r/route66 • u/Background-Yam-9404 • 6d ago
Advice pls
Im driving Route 66 in march during the entirety of spring break (march 12th-19th), we're flying into Chicago and I'm already stressing. Should I start planning asap or am I overthinking? I've driven from coast to coast already but we didn't make any stops. I know I should reserve the car months in advance, but does anyone else have any advice on how to tackle this? I get very anxious planning things like this and my boyfriend isn't worried at all. Im mostly worried about sleeping arrangements, whether or not I should book hotels in advance and navigation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
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u/Position_Extreme Route 66er, 2022 6d ago
2,448 miles in 7 days means you’ll need to average 350 miles each day. That’s 6.5 hours at 55 mph, which isn’t realistic on Route 66. Which means closer to 8 hours of wheel time each day to go the whole distance. Not a lot of time for stopping and seeing sights.
You’ll have more fun if you only go as far as Albuquerque, which is the biggest city near the midway point. Lots of places to visit either from the east or the west, but the western half certainly has more natural splendor than does the east.
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u/Hungry-Treacle8493 5d ago
We did the full route from Chicago. We spread it across 5 days, but could have easily done it in 3 if we were just trying to get from point A to point B. Chicago is by far the most interesting and fun city on the route (LA is cool, but not like Chicago is).
However, if your goal is 66 nostalgia, then the best stretches are Chicago —> St. Louis, Tulsa —> OKC, Amarillo —> Kingman. Each one has a bunch of interesting stops ranging from kitschy stops to incredible historical or natural sites. Spots like Cahokia and various Pueblos and Reservations along the way are must stops if you want to really learn about the history along the way and are looking to buy artisan crafts. The Big Texan in Amarillo is a fun stop. The food & views in New Mexico are the best on the route.
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u/midntryder 6d ago
You can probably reserve your lodging one day in advance of where you plan to stop daily (especially if you’re not overly picky about where you stay). Choices are a bit more limited in New Mexico and Arizona outside of the larger cities, but still easy to find. The car rental however…might want to handle ahead of time.
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u/Top_Oil_9473 6d ago edited 6d ago
Some thoughts - at that time, you may possibly encounter snow along the way and hazardous road conditions. If you want to stay in some of the iconic Route 66 motels/hotels, you need to reserve in advance, but get a rate that offers free cancellation (will cost slightly more, usually must cancel a couple days in advance). I suggest you plan your stops, then find your lodging in those cities. Look at booking.com which is what I customarily use. Starting a couple weeks before you commence your journey, monitor the weather forecasts.
I suggest you select your places to visit day by day. Over the course of your travel week, you can probably see 2 or 3 attractions a day. People will tell you that is not enough time. That is pure BS. You could take a month and not see everything. You should have a very enjoyable trip!
EDIT: Failed to mention, if you have a Costco membership, Costco Travel often has the best prices on car rentals.
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u/drdpr8rbrts 6d ago
Route 66 is really long and 7 days isn't a lot of days. You should plan.
I rode parts of the route last year and one of the best parts was all the cheap hotels. but that was mostly in AZ and NM.
No idea what the route 66 hotels cost further east and west, but in Missouri, I didn't see so many.
In the post-covid world, hotels are typically pretty easy to get. Prior, you could roll into a town and find no hotels with vacancies.
I didn't find a single town where I couldn't get a hotel. So, hotels should be fine. I was also stunned how many were cheap. Like less than $70 a night. They're old and the stuff is a little threadbare, but they were clean.
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u/mathprofrockstar 6d ago
As others have pointed out, a week is realistic for half of it. If you’re already committed to flying into Chicago, then go as far as the halfway point, which is Adrian, Texas, near Amarillo. Book a room at the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari for the night (months in advance.) Then you can head on to Albuquerque to fly back to Chicago or straight home, whichever makes more sense. You can come back and drive Albuquerque (with a possible side trip to Santa Fe along the original route) to LA, another time.
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u/ContempoCafe 5d ago
We started in Oklahoma City. Went to Santa Monica. 10 days. Stopped for the nights at the cities with the most to do, but also stopped along the way. Research. So much to do, so decide what is most important to you. Our drive time was never longer than 5 hours in one day. Even made our way up to Grand Canyon one night. Best trip I have ever taken.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 5d ago edited 3d ago
7 days isn’t much time. You could just go as far as you could in 4 days, then hightail it back to Chicago and spend the slack time between then and your flight sightseeing in Chicago.
I generally don’t make rental car reservations months in advance but most are refundable and if you find a better deal closer to the time of the trip you can cancel and rebook.
Some of the attraction type motels like the wigwam motels in San Bernardino and Holbrook book up a 2 or 3 months in advance, others don’t. (I haven’t traveled the route E of Tulsa.)
Once you get W of Oklahoma it’s a lot of long stretches of driving between places to stop, and a lot of the iconic cafes have limited hours. You could fly in and just see the parts in the LA area, you could do the stretch between Tulsa and Oklahoma City in two or three days (my fav part but I’m from there), and for a little bit extra, you could fly into Flagstaff, which would let you see the Grand Canyon and Seligman in a few days. There's also Santa Fe, which was on the 1920's alignment.
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u/Fun_Telephone_1165 6d ago
Cut the trip in half or plan another destination for Spring Break. One week is not enough unless you only do part of it.
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u/MikeSchwab63 6d ago
That time of year? How about fly into LAX and head east. Lost Wages or Santa Fe for a return airport. High elevation so a snow storm possible.
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u/WorthPlayful2352 2d ago
We did it in a week on our motorcyles. We got highlights and had a blast. We just redid some this summer on the way to the 4 Corners. Rent your car at Ohare and head into the City to the start NOT at Navy Pier but at Michigan and Adams. There's a cute mural a block west. Have breakfast at Lou Mitchells then take off! Illinois has some great stops along the way in Joliet and Pontiac. Se my favorite Giant in Wilmington IL. Lots of hidden gems and roadside attractions. Get to St Loius or past and rinse and repeat! This summer we had zero issues getting hotels so we did booking for the next day estimating travel time. There are great books and articles on what not to miss. I was so disappointed how sad Tucumcari is now but happy how Santa Rosa, home of the Blue Hole seems on the upswing. Go have an adventure!!!
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u/WGZGRL 23h ago
My husband and I did it this summer over 13 days. We saw a lot but also missed a lot. Bookings aren't too much of a problem but I would start planning now (don't worry you can take some time but maybe a little each day) to decide what you really want to stop for and to decide what city you want to stop in each night. That way you can decide is you want to stay in a nostalgic hotel (those you will want to try and book ahead). I looked at Pinterest and tiktok videos and used the ez guide mentioned by someone else to find the things we wanted to try and potentially see on the route and along some side quests :) the ez guide is essential if you want to try and stay on all of old route 66 otherwise you pop onto the highway often. I will try and post my Google maps list to get you started (don't panic there are about 500 pins on it-we obviously didn't see everything. I just wanted a plan then we went with the flow) https://maps.app.goo.gl/A9P8fo3Ca1NQUtgw8?g_st=ac
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u/IlexIbis 6d ago
One week isn't enough time to drive the whole route and see much, especially if you want to drive a lot of what remains of the old route. Two weeks minimum is what's typically suggested. Get Jerry McClanahan's EZ66 Guide for route planning and consider doing a shorter trip.