Route 66 Chicago to LA and up to San Francisco on Highway 1

Hi Guys,

I'm planning a road trip down Route 66 from Chicago to LA and then up to San Francisco. I'm not from the states, just working in Boston for a few weeks and then heading home. I booked my ticket home from San Francisco though so that I wont have a choice but to do the road trip! Originally I was going to start off in Boston but I've decided to just fly to Chicago and start from there - it'll just save me money and time.

I'm just looking for some advice. I only have 13 days to get to San Francisco. Do you think thats enough? I figured that if its about 2600miles and I cover an average of 450miles a day a I could do it in 6 days - so 13 days should be enough to stop over and do some sight seeing here and there?

Also - how are the road tolls in the states? expensive or not? I'll also be doing it with a rented car . . . are there any things I might have to take into special consideration there? I also dont have an international drivers livense - would some states have issues with that?

Looking forward to it!!!!

Kind Regards,
Peter

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Your overall thinking is spot on, yes you can do the trip quite comfortably in 6 days and have time for sight seeing. The major flaw is that Route 66 was decommissioned years ago and replaced by Interstate. There are portions of the original route still in existence, but in places can be hard to follow. This RTA link page is full of '66 info.

With a one way rental, you will have to check out the 'One way drop off fee's' on top of the rental fee and see what is and what is not included when price comparing. If you have a full drivers license written in English you should be OK. Sorry, no idea of what [if any] toll charges might be.

I would have a good look at a map and do a little research and see what appeals to you and your tastes rather than try to follow a road that in reality no longer exists. You might find heading through Coloardo and Southern Utah on i70 more to your tastes, who knows ? As you research and new questions crop up, just ask.

Enjoy the planning.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Your first hurdle is that technically (and in most places, physically) US-66 simply no longer exists. It was decommissioned around 25 years ago with the completion of its Interstate replacements: I-55/I-44/I-40. It is certainly still possible to travel a few parts of the old blacktop, but it will require a lot of navigational work.

On the other hand, 13 days is plenty of time to cover the route and see most of the sights along the way at a relatively relaxed pace. Once you leave the Chicago area, the only toll road of any import are the Will Rogers and Turner Turnpikes in northeast Oklahoma, around $8 total for the two, one-way.

AZBuck