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It is generally accepted that Route 66 can be completed in two weeks. Ideally, however, you should spend a whole month on the road. In two weeks, you will only visit the most popular sites and major cities, necessarily connecting over Interstate highways to avoid busy downtowns.
Hello fellow travellers!My wife and I are planning a trip to the US for the 2nd half of May. We plan spending a few days in NYC and then Chicago and drive Route 66 to LA.We have around 3 weeks for the whole thing, so we had done an initial rough plan to stay around a week in NYC and 2 weeks on the road, although this is totally flexible at the moment.Should this be sufficient time to drive from Chicago to Los Angeles having time to stop here and there and savour the places?One must-see we have on our list is the Grand Canyon; we also would like to spend a night or two in Vegas. Other than that, we're a bit wondering where to spend more time or where to just pass by.Any ideas will be greatly welcome!-Julio & Ana, Madrid, Spain.
Two weeks for the entire Route 66 may be a bit tight if you want to savor the places, I think. But you should be okay. I would suggest you pick a few places to really savor and spend a day or two in, then do longer drives for the slightly more boring sections. Route 66 is mostly bypassed by interstate highway now, and there are sections in the Southwest where it's no longer possible to stay off of those interstate highways. Those tend to be the most boring sections. Conversely, the most interesting sections tend to be through the small towns, away from the interstates.I would certainly dedicate some time to Chicago, because it's a wonderful city with quite a bit to do. Louis also has a number of attractions, as does Albuquerque.
There are additionally several places along the way where you can wander off a bit and see quite a bit more, such as Santa Fe (actually on the original Route 66); Palo Duro Canyon, Texas; Branson, Missouri; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, etc. I think you should review some of the existing resources on the internet to come up with some ideas and see which of the many places to visit you and your wife would like to see. As far as the timing of your trip, please know that Monday, 27 May, is a national holiday (Memorial Day) and many people will have that day off from work. Shops, restaurants and attractions will still be open; government offices, banks, factories, etc.
Will be closed.That weekend is the unofficial start of the summer holiday travel season, so many people will be traveling that three-day weekend. Reservations are a must.Of course, if you're a racing fan, you may want to consider beginning your trip in Los Angeles and working your way back to Chicago. The Indianapolis 500 race is Sunday, 26 May in Indianapolis (about 3 hours from Chicago).Just an idea.:-). As I read you, you'll have 16 days for Rt 66, LV and time in LA at the end. That's doable.
Figure 4 days Chicago-Oklahoma City and 8 days OKC-Santa Monica including three nights to split between Grand Canyon Village and Vegas. That leaves a couple of days in the LA area at the end plus two days to play with. On that schedule, on Memorial Day you'll probably be in Las Vegas where in my experience nothing closes, ever.As colinaz mentioned, Santa Fe was on the original Rt 66, later bypassed for a direct route to Albuquerque. Don't be tempted to save time and bypass S Fe. It is a unique place with excellent lodging and dining choices.If rooms inside the park at GC aren't available at this late date (for GC) check Tusayan which is near the South Gate.
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.
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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. All content and Images belong to Kylie @ Between England & Iowa unless otherwise stated. Opinions are my own, companies and products are recommended because of positive experiences. Any affiliates or sponsored content will be stated within individual posts.Between England and Iowa is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.Sales made with the Pura Vida coupon code are commission based at no extra cost to you.
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