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On November 11, 2026, Route 66 turns a century old. Its historic path crosses eight states and, more than just a single highway, it brings together eight very different ways to travel through the United States.
Here, the trip is not just about diners, motels, and classic cars. It's about knowing where to stop: in front of a giant astronaut, at a bridge that bends over the Mississippi, next to a blue whale in the middle of Oklahoma, or before ten Cadillacs turned into art.
Illinois
Chicago begins the route with all the energy of a big city: architecture, design, music, museums, and a dining scene that deserves to be experienced before hitting the road. Afterwards, the path becomes more visual and nostalgic as it passes through communities like Joliet, Pontiac, and Springfield, where old signs, restored gas stations, and references to the golden age of the automobile survive. But the first sign that this trip will not be conventional appears in Wilmington, in front of a giant astronaut that seems to have remained stuck in the sixties.
Must-see stop: Gemini Giant, in Wilmington.
Missouri
Missouri changes the rhythm of the trip: it leaves behind the urban entrance of Chicago to make way for small towns, wooded hills, caves, and sections that preserve the most classic character of Route 66. In St. Louis, the highway crosses the Mississippi and one of its most unexpected postcards: a historic bridge that makes a 30-degree turn midway through the journey. It is the type of discovery that sums up the spirit of the route well: infrastructure can also be part of history.
Must-see stop: Chain of Rocks Bridge, in St. Louis.
Kansas
Kansas concentrates all its participation into just 21 kilometers, but it manages to turn them into one of the most charming stops on the route. In Galena, an old gas station recalls a time when these businesses were meeting centers for travelers, mechanics, and entire communities. There you will find “Tow Tater,” a 1951 tow truck that inspired the character of Mater in Cars and turns this small stretch into a pop culture landmark for all generations.
Must-see stop: Cars on the Route, in Galena.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is one of the states where Route 66 feels most alive. Between Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Clinton, and Elk City, the highway gathers neon signs, museums, music, Art Deco architecture, diners, and some of the strangest and most endearing places on the journey. Here it is understood that the road trip was also a form of entertainment: taking a break was not a waste of time, but discovering something that didn't exist anywhere else. A giant blue whale next to a pond sums it up better than any explanation.
Must-see stop: Blue Whale, in Catoosa.
Texas
Upon reaching the Texas Panhandle, the landscape opens up suddenly: immense horizons, roadside motels, towns with a western spirit, and a feeling of freedom that becomes part of the trip. Shamrock, McLean, and Amarillo preserve some of the most recognizable images of the Texas stretch, but it is on the outskirts of Amarillo where the route becomes art: ten Cadillacs buried nose-first in a field, covered in layers of paint that change every day.
Must-see stop: Cadillac Ranch, in Amarillo.
New Mexico
In New Mexico, Route 66 acquires a completely different identity. The desert, lowrider culture, old trading posts, indigenous communities, and neon-lit motels make the journey feel less like a historic highway and more like a cultural experience in motion. Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Albuquerque, Grants, and Gallup are stops that allow you to discover a deeper and more colorful version of the Southwest. In Tucumcari, a 1939 motel still lights up its sign every night and retains the charm of when the highway was the center of the journey.
Must-see stop: Blue Swallow Motel, in Tucumcari.
Arizona
Arizona brings together some of the most recognizable postcards of Route 66: the motels of Holbrook, the music of Winslow, the character of Seligman, the landscapes around Flagstaff, and the towns that still maintain the American West imaginary. But its most unexpected stop is inside Petrified Forest National Park, where the old alignment of the road crosses a landscape of fossilized logs, mesas, and painted desert. There, a rusted Studebaker serves as a reminder that the route also traverses millions of years of natural history.
Must-see stop: Historic Route 66 Pullout, in Petrified Forest National Park.
California
California transforms the trip one last time. After the Mojave Desert, the route passes through towns and cities that marked the expansion to the west before arriving in Los Angeles and, finally, Santa Monica. The end doesn't feel like a goal that must be met, but like a visual reward: the Pacific Ocean, the pier, the Ferris wheel, and the feeling of having reached the other end of the United States. It is the final photograph, yes, but also the perfect start to continue discovering California by road.
Must-see stop: the “End of the Trail” sign, on Santa Monica Pier.
A hundred years later, Route 66 remains special because it allows you to design a tailor-made trip: a stretch of architecture, design, and pop culture in Illinois and Missouri; a route of towns and oddities through Kansas and Oklahoma; a journey of art, neon, and desert between Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, or a closing in front of the Pacific in California.
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