However, we’d really recommend trying to find more time, and taking at least 8 days to do the route, as we have laid out here.

If you mostly stuck to the interstate, and just did a few sections of Route 66, you could get from Chicago to LA in three to five days if you really rushed it. The total drive time from Chicago to LA on the interstate is 30 hours. We think this negates the point somewhat (and we’re not sure at what point it stops being a true Route 66 road trip), but we also appreciate not everyone has huge amounts of time! Of course, it is also possible to drive the route in a shorter amount of time by spending even more time on the interstate and less time on old Route itself. If you want to follow Route 66 as accurately as is possible today, then we’d suggest you need a minimum of two weeks for that trip, and you should check out our two week Route 66 itinerary. It would be very challenging to follow the original route in a compressed time frame as the speed limits are slower, and it passes through a lot of smaller towns which will also slow you down. If you want to absolutely faithfully follow the original Route 66 route you will want to spend a bit more time.

In many places, the I-40 runs right next to the original route, or even over the top of it, so the overall experience is not too dissimilar – it will just be faster and a little less authentic. Specifically, you will spend a fair amount of time on I-40, which was the road that replaced the original Route 66 for the stretch from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles. To do the route in this amount of time will require spending some time on the interstate rather than following the original route faithfully.

This is one way.īefore we launch into this classic USA road trip itinerary, we just want to clarify a few things about driving Route 66 in a shorter amount of time. The itinerary that we have put together for this post is for 8 days and 7 nights, from Chicago to LA (or the other way round). However, we know that not everyone necessarily has as much time to take two or three weeks driving Route 66, and we wanted to put together a shorter Route 66 road trip itinerary for you. We also have a detailed two week Route 66 itinerary with day by day higlights for the Route. We’ve driven the entirety of Route 66, and we’ve already put together a detailed guide to planning a Route 66 trip and guide to all the best places to stay on Route 66. Spanning over 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, this driving route will take you through a broad span of America, from big cities through to vast desert landscapes. If you’re looking to take a road trip in the USA, perhaps the most iconic of all is Route 66.

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