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| Part of the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri |
Unless you’re driving your own vehicle from your home
(which, as I note here, makes the trip a lot longer), your biggest
Route 66 expenses will be airfare, a one-way vehicle rental, and lodging along
the way. Your other expenses will consist of food, gas and, at your option,
admission to some attractions and souvenirs. Except for the airfare and vehicle
rental, Route 66 can be quite affordable compared to traditional
vacation destinations.
Compare east-to-west and west-to-east vehicle rentals. Depending on supply and demand, it may be cheaper to rent a Los Angeles-to-Chicago vehicle than the other way around.
Splurge on a comfortable rental vehicle. Since you’ll be spending a lot of time in your rental vehicle, it’s worth spending extra to get one that will be comfortable. A small SUV worked well for us. But don’t get something huge unless you want to camp in an RV. Some old stretches of Route 66 are narrow and have frequent sharp turns. An RV or large vehicle would be difficult to navigate on them.
Consider stopping at vintage hotels, motels and restaurants for a more authentic Route 66 experience…and maybe saving some money. Our favorite and most memorable stop on our Chicago-to-Tulsa trip was a night at the 1934 Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. Beautifully restored, it gave us real sense of what it was like to travel along Route 66 decades ago. Our favorite meal was lunch at the 1957 Whirl-a-Whip in Girard, Illinois. We got two local delicacies: a fried pork tenderloin sandwich and a horseshoe: bread topped with meat, fries, and a creamy cheese sauce. Not only are these kinds of stops memorable experiences, but most of these places are independently owned, and your business—and your online reviews—really helps them.
Consider an occasional splurge on a larger hotel room. We spent most evenings in our hotel/motel rooms (there’s not a lot of nightlife along much of Route 66!). It was worth periodically upgrading to a larger room with a couch and/or comfy chair, so we could spread out and relax. Those rooms are a nice balance to the small rooms in vintage motels.
Really good advice, thank you so much. We are hoping to do the route in 2024 or 2025, but from other road trips we learned that planning for laundry opportunities about every 5-7 days kept our luggage at a good size (important if flying in from abroad) and in the interest of sore back (husband) and dodgy knees (myself) access to a pool every now and then was also very helpful for the next few days on the road.
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! Thank you for sharing!
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