pump. Summer heat, altitude at Flagstaff and long empty roads are the three things that catch people out (check).

A US home licence is usually accepted for a visit; an International Driving Permit is helpful but not required for most visitors (check your state and rental company). Tipping is expected at sit-down restaurants, 18–22%. Emergency number is 911 everywhere.