Route 66 Explorer

Route 66 is the one everybody knows, and this is the full run: Chicago to the End of the Trail sign at Santa Monica, over 2,400 miles and fifteen nights. The company arrange it as a package from the UK, flights, car and hotels included, with a Route 66 road book to navigate by.

It opens with three nights in Chicago before you even collect the car, which is the right call for a city with that much to it. The car is picked up at the Route 66 begins sign on Jackson Boulevard, and from there the road unspools: the Standard Oil station at Odell, Lincoln’s tomb at Springfield, the Gateway Arch at St Louis, the Meramec Caverns, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Texas brings Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan in Amarillo, then there is a choice between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and the Midpoint Cafe where the mileage either side finally balances.

The last third is the best of it. The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, then the Grand Canyon, then Seligman and the Hackberry General Store on the original alignment, Hoover Dam, two nights in Las Vegas and two in Los Angeles to finish at the pier.

Fifteen nights rather than fourteen is a deliberate decision on their part, and the reason is simple: this is a long way. The itinerary can be stretched further, shortened, or driven in reverse from Los Angeles, and departures are arranged around your dates. It suits anyone who has had this drive on a list for years and would rather have the hotels booked and the route written down than work it out from a guidebook at the roadside.