Ah, the legendary Route 66 road trip! This is surely a dream for many, a classic bucket list item, and it had been on ours for a long time too. And now, our long-awaited dream was finally coming true.
What is Route 66? How long is it and where does it go?
Route 66, the Mother Road, America’s Main Street… many names, but just one route. Route 66 is a historic highway created by connecting existing roads into a single route in 1926, establishing a cross-country road from east to west. By 1937, the road was fully paved, making Route 66 the first completely paved highway in the United States.
The route spans across the USA from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, ending at the Santa Monica Pier. In total, the road passes through 8 states and 3 time zones, covering approximately 4000 kilometers. Today, the road has been largely replaced by larger highways, but the original route is preserved on maps as Historic Route 66.
Planning the Road Trip
Even though the route is essentially laid out on the map, planning is a significant part of the journey. It’s essential to research and familiarize yourself with what the route offers to ensure you don’t accidentally miss any interesting stops along the way.
We read numerous blogs, travel magazines, and guides to gather interesting locations we wanted to visit and saved them on Google Maps. We aimed to experience the authentic Route 66 atmosphere and explore small towns, as well as other destinations both on and slightly off the route. We wanted to see many natural parks and planned to detour to San Francisco in California to visit relatives, so there would be some diversions. The total duration of our trip was one month.
Flights to Chicago and ESTA
The first step for our journey was, of course, booking flights. We chose Finnair with one layover, which suited us well. Our outbound flight was from Helsinki to Chicago, and the return was from Los Angeles to Helsinki.
As Finnish travelers to the USA, we only needed an ESTA application. There are many service providers for ESTA, but you can easily apply yourself and save on intermediary fees. The ESTA application is done through the official ESTA website of the United States, where you can also check the status of your application. If filling out the official form in English feels daunting, don’t worryโthe website can be switched to different languages. The official ESTA website can be found here, and the ESTA costs about $20.
Accommodations – Book in Advance or Not?
We only booked accommodations in advance for Chicago. Otherwise, we trusted that we would find lodging along the route. We’re not very structured planners and liked the idea of being able to change plans on the fly. The only downside to booking accommodations on the road was that without our own internet, we sometimes had to hunt for WiFi. Often, we booked accommodations while eating out or having coffee, and we became familiar with the WiFi availability at places like McDonald’s. A good tip is that chain restaurants generally offer open WiFi. If you want to make life easier, getting an eSim with a data package is a good option.
Google Maps Offline Maps
Navigation and map exploration didn’t require internet because we had downloaded offline maps on Google Maps, which is highly recommended whenever you’re in an area without mobile data.
Downloading offline maps on Google Maps is easy on your phone. Open the app, click on your profile picture, and select “offline maps” from the menu to download the desired areas.
One of the Road Trip’s Most Important Decisions – What Kind of Car?
Given the long distances to be covered and the amount of time we’d spend in the car, choosing the right vehicle was crucial and a significant part of the entire journeyโespecially since we both appreciate cars. What better choice for driving through America than a large SUV? While a muscle car or classic American car could have been appealing, practicality, safety, and comfort made the decision easy.
We rented the largest SUV available through Avis. This was the most substantial single expense of the trip, but the car was also a major part of the journey and well worth the investment for us. The vehicle we got was a GMC Yukon XL, which was impressively large, and traveling as a pair, we had no trouble fitting in the car.
Armed with these preparations, we were ready to embark on an unforgettable Route 66 road trip across the United States.
