Published on : 06 Nov 2026
Route 66 is the most mythologized road in the world — 2,448 miles of two-lane blacktop, four-lane highway, and crumbling ghost-town asphalt stretching from the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago to the edge of the Pacific at Santa Monica Pier, crossing eight states, three time zones, and virtually every landscape the American continent produces. It was commissioned in 1926, carried the Dust Bowl refugees west in the 1930s (John Steinbeck called it the “Mother Road” in The Grapes of Wrath), fueled the postwar American road trip mythology of the 1950s and 60s, was decertified as a US Highway in 1985 when the Interstate system made it redundant, and has spent the four decades since becoming something more interesting than a highway: a 2,400-mile outdoor museum of American vernacular architecture, roadside kitsch, mid-century commercial design, and the landscapes that made Americans fall in love with driving for its own sake.
Roughly 85% of the original alignment is still drivable in 2026, though it requires navigation, patience, and a tolerance for occasional dead ends where the asphalt simply stops in a farmer’s field. The reward for that patience is an America that the Interstate system bypassed entirely — the genuine article, unsanitized and unhurried, in the diners and motels and neon signs and wide-open landscape that the highway’s mythology accurately describes.
This guide covers the full route from Chicago to Santa Monica, state by state, with the essential stops, the best places to eat and sleep, the practical logistics (gas, cell coverage, road conditions), and the specific detours that separate a memorable Route 66 road trip from one that follows the GPS without looking up.
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total length | 2,448 miles (Chicago to Santa Monica) |
| States crossed | Illinois, Missouri, Kansas (13 miles), Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California |
| Minimum drive time | 7–10 days (rushing) |
| Ideal drive time | 14–21 days (seeing it properly) |
| Best season | April–June and September–October |
| Worst season | July–August in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona (100°F+) |
| Direction | West (Chicago to Santa Monica) is traditional; either works |
| Best vehicle | Any reliable car; 4WD useful for a few optional dirt detours |
| Gas strategy | Fill up at every opportunity in New Mexico, Arizona, and rural Oklahoma |
7–10 days is the minimum for the full route — this means 250–350 miles per day, which is doable but leaves little time for the best stops. You will drive past things worth stopping for.
14 days is the sweet spot — 175 miles per day on average, enough time to linger at the Grand Canyon (one full day), explore the Santa Fe detour (one day), walk the Cadillac Ranch and not just photograph it, eat two meals at a diner instead of one, and sit on the porch of a Route 66 motel at dusk without feeling the schedule pull.
21 days is the full experience — time for every detour, every ghost town, every conversation at a roadside diner that turns into an hour.
Chicago to Santa Monica (west) is traditional and emotionally correct — you are following the Dust Bowl migrants, the postwar dreamers, the Route 66 mythology. The landscapes also build in drama: the flat Illinois and Missouri farmland gives way to the Oklahoma plains, then the Texas Panhandle, then the New Mexico mountains, then the Arizona desert, then the California mountains, then the Pacific. Ending at Santa Monica Pier with the ocean in front of you is the finest road trip ending in the United States.
The EZ66 Guide for Travelers (Jerry McClanahan, $22, the definitive mile-by-mile guide, updated for 2024) is the finest single navigation resource for Route 66 — GPS cannot reliably route the original alignment, and the EZ66 guide’s hand-drawn maps and mile-by-mile directions have guided more successful Route 66 trips than any app. Use it alongside Google Maps (set to “avoid highways” when you want the old alignment). The Historic Route 66 Association websites for each state maintain current road condition updates.
Grant Park and Lake Shore Drive — the traditional start is Adams Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s Grant Park, where the original eastern terminus was established. The Art Institute of Chicago lions on Michigan Avenue ($26/adult) are the finest start-of-route cultural photo in the country. Walk the Chicago Riverwalk (free, the finest urban riverwalk in America) for the last big-city experience before the road opens up.
Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant (565 W Jackson Blvd, since 1923, the finest Route 66 starting-point breakfast in Chicago — the malted Belgian waffle $14, the Greek omelet $13, the donut hole and milk duds given free to every customer the finest restaurant tradition in Chicago, the finest $14 breakfast within walking distance of the Route 66 start), open Monday–Saturday 5:30AM, is where every proper Route 66 trip begins.
Gemini Giant (Launching Pad Drive-In, 810 E Baltimore St, Wilmington, the finest Muffler Man fiberglass roadside giant in Illinois — 28 feet tall, holding a rocket, the finest single piece of Route 66 roadside art in the state, free to photograph), Polk-A-Dot Drive In (222 N Front St, Braidwood, the finest classic drive-in with fiberglass celebrity statues in Illinois, the root beer float $6 the finest cheap drink on the Illinois route, open April–October) and the Odell Standard Oil Gas Station (400 S West St, Odell, the finest restored 1932 Standard Oil station on Route 66, free, the finest example of the Craftsman-style station architecture that dotted the Mother Road in its prime) are the essential Illinois stops.
Atlanta, Illinois — the Atlanta Library (100 Race St, the finest octagonal public library building in the United States, 1908, free) and the Palms Grill Café (110 SW Arch St, $12–18, the finest small-town Route 66 diner in Illinois, the beef Manhattan $14 the finest loose-meat sandwich in central Illinois) make Atlanta the finest small-town stop in the Illinois segment.
Springfield — the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (112 N 6th St, $20/adult, the finest presidential library and museum in the United States by visitor engagement — the Ghosts of the Library experience the finest theatrical museum presentation in any US presidential library, Lincoln’s actual stovepipe hat the finest single presidential object on display in the country) and the Cozy Dog Drive In (2935 S 6th St, the inventor of the corn dog on a stick in 1946, the most historically significant fast food origin site on Route 66, the corn dog $3.50, the finest $3.50 on Route 66 in Illinois) are the essential Springfield stops.
Chain of Rocks Bridge (10950 Riverview Dr, Madison, IL, free, the finest Route 66 bridge in the United States — a 1929 steel truss bridge over the Mississippi River with a distinctive 22-degree bend in the middle, now a pedestrian and cycling bridge with the finest Mississippi River view from any Route 66 structure) is the final Illinois stop before crossing into Missouri.
Where to sleep in Illinois: Cozy Dog Motel Springfield ($80–110/night) or the Landmark Hotel Springfield ($140–200/night, the finest mid-range hotel in Springfield with the finest location near the presidential sites).
The Gateway Arch (St. Louis, $16/adult tram ride, the finest American monument built in the 20th century — 630 feet of stainless steel catenary arch on the Mississippi riverfront, the Museum at the Gateway Arch $16/adult the finest westward expansion museum in the United States, the tram to the top the finest 4-minute ride in Missouri with the finest view of the Mississippi from any structure in St. Louis) is the finest single attraction on the Missouri segment and one of the finest on the entire route.
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (6726 Chippewa St, St. Louis, the most beloved Route 66 food stop in Missouri since 1929, the concrete — a frozen custard so thick it is served upside down — $6–9, the finest frozen custard in the United States, open February–December, the line always worth joining) is the essential St. Louis Route 66 food stop.
Meramec Caverns (1135 Hwy W, Stanton, MO, $25/adult, the most famous cave on Route 66 — Jesse James allegedly used it as a hideout, the Stage Curtain formation the finest single stalactite-stalagmite composite in the Missouri Ozarks, the barn roofs of Missouri advertising Meramec Caverns are the finest surviving example of the roadside barn advertising tradition that lined Route 66 in the 1940s–60s) and the Cuba Murals (Cuba, MO, 10 large-scale murals painted on the sides of downtown buildings depicting Route 66 and Missouri history, free, the finest mural walk on the Missouri segment) are the essential Ozarks stops.
Red Cedar Inn (1047 E Osage Beach, Lake Ozark — a 1934 Route 66 original restaurant serving since the highway’s prime, $35–55/person, the finest historic dining room in Missouri on the Route 66 alignment) and the Wagon Wheel Motel (901 E Washington St, Cuba, MO, $75–110/night, the finest intact 1947-era Route 66 motel still operating in Missouri, the original stone construction the finest Route 66 motel architecture in the state) are the best food and sleep stops.
Kansas contributes only 13.2 miles to Route 66 — the shortest state segment on the entire route — but those 13 miles contain the finest small-town Route 66 experience in the Midwest. Galena, Kansas (the Cars on the Route diner in a 1930s salvage warehouse, the four restored tow trucks that inspired the Mater character in Pixar’s Cars, the finest film-connection stop on Route 66, free to view) and Riverton, Kansas (the Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store, a 1925 country store still operating as a deli and general store, the Route 66 Kansas gift shop inside the finest $6 bologna sandwich in the state) are the essential Kansas stops.
Oklahoma has the finest surviving concentration of Route 66 roadside culture in the United States — more intact original alignment, more operating diners and motels, and more genuine 1950s roadside Americana than any other state on the route. The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum (2229 W Gary Blvd, Clinton, $7/adult, the finest single-state Route 66 museum in the country, the most comprehensive collection of Route 66 artifacts and history in one building) and the National Route 66 Museum Complex (2717 W Route 66, Elk City, $7/adult, six museums in a complex covering the history of the road and the pioneer settlement of Oklahoma) are the finest museum stops.
Blue Whale of Catoosa (3801 N Hwy 66, Catoosa, free, a 20-foot concrete blue whale in a swimming pond built by Hugh Davis for his wife in 1972, the finest pure roadside folk art on Route 66, the most beloved free stop in Oklahoma, the finest 15-minute detour in the state) is the first essential Oklahoma stop after crossing from Kansas.
Tulsa (the finest city on the Route 66 Oklahoma alignment — the Cain’s Ballroom the finest live music venue, the Philbrook Museum the finest art museum, the Greenwood District the most historically significant neighborhood on the entire Oklahoma route — full Tulsa details in our Cheapest Cities to Visit in the USA guide).
Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza (Southwest Blvd & Riverside Dr, Tulsa, free, the East Meets West bronze sculpture — a 1927 touring car meeting a horse-drawn wagon, the finest Route 66 monument in Oklahoma) and Meadow Gold Sign (11th St & Utica Ave, Tulsa, free, a restored 1949 neon milk bottle sign the finest surviving neon roadside sign in Tulsa) are the finest free Tulsa stops.
Pops 66 (660 W Hwy 66, Arcadia, the finest roadside restaurant and soda shop on Route 66 — 700+ varieties of bottled soda, the LED soda bottle sculpture 66 feet tall the finest piece of Route 66 sculpture in central Oklahoma, the Pop’s burger $12 the finest Route 66 burger in Oklahoma, the glass-and-steel modern diner design the finest contemporary Route 66 architecture in the state) is the finest single food and experience stop in Oklahoma.
Round Barn (107 E Hwy 66, Arcadia, free, the finest surviving round barn in Oklahoma built 1898, the most photographed agricultural building on Route 66, the volunteer-staffed interior the finest free 20-minute historic building tour in the state) is adjacent to Pops 66 — visit both in the same stop.
Oklahoma City — the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum (620 N Harvey Ave, grounds free, museum $15/adult, the most affecting American memorial built since the Vietnam Wall — the Field of Empty Chairs (168 bronze chairs representing each victim of the 1995 bombing, arranged by floor of the Murrah Federal Building they occupied, the finest outdoor memorial space in the American Midwest, free to visit at any hour)) and the Stockyards City district (the finest working cattle auction adjacent to a city’s historic district in the United States, the Cattlemen’s Steakhouse 1309 S Agnew Ave $35–60/person the finest steak in Oklahoma City since 1910, the finest beef in a steakhouse in the Oklahoma route) are the essential OKC stops.
Where to sleep in Oklahoma: Campbell Hotel (2636 E 11th St, Tulsa, $150–250/night, the finest boutique hotel in a 1927 Route 66-era building in Oklahoma, the finest hotel bar in Tulsa), Skyliner Motel (717 W Main St, Stroud, $65–90/night, the finest surviving 1950s independent motel in the Oklahoma Route 66 corridor, operated continuously since 1950).
The Texas segment of Route 66 — 178 miles across the flat, enormous, sky-dominated Texas Panhandle — is the most elemental driving experience on the route. The road is straight, the land is flat to the horizon in every direction, the sky is bigger than anywhere east of the Rockies, and the Llano Estacado (the staked plain, the flattest large landmass in the continental US) produces a landscape of pure, unmediated openness that is either the most boring or the most meditative stretch of the drive depending on your disposition. It is worth experiencing for what it is.
Cadillac Ranch (I-40 frontage road, 2 miles west of Amarillo, free, the finest piece of public art on Route 66 — ten Cadillacs from 1949–1963 buried nose-first in a Texas wheat field at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza, painted and repainted by visitors who bring their own spray cans, the most democratically participatory art installation in the United States, bring a spray can from the dollar store in Amarillo and add your mark, the finest free 30-minute stop on the entire Texas segment) is the essential Route 66 Texas stop — no other stop on the Texas segment compares in cultural significance or pure visual impact.
Amarillo — the Big Texan Steak Ranch (7701 E I-40, the most famous restaurant in the Texas Panhandle, the 72-ounce steak free if eaten in one hour (with shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, and roll, the most famous restaurant challenge in the United States, $72 if you don’t finish, the finest spectator dining experience on Route 66 — watch the challengers from the main dining room), the chicken fried steak $22 the finest cheap meal in Amarillo without the competitive eating component, the yellow limousine shuttle from local hotels the finest free hotel-to-restaurant transportation in the Texas Panhandle), the Cadillac Ranch (see above), and the Route 66 Historic District (6th Street in Amarillo, the finest restored neon sign corridor in Texas, the best antique shopping on the Texas segment) make Amarillo the essential Texas overnight.
McLean (the Devil’s Rope Museum, free, the finest barbed wire museum in the United States — 2,400+ varieties of barbed wire on display, the most specialized single-subject museum on Route 66, the most genuinely surprising free museum in the American Southwest) is the finest small town stop in the Texas segment.
Where to sleep in Texas: Big Texan Motel (7701 E I-40, Amarillo, $80–130/night, the finest Route 66 motel experience in Texas, the same property as the steak ranch, the finest pool shaped like the state of Texas in the country).
New Mexico has the longest Route 66 segment and the finest combination of Native American culture, Spanish Colonial history, and high desert landscape of any state on the route. The road climbs from the Texas Panhandle through Tucumcari, crosses the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, passes through Albuquerque’s Central Avenue, and descends through Gallup toward the Arizona border.
Tucumcari is the finest Route 66 neon town in New Mexico — a small city of 5,000 that once had 2,000 motel rooms (more per capita than any other Route 66 town) and whose surviving neon signs along Route 66 are the finest concentration of intact mid-century motel and diner neon in the Southwest. The Blue Swallow Motel (815 E Route 66, Tucumcari, $85–130/night, the finest surviving 1939-era Route 66 motel in the United States, neon swallow sign the most beloved motel sign on the entire route, the carport garages the finest Route 66 motel architecture in New Mexico, reserve weeks in advance for summer) is the single most iconic accommodation on the entire 2,448-mile route — book it.
Santa Rosa — the Blue Hole (Blue Hole Rd, Santa Rosa, free, an artesian spring pool 80 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep, the water a vivid cerulean blue, 61°F year-round, the finest natural swimming hole adjacent to a Route 66 town in the United States, scuba diving popular, the finest free swim in New Mexico) is the finest surprise stop on the New Mexico segment.
Albuquerque’s Central Avenue (the original Route 66 alignment through Albuquerque — 18 miles of Central Avenue passing through the Nob Hill neighborhood (the finest Route 66 urban neighborhood bar and restaurant strip in New Mexico, the Nob Hill Bar & Grill $14–22 the finest cheap dinner on Central Avenue, the Marble Brewery Nob Hill taproom $6–8/pint the finest craft beer on the Albuquerque Route 66 alignment), past the University of New Mexico campus (the finest Pueblo Revival university architecture in the United States, free to walk, the Zimmerman Library the finest Pueblo Revival library in the country), and through Old Town (the finest surviving Spanish Colonial plaza in the continental US, free — full Albuquerque details in our Best Cities for Solo Travel USA guide)).
Santa Fe Detour (US-84 north from Santa Fe interchange on I-40, 60 miles north, the finest city detour on the entire Route 66 alignment — Santa Fe is not on the original Route 66 alignment but was connected by a spur, and skipping it is the most common Route 66 regret — the Canyon Road galleries, the Palace of the Governors, the Shed enchiladas, the Inn of the Five Graces — full Santa Fe details in our Best Weekend Getaways USA guide).
Gallup — the El Rancho Hotel (1000 E Hwy 66, Gallup, $95–150/night, the finest Route 66 hotel in New Mexico with the finest film history — every Hollywood Western star from 1940–1964 stayed here, the signed celebrity photos covering the lobby walls the finest hotel lobby artifact collection in New Mexico, the dining room $22–38 the finest hotel restaurant in Gallup) is the finest overnight on the western New Mexico segment.
Arizona contains the finest surviving intact stretches of original Route 66 pavement in the United States — the Sitgreaves Pass road between Oatman and Kingman (the original 1926 alignment, now a narrow mountain road with 15% grades and hairpin turns, requiring caution but rewarding with the finest mountain drive scenery on the Arizona route), the longest drivable continuous stretch of original Route 66 alignment (the Ash Fork to Topock segment through Seligman, Peach Springs, Truxton, Valentine, Hackberry, and Kingman, 155 miles of original alignment the finest single continuous old-road experience on Route 66).
Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert (US-180, Holbrook area, $25/vehicle 7-day pass, the Painted Desert at dawn or dusk — the finest natural color display in Arizona after the Grand Canyon, the layers of red, purple, orange, and white Triassic badlands the finest geological color in a US national park, the Crystal Forest Trail 0.75 miles the finest short walk through petrified wood in the park, the Agate House 2.7 miles the finest short full-trail hike) is the finest national park stop directly on the Route 66 corridor.
Wigwam Motel (811 W Hopi Dr, Holbrook, $75–110/night, the finest Route 66 novelty accommodation in Arizona — 15 concrete wigwam-shaped cabins built 1950, one of only two remaining Wigwam Motels in the United States (the other is in Rialto, California), the most distinctive Route 66 lodging architecture in the Southwest, the classic American car collection on the property the finest free roadside car exhibit in Arizona) is the most photographed motel on the Arizona route.
Winslow — the Standin’ on the Corner Park (Kinsley Ave and 2nd St, Winslow, free, the Eagles lyric (“Well, I’m standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona…”) commemorated in a bronze flatbed Ford and a trompe l’oeil mural, the finest music-lyric monument on Route 66, the most visited free corner in Arizona, the La Posada Hotel 303 E 2nd St $180–320/night the finest Route 66 hotel in Arizona — a 1930 Fred Harvey Company railroad hotel designed by Mary Colter the finest Arts and Crafts hotel architect in America, the Turquoise Room restaurant $55–85/person the finest dinner in a Route 66 hotel in the United States).
Seligman — the Angel Delgadillo’s Route 66 Gift Shop & Barber Shop (22265 W Route 66, Seligman, free to visit, the man who saved Route 66 — Angel Delgadillo organized the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona in 1987 that inspired the national Route 66 preservation movement, the finest living Route 66 history conversation in the state if Angel is present, the finest Route 66 souvenir selection in Arizona at $5–50) is the most historically significant single stop on the Arizona route.
Grand Canyon Detour (AZ-64 north from Williams, 60 miles, the finest day trip from the Route 66 alignment — the South Rim (the Mather Point sunrise the finest single natural sight in the United States, Bright Angel Trail the finest rim-to-river day hike, $35/vehicle 7-day pass) — full Grand Canyon details in our Best Places to Visit in the USA guide, the El Tovar Hotel $250–450/night the finest historic hotel at the Grand Canyon, reserve 6–13 months in advance).
Oatman — the wild burros (descendants of pack animals released by gold miners in the early 20th century, 100+ burros roaming freely through the main street of Oatman, the finest free wildlife encounter in a historic mining town in the Southwest, carrots sold by street vendors $1–2/bag the finest $2 spent feeding a burro on Route 66, the Oatman Hotel 1902 the finest saloon on the Arizona route at $8/beer) and the Sitgreaves Pass drive to Kingman (the finest mountain driving experience on the Route 66 alignment, cautious driving required, the view of the Mojave from the pass the finest Route 66 mountain view in Arizona) make Oatman the finest small town on the Arizona route.
Where to sleep in Arizona: La Posada Hotel (Winslow, $180–320/night — the finest Route 66 hotel in the United States), Wigwam Motel (Holbrook, $75–110/night, the finest novelty), El Trovatore Motel (1550 E Andy Devine Ave, Kingman, $70–100/night, the finest preserved 1930s motel in Kingman, the finest murals in a Route 66 Kingman motel).
The Mojave Desert segment (Needles to Barstow, the most historically charged stretch of the California route — the Dust Bowl migrants crossed this stretch in summer in cars without air conditioning, in temperatures reaching 115°F, some dying in the attempt, the Mojave Road the finest optional desert detour for 4WD vehicles) is the most elemental California stretch.
Amboy — Roy’s Motel and Café (87520 National Trails Hwy, Amboy, the most famous abandoned Route 66 property in California — the 1938 Googie-style rooftop sign the finest surviving roadside sign in the Mojave Desert, the building partially restored, the finest photograph in the California Route 66 desert, the gas station operating sporadically in 2026) and the Amboy Crater (adjacent to Amboy, 3-mile RT trail to the rim of a basalt cinder cone volcano, free, the finest geological side trail in the California Mojave) are the essential Mojave stops.
Victorville — the California Route 66 Museum (16825 D St, Victorville, free, the finest Route 66 museum in California, the Route 66 neon collection the finest surviving neon sign assembly in the state, the Route 66 timeline the finest visual history of the Mother Road in California) and the Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Café (17143 D St, Victorville, since 1947, $12–18, the finest classic diner counter experience in the California Route 66 corridor, the hand-patty burger $12 the finest cheap burger in the Mojave) are the essential Victorville stops.
San Bernardino — the Original McDonald’s Site and Museum (1398 N E St, San Bernardino, free, the site of the original 1948 McDonald’s restaurant where Richard and Maurice McDonald invented the Speedee Service System that became the global fast food template, the finest American business history site on Route 66, the Juan Pollo restaurant now operating on the site with a free museum of McDonald’s history in the dining room) is the finest free food history stop in California.
Pasadena and Los Angeles — Colorado Boulevard (the Route 66 alignment through Pasadena — the Rose Bowl (1001 Rose Bowl Dr, the finest outdoor stadium in the United States for architecture, free to walk outside, $20–30/game), the Gamble House (4 Westmoreland Place, $20/adult, the finest Greene & Greene Arts and Crafts bungalow in the United States, the finest single building in Pasadena, the finest 90-minute architectural tour in Southern California)), the Griffith Observatory (2800 E Observatory Rd, free, the finest public observatory in the United States, the finest view of the Los Angeles skyline from any free public site in the city, the Samuel Oschin Planetarium $10/adult the finest dome show in a California observatory) make the LA approach worth extending.
Santa Monica Pier (200 Santa Monica Pier, the official western terminus of Route 66 — the Route 66 End of the Trail sign at the pier entrance the most photographed sign on the California coast, the Pacific Park amusement rides on the pier $6–12/ride, the finest pier-end view of the Pacific the finest 2-minute walk to the conclusion of 2,448 miles, the Pacific Ocean — wade in if the water is warm enough, swim if it’s not — is the finest ending to any American road trip).
Where to sleep in California: Wigwam Motel (2728 W Foothill Blvd, Rialto, $95–130/night, the finest Route 66 novelty motel in California), Hotel Casa del Mar (1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica, $600–1,200/night, the finest ending-point luxury hotel at the Route 66 terminus, the finest Pacific view from a Santa Monica hotel), or the Shore Hotel (1515 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, $400–700/night, the finest mid-luxury terminus hotel within walking distance of the pier).
| State | Restaurant | Must-Order | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Lou Mitchell’s, Chicago | Belgian waffle | $14 |
| Illinois | Cozy Dog Drive In, Springfield | Original corn dog | $3.50 |
| Missouri | Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, St. Louis | Concrete frozen custard | $6–9 |
| Oklahoma | Pops 66, Arcadia | Burger + soda flight | $18–24 |
| Oklahoma | Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, OKC | T-bone steak | $45–60 |
| Texas | Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo | Chicken fried steak | $22 |
| New Mexico | The Shed, Santa Fe (detour) | Red chile enchiladas | $18–22 |
| Arizona | Turquoise Room, La Posada | Local elk or lamb | $55–85 |
| California | Emma Jean’s Holland Burger, Victorville | Hand-patty burger | $12 |
| State | Motel | Nightly Rate | Why Stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Landmark Hotel, Springfield | $140–200 | Best Lincoln-area hotel |
| Missouri | Wagon Wheel Motel, Cuba | $75–110 | 1947 original stone construction |
| Oklahoma | Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari (NM adjacent) | $85–130 | Most iconic Route 66 motel |
| Texas | Big Texan Motel, Amarillo | $80–130 | Texas-shaped pool, steak ranch |
| New Mexico | Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari | $85–130 | Most beloved motel on the route |
| Arizona | La Posada Hotel, Winslow | $180–320 | Finest Route 66 hotel in US |
| Arizona | Wigwam Motel, Holbrook | $75–110 | Most distinctive architecture |
| California | Shore Hotel, Santa Monica | $400–700 | Finest terminus hotel |
Gas: Fill up at every opportunity in rural New Mexico and Arizona — stations can be 60+ miles apart on the original alignment. The Mojave Desert in California similarly has sparse fuel stops. Carry a small fuel can for the most remote segments.
Cell coverage: AT&T and Verizon have the best rural coverage on Route 66. Expect dead zones in the Texas Panhandle, rural New Mexico, the Sitgreaves Pass area of Arizona, and the Mojave Desert. Download offline Google Maps for the states you’re crossing before you leave cell range.
Road conditions: Check the Historic Route 66 Association websites for each state before driving — some original alignment segments wash out seasonally, particularly in New Mexico and Arizona after monsoon rains (July–September). The Oatman Road (AZ-10, Sitgreaves Pass) requires careful driving in a standard car; RVs and large vehicles should use the I-40 bypass.
Best season: April–May (the finest spring wildflowers in Oklahoma and Texas, manageable temperatures everywhere, pre-summer crowds) and September–October (summer heat has broken in the Southwest, fall foliage beginning in the Midwest, the finest photography light of the year in the Arizona and New Mexico desert). Avoid July–August in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona — daytime temperatures regularly exceed 105°F and several Route 66 diners and motels close for the season.
Budget: A realistic Route 66 budget for two people over 14 days:
Posted By : Vinay
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