Must see places on route 66

Soldato
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Hi all

Thinking of doing route 66 at the end of september, and have just started looking around for places to stay and what car to rent etc.

Has anybody ever done it and got any must see places I should visit?
 
Associate
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Flagstaff is a great little town, spent 3 months there the other year inbetween working at the Grand Canyon.

If you were dragging your trip out over a month or so it would be an awesome place to use as a base.

...You have to see the Canyon though, can't even remember if its along 66 but if you're out that way you have to go
 
Soldato
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thanks for the reply:)

We will be looking to do about 14-18days I think. Hopefully spend 4-5 days in vegas though, so won't see all of the route (even though the original route 66 is long gone) I think in total it goes from chicago to los angeles
 
Man of Honour
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Basically, don't bother. Seriously, hear me out.

Route 66 doesn't exist and hasn't existed for such a long time now that its almost an irrelevence yet still us Brits are seemingly obsessed wtih driving it. There are bits left, notably in places like Arizona and California but for the most part all you will be doing is roughly tracing the route.

By driving from Chicago to LA in 14-18 days you are basically going to spend most of your time boring yourself to death driving through the featureless centre part of the US on interstates and highways thinking 'Route 66 used to sort of go near here'. This is rubbish.

Also, you are going to incur quite massive additional expense which you could otherwise have spent on cool stuff. The one-way car hire cost from Chicago to LA is going to be enormous, rental firms dont want cars to travel that far from the home depot if they can help it, so they penalise you with a huge drop fee and also by palming you off with the cars they want rid of when you come to collect. You are also going to find it less easy to get a decent flight deal with an open jaw return into Chicago and out of LA.

Instead, do a loop.

Fly into and out of LA. Rent something nice like a Mustang Convertible. Trace the route of the old 66 from LA towards Flagstaff, Arizona. This will get you almost all of the route 66 stuff you wanted anyway. Then you can hit the Grand Canyon, come back through Las Vegas, check out Death Valley, head up to San Francisco and then cruise back down the epic Pacific Coast Highway with the roof down in your Mustang convertible.

This trip will be 10x better and also cheaper. And you'll probably see just as much Route 66 stuff, but you'll also loads and loads of other great stuff, too.
 
Soldato
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If you love driving and you want a fact finding photo taking holiday then rout 66 is for you.
But if your one of these "entertain me" people then forget it. Like some brits go to Philadelphia and say there's nothing to do when in fact there is tonnes to do and see :)
 
Soldato
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I did it in 2009 and really enjoyed it - it was fascinating to see all the 'stuff in the middle' that we tend to forget about when thinking of the US. You'll get to see the culture, climate and scenery shift significantly through the journey too.

Tips:

Get a good car with cruise control
Most towns only need an overnight stop - aim to spend two or three hours driving per day. Exceptions are LA, Vegas, Williams (for the grand canyon) and Chicago.
Tune in to local radio
They don't get a lot of Brits in the Midwest so you're treated like royalty
 
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;25589429 said:
Basically, don't bother. Seriously, hear me out.

Route 66 doesn't exist and hasn't existed for such a long time now that its almost an irrelevence yet still us Brits are seemingly obsessed wtih driving it. There are bits left, notably in places like Arizona and California but for the most part all you will be doing is roughly tracing the route.

By driving from Chicago to LA in 14-18 days you are basically going to spend most of your time boring yourself to death driving through the featureless centre part of the US on interstates and highways thinking 'Route 66 used to sort of go near here'. This is rubbish.

Also, you are going to incur quite massive additional expense which you could otherwise have spent on cool stuff. The one-way car hire cost from Chicago to LA is going to be enormous, rental firms dont want cars to travel that far from the home depot if they can help it, so they penalise you with a huge drop fee and also by palming you off with the cars they want rid of when you come to collect. You are also going to find it less easy to get a decent flight deal with an open jaw return into Chicago and out of LA.

Instead, do a loop.

Fly into and out of LA. Rent something nice like a Mustang Convertible. Trace the route of the old 66 from LA towards Flagstaff, Arizona. This will get you almost all of the route 66 stuff you wanted anyway. Then you can hit the Grand Canyon, come back through Las Vegas, check out Death Valley, head up to San Francisco and then cruise back down the epic Pacific Coast Highway with the roof down in your Mustang convertible.

This trip will be 10x better and also cheaper. And you'll probably see just as much Route 66 stuff, but you'll also loads and loads of other great stuff, too.

Thanks for that fox, just had a look at the thread you made on your road trip in the USA and it looked awesome.
The more I have been reading about 66 it just seems most of it is gone and all the things associated with it like motels/cool food places have gone with it.
The route you suggest sounds good as I would love to see San fran as well, plus like you say it would cut down on flight prices and car rental.
Im really fancying renting an old school classic mustang/chevy, something from the 60's or 70's.

I need to get myself a list of placed to see and get a bit of a plan sorted out:)
 
Soldato
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1 Jun 2012
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UK
[TW]Fox;25589429 said:
Basically, don't bother. Seriously, hear me out.

Route 66 doesn't exist and hasn't existed for such a long time now that its almost an irrelevence yet still us Brits are seemingly obsessed wtih driving it. There are bits left, notably in places like Arizona and California but for the most part all you will be doing is roughly tracing the route.

By driving from Chicago to LA in 14-18 days you are basically going to spend most of your time boring yourself to death driving through the featureless centre part of the US on interstates and highways thinking 'Route 66 used to sort of go near here'. This is rubbish.

Also, you are going to incur quite massive additional expense which you could otherwise have spent on cool stuff. The one-way car hire cost from Chicago to LA is going to be enormous, rental firms dont want cars to travel that far from the home depot if they can help it, so they penalise you with a huge drop fee and also by palming you off with the cars they want rid of when you come to collect. You are also going to find it less easy to get a decent flight deal with an open jaw return into Chicago and out of LA.

Instead, do a loop.

Fly into and out of LA. Rent something nice like a Mustang Convertible. Trace the route of the old 66 from LA towards Flagstaff, Arizona. This will get you almost all of the route 66 stuff you wanted anyway. Then you can hit the Grand Canyon, come back through Las Vegas, check out Death Valley, head up to San Francisco and then cruise back down the epic Pacific Coast Highway with the roof down in your Mustang convertible.

This trip will be 10x better and also cheaper. And you'll probably see just as much Route 66 stuff, but you'll also loads and loads of other great stuff, too.

this i would highly recommend, i havent done the drive along route 66, but i did stay in LA for a week then drive up to san fran using the inerstate in a Dodge challenger...boy that was a car :D:D there are some decent sights in San Fran such as the bridge obviously, Alcatraz is a must see. In LA the observatory which is in star trek for you trek fans, the hollywood sign, all the celeb houses (mother insisted on seeing Edward cullen's house) holywood walk of fame. You can see most of LA in a day or two, then head on up to San Fran, spend a day or two there. Then from there loop round to las vegas like Fox says and back to LA. Haven't been to las vegas but my friend has and says it is amazing. The interstate has the service stations for food and the odd motel (atleast on the route from LA to San fran) so you can stop and stay the night if you need as it is i think a 6 hour drive.
 
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