Route 66 holiday packages from the UK bundle return flights, a one-way hire car and a chain of pre-booked hotels. That leaves you free to drive the old highway from Chicago to the Pacific at your own pace. This guide sets out what our package contains, what it costs month by month through 2027, and the two decisions that move the price most: when you travel and which cabin you fly. It sits alongside our wider guide to USA holiday packages from the UK.
Quick answer
A Route 66 holiday from the UK starts from £1,969pp in Economy for October 2026, based on two sharing. It is a 15-day Chicago to Los Angeles fly-drive with return flights, SUV hire and hotels. The best months to drive are May, June, September and October. The package is ATOL 10713 protected.
- Route
- Chicago to Santa Monica, about 2,400 miles.
- States crossed
- Eight: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
- Entry for UK passports
- ESTA, about US$40, valid for up to two years or until your passport expires.
- Currency
- US dollar (USD).
- Driving
- On the right.
What’s included in a Route 66 holiday package from the UK
Our package is a fly-drive, not a coach tour. The flights, car and beds are fixed before you leave, and the driving days are yours to shape. The price includes:
- Return flights from UK airports, with hold luggage.
- A private transfer from the airport on arrival in Chicago.
- Intermediate SUV hire with full insurance and unlimited mileage, collected in Chicago and returned at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
- Hotels for every night: nine 4-star properties and one 5-star in Las Vegas.
- A 24-hour assistance line while you travel.
- A deposit from £199pp to secure the booking.
On a US road trip, several costs are usually paid locally. Check which of these your quote covers before you set a budget:
- Fuel, which is priced per US gallon (3.785 litres).
- Overnight parking, which city-centre hotels often charge for.
- Resort or destination fees, which many Las Vegas hotels add per night at check-out.
- National park entrance fees.
- Road tolls, which hire companies often bill after you return the car.
- Meals, drinks and restaurant tips.
The Route 66 itinerary: Chicago to Los Angeles in 15 days
The 15-day Route 66 fly-drive from Chicago to Los Angeles follows the historic road west. It allows longer stays where there is most to see. The table shows where you sleep each night.
| Days | Overnight | Hotel |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Chicago | The Palmer House Hilton (4*) |
| 4 | Springfield, Illinois | State House Inn (4*) |
| 5 | St Louis | Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch (4*) |
| 6 | Springfield, Missouri | University Plaza Hotel (4*) |
| 7 | Oklahoma City | Skirvin Hilton (4*) |
| 8 | Amarillo | Embassy Suites by Hilton (4*) |
| 9–10 | Santa Fe | Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza (4*) |
| 11 | Winslow | La Posada Hotel (4*) |
| 12–13 | Las Vegas | Bellagio (5*) |
| 14 | Los Angeles | Loews Hollywood Hotel (4*) |
| 15 | Flight home | – |
Illinois and Missouri: city, prairie and the Arch
Chicago’s first days suit walking: Millennium Park, the lakefront and the Art Institute’s collection. The Begin sign on Adams Street, opposite the Art Institute, is the traditional photo before the drive. Day 4 is a gentle start across flat Illinois farmland to Springfield, the state capital. Abraham Lincoln lived there before he became president, and his family home is now a National Park Service site open to visitors. St Louis follows, where the Gateway Arch rises 630 feet above the Mississippi riverfront. A small tram carries visitors up inside the legs to the viewing windows at the top.
Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle: the long, open middle
From Springfield, Missouri, the road clips the south-east corner of Kansas before entering Oklahoma. Oklahoma City’s Bricktown canal district and the Oklahoma City National Memorial fill the evening. The next day brings the flattest, emptiest country on the route. Just west of Amarillo, ten graffiti-covered Cadillacs stand nose-down in a field at Cadillac Ranch. Visitors are expected to add their own spray paint.
New Mexico and Arizona: adobe, desert and petrified wood
Santa Fe rewards a slower pace. Route 66 ran through the city until a 1937 realignment took the highway straight through Albuquerque instead. Adobe buildings frame the Plaza, and Canyon Road is lined with galleries. West of Gallup, Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park that Route 66 crosses. Holbrook’s Wigwam Motel, with its rooms in concrete teepees, sits on the old road just beyond the park. The night is spent at La Posada in Winslow, a restored railway hotel.
Las Vegas, the Mojave and the Pacific
Las Vegas sits north of the historic road, so the itinerary uses it as a break from driving, with an optional Grand Canyon detour on day 12. The final day crosses the Mojave Desert into California and ends at the End of the Trail sign on Santa Monica Pier. The historic road reaches the coast through San Bernardino and Pasadena, and this is the slowest stretch of the trip. City traffic across greater Los Angeles takes longer than the open desert miles, so allow the whole afternoon for the final leg. If you would rather spend longer on the coast, our West Coast USA holidays pick up where Route 66 stops.
Route 66 holiday prices from the UK by month
These are the lowest per-person prices for each month still on sale, for two adults sharing, with return flights from the UK.
| Departure month | Economy (pp) | Business (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | £1,969 | £4,809 |
| November 2026 – March 2027 | No departures listed | |
| April 2027 | On request | On request |
| May 2027 | £2,889 | £13,199 |
| June 2027 | £2,079 | £5,999 |
| July 2027 | £2,299 | £6,329 |
| August 2027 | £2,039 | £6,159 |
| September 2027 | £2,159 | £5,269 |
| October 2027 | £2,199 | £5,319 |
The final figure moves with your travel date, departure airport and room choice. A UK specialist confirms it before you pay a deposit.
The two cabins follow different patterns. In Economy, June, August and September 2027 all sit within £200 of the October 2026 low. In Business, the lowest months are October 2026, September 2027 and October 2027, while June, July and August 2027 are around £700 to £1,000 dearer. May 2027 is the dearest month in both cabins. Business ranges from roughly two and a half to four and a half times the Economy price, so the cabin moves the total more than the month does.
When is the best time to drive Route 66?
Late spring and early autumn give the most comfortable conditions from one end of the route to the other. The route climbs from about 600 feet at Chicago to almost 7,000 feet at Flagstaff, then drops into the desert. One trip can therefore pass through three different climates.
- May and June: long days and green prairie in the Midwest. Thunderstorms build over Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle on spring afternoons, so check forecasts each morning.
- July and August: the Mojave is at its hottest. Needles, California, averages highs above 40°C in July, which makes the last day’s drive hard work and air conditioning essential.
- September and October: the desert cools, the Midwest is dry and the light over New Mexico is at its best.
- November to March: snow and ice can close roads in the Midwest and on the high desert around Flagstaff.
Route 66 centennial 2026
Route 66 was commissioned on 11 November 1926, so 2026 is its centennial year. Events have run through the year along the whole route, coordinated by the federal Route 66 Centennial Commission. Oklahoma holds its statewide celebration in the Tulsa Arts District on 11 November 2026, the same day as the city’s Veterans Day parade.
Driving Route 66 from the UK: the car, the fees and the roads
Most US hire cars are automatics, so there is no gear stick to manage on unfamiliar roads. The practical questions are about the rental itself, the road you follow and the length of each day.
One-way hire and drop-off fees
Collecting a car in Illinois and returning it in California is a one-way rental. US hire companies usually add a drop-off charge for that, and it can be substantial. Check that your quote includes it, and get the answer in writing before you pay the deposit.
Old road or interstate?
Most of the old highway now runs beside Interstates 55, 44 and 40, which replaced it. Brown “Historic Route 66” signs mark the surviving sections, but they are not continuous. A practical approach is to use the interstate for long transfers and rejoin the old road for towns and landmarks. A printed guide or offline map helps, because mobile signal drops out in parts of New Mexico, Arizona and the Mojave.
Driving distances
The longest days are Oklahoma City to Amarillo, Amarillo to Santa Fe and Winslow to Las Vegas, each roughly four to six hours of driving before stops. Start early on those days, because photo stops on the old road add more time than the mileage suggests.
Self-drive or guided Route 66 tour?
Our Route 66 package is self-drive only. It suits couples and families who are comfortable driving long distances and want to set their own daily pace. You stop where you like, eat where you like and choose between the old road and the interstate. A guided coach or motorcycle tour removes the driving and the navigation. The trade-off is a fixed timetable, shared company and less choice over hotels. If nobody in your party wants to drive 300 miles in a day, a guided tour is the better fit.
How to compare Route 66 package holidays
Two Route 66 packages can look alike on price and still differ a great deal once you are on the road. Check these points before you choose:
- Nights per stop: packages that spend one night everywhere mean packing every morning. Look for at least two nights in the cities you most want to explore.
- Flights included or not: confirm that return flights from the UK are in the price, so you compare like for like.
- Car class: an SUV has room for two large cases out of sight, which matters when you park at motels and diners.
- Hotel style: some itineraries use roadside motels throughout. Others, like ours, use city-centre and historic hotels.
- The Grand Canyon: some routes include a night near the South Rim, while others treat it as a day detour. Check which before you compare prices.
Shorter USA city holidays from the UK
If two weeks at the wheel is too much, our multi-centre holidays cover some of the same cities without the driving. Chicago, Las Vegas and San Francisco links three cities by internal flights. Los Angeles and Las Vegas pairs the Pacific coast with the Strip, again with a short flight between them and private transfers at each end.
