Route 66 Question and Answer Page :: back to Route 66 page :: |
It's great to hear from so many people all over the world who are planning to ride Route 66, or even just dreaming about it. To save writing the same emails too many times, here are a selection of the most common questions I get asked. If you still have any unanswered questions, please email me. All the best, Richard. |
I have been looking at your pics of your travels on your motorbike..... amazing pics and amazing journey's. 1. Clicked onto Amazon, bought about ten books and guides to Route 66, and read them all. I decided "Road Trip USA" by Jamie Jensen was the best, and took that with me as my guide for the trip. Some bits were rather out of date, but overall it was excellent. 2. I rented a bike from www.eaglerider.com They're quite expensive, but the bikes are decent, and they do one-way rentals. Their base in LA is very near the airport, and they also have a base in Chicago. 3. I got on the web and booked my first nights accommodation at the Comfort Inn, Santa Monica, which is actually on Route 66 just a few blocks back from the beach where the road starts/finishes. 4. I made the rest up as I went along... I came across your site when I was looking for pictures on Google. You have some amazing pictures and have been to amazing places. It is my absolute dream to drive across Route 66 so I was looking for advice on it. How much money would you need altogether for food, places to stay, a way of getting a car etc?? Id be really grateful to hear your reply. Thanks. I stayed pretty much every night in motels, usually the cheapest I could find. These were generally about $40-$50. I think the cheapest I ever found was $16, although it did have cigarette burns in the bed sheets and a cockroach in the shower! For the price you normally get a double bed and your own bathroom, and there's usually 'breakfast' thrown in which is unlimited coffee and doughnuts. Food is really cheap, you could get by on $10-$15 a day if you're on a low budget, and fuel is currently about half the price it is in the UK. I never had a problem finding somewhere to stay. Sometimes I'd plan to stay at places mentioned in the guidebooks, but mostly I'd just ride till about 5.00pm and then start looking, and I'd usually be in a motel by 6.00. In terms of time, I'd say you need to allow a minimum of two weeks to travel route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago (or the other way!), but you would easily fill four weeks if you start doing detours like I did to places like Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon - and you really should see those places if you can. It took me four weeks to Chicago although that included a few days just chilling out and sightseeing, and then I carried on for another couple of weeks across to Boston via Niagara Falls, Toronto, etc. I did it by motorbike, so I can't tell you much about car hire, although there are plenty of hire companies who do one way hire and I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding something. Me and my friend are planning a trip along route 66 next year, but I just wanted to ask if you think that it would be safe for 2 girls on their own? And what is the best time of year to do it? Also, how long does it take (making sure that you get to see everything of interest along the way). Where would you recommend starting from? Many Thanks for your help, I'd say you'll be absolutely fine, so long as you're sensible and you keep your wits about you. As far as I can recall, there were only a couple of places where I felt I was in a bit of a rough district and felt a bit exposed, but to be fair I had no trouble at all and never felt in an awkward situation. And bear in mind I was on a bike. I assume you'll be in a car and can therefore lock the doors. The people are mainly very friendly and because most of the places on Route 66 are now pretty quiet little places which have been by-passed by the motorways, they are generally very pleased to see visitors. I'd allow a minimum of two weeks to give you time to see the sights and take a detour to the Grand Canyon and maybe Las Vegas and Death Valley too. Three weeks would be perfect. I started in LA partly because the setting sun wouldn't be in my face at the end of the day, and partly because I started in April and I thought it would be still quite cold in Chicago so it would be best to leave that till the end of the trip. Overall, I don't think it makes much difference. One important consideration though, is that most of the guide books are written starting in Chicago, so it can be very confusing trying to read them back to front if you start in LA! The only book I know which goes the other way is 'Road Trip USA' by Jamie Jensen - which is an excellent book by the way. Hi Richard, My partner and I are looking to do Route 66 next year, but don’t want to do it with a tour or group so any advice you can give us on routes, hotels etc would be very welcome. Great pictures on the website! Cheers, In terms of following the route, the original road is mainly pretty easy to follow so long as you've got a decent guide book and a road map. You'll get used to taking a few wrong turns, and sometimes having to do a bit of detective work if you really want to stay totally faithful to the original route. In some places its all there in perfect condition and easy to follow, other places it can be little more than and old strip of concrete covered in weeds just a few yards to one side of a newer and wider road. You'll find that they don't tend to replace old roads by building new ones right on top of the old one like we do, instead they just leave the old one, move a few yards to one side, and start again. If you search on Amazon you'll find loads of guide books. I bought about ten, read the lot, and took just a couple which seemed the most clearly written with me. They are all out of date in some places, such as describing particularly famous old motels which turn out to have closed down years ago, but generally they're pretty useful. Accommodation is easy. There are so many motels, old and new, that it never takes you more than half an hour to find a reasonably priced bed for the night. I just booked a room for the first night when I arrived off the plane, and made the rest up as I went along. I think only one occasion I had a bit of trouble finding a room. You will find a big variation in motel prices though depending on when you travel. I went in April and May, and prices where not much more than half what they are in mid summer. You'll need about two weeks to do Route 66 itself, plus an extra week or even two to allow for detours to places like Death Valley, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon. I came across your website when doing some research for my first proper road trip next summer. I need to be in Chicago for a conference and thought it would make a perfect excuse to drive there from LA along Route 66. I wondered if you could spare a few moments to offer any advice you have about the trip. In particular I'm not a Harley rider (Ducati rider) and wondered what it was like to tour on. I'm trying to work out whether to rent a Harley or whether a Honda or BMW touring bike would be more sensible. Also, how long did you allow for the trip? I'm, thinking of taking 2 weeks to go from LA to Chicago and then to continue on for another week after the conference from Chicago to the coast. I'm going alone - would you recommend it or do you think it's better to tour with somebody? First things first - you cannot ride Route 66 on anything other than a Harley, the Cool Police simply don't allow it! Honestly, if you're going to ride across America, there's only one type of bike to do it on. You'll find out why they build Harley's the way they do... I took the trip very slowly and did loads of sightseeing and detours. You'll do LA to Chicago in two weeks with no problems, and enough time to do the essential detours like Death Valley, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I've done trips like this both alone and also with company. Both have their plusses and minuses. On balance I prefer travelling alone because you don't need a committee meeting every time something catches your eye and you want to stop or take a quick detour, and you tend to mix with the locals more than if you're in a group. Don't worry about getting stuck if you're on your own and have a problem, it generally takes about 25 seconds for a friendly biker to pull up and offer help - unless of course you're on some heap of Jap junk ;-) :: back to Route 66 page :: |