Touring Route 66 – and enjoying every mile
When you go on holiday, you want to enjoy it. And that applies even moreso when you go on holiday to iconic places and locations like the world-famous Route 66 in the USA. The best way to enjoy a holiday on Route 66 is to trust someone to organise hotel bookings, vehicle hire, food stops, rest stops and all the other planning for you. One of the most trusted companies in this field is Route 66 Tours.
Run by Aussies for Aussies, Route 66 Tours is an award-winning tour provider that offers fully-guided, self-driving tours along Route 66, taking in most of the historic road that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Guided tours conducted by Route 66 Tours are the best and most stress-free way to enjoy this icon of American history.
Route 66 Tours first offered guided self-drive tours in 2008, adding guided motorcycle tours in 2009, while in 2012, they ran their first tour to the legendary annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Route 66 Tours now operate six guided tours annually; four along Route 66, one to Sturgis and another to nearby Deadwood.
If you’re unfamiliar with Route 66 and/or Sturgis, along with what makes each so special, here’s a quick primer for both.
Route 66 – The Mother Road
Commissioned in 1926, Route 66 was an official highway system that covered 2,448 miles (3,940km) from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, crossing Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona along the way.
Route 66’s reputation grew during the Great Depression in the early 1930s, when millions of Americans ventured west on the road, seeking an escape from poverty and a better life (The ‘Mother Road’ nickname comes from John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath). After World War II, car ownership in the USA boomed and many families travelled west on Route 66 for holidays. Immortalised in film, TV and song at this time, Route 66 continues to be referenced in pop culture to this day.
From the mid-1950s, sections of Route 66 would be replaced by more direct interstate freeways that bypassed many of the quaint towns and roadside attractions that defined the road and fuelled local commerce. Within a few years of Route 66 being officially decommissioned in 1985, a number of ‘Route 66 Associations’ were founded, aiming to preserve and promote the historic road. Thanks to their efforts, and a National Route 66 Preservation Act that came into effect in 1999, many roadside features – along with the road itself – have been restored or preserved. So much so that around 80 per cent of the old route can still be driven today.
The allure of Route 66 now is as strong as ever, coming to symbolise “America” to people from all over the world.
Sturgis – Big Fun in the Black Hills
Sturgis is a small, non-descript town on the western edge of South Dakota that’s quiet for around 50 weeks of the year, but for 10 days in August, it’s a mecca for motorcyclists and a truly mind-blowing experience. The first Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was held in 1938, and with only a few cancellations during World War II, has been an annual institution for motorcyclists ever since.
During the rally, the town’s population swells from around 6,500 to more than 500,000. In 2015, the 75th Anniversary Rally saw a staggering 1 million plus bikes descend on Sturgis and neighbouring towns!
The attraction with Sturgis, beyond the bikes, biking culture, live music, innumerable vendors and other attractions, is the incredible riding that can be enjoyed on the region’s roads. Route 66 Tours brings this to their customers, ensuring some amazing riding roads (including epic twisties) and incredible scenery can be enjoyed travelling to and from the annual rally.
Pick your Tour
To ensure there are options to suit people’s different time schedules and budgets, Route 66 Tours offer four different tours along Route 66 annually – Spring, Summer, Fall and Express. Each of the seasonal tours are 26 nights in length, all travelling from Las Vegas to Chicago and back. The Express Tour is shorter at 17 nights and is one way - from Las Vegas to Chicago or vice versa.
An all-new addition in 2023 is the Route 66 Plus Tour that mixes things up a bit by not travelling on Route 66 for the first leg to Chicago, instead taking in natural wonders in Arizona, Utah and Colorado, like Monument Vally and Pikes Peak, as well as sites and towns from America’s Old West, like Dodge City and the old Santa Fe route. The return leg of this 26-night tour covers Route 66, so it’s a good mix for those who want to see more of the USA while still catching all the classic Route 66 Americana.
The Sturgis tour is an extensive 23-night loop that also departs from Las Vegas, taking in some epic roads and amazing scenery, while five days in Sturgis (with accommodation in nearby Deadwood) allows plenty of time to experience all that the Sturgis Rally has to offer.
If you’re wondering why Las Vegas is the start/end point for these guided drives, when Route 66 runs to Los Angeles, Dan Azzopardi, lead tour guide for Route 66 Tours, says that Vegas is a more sedate introduction to American roads, but still allows all the character, atmosphere and history of Route 66 to be encountered.
“To put new arrivals in a car or on a bike and have them deal with LA traffic straight away isn’t a good experience,” Dan explains. “Three nights spent in Vegas allows participants to get over jetlag, pick up their hire vehicle and have a practice run before hitting the route itself.”
Speaking of hire vehicles, for the self-drive tours, these are usually current model SUVs, but upgrades to modern American muscle cars - Mustang, Camaro, Challenger and Corvette – are possible, subject to availability. Motorcycles for the riding tours are usually current model Harley-Davidsons, but BMWs, Triumphs and other brands are available. Like all the other elements of a Route 66 Tours tour, the hire vehicles are all organised for you.
Stress-Free Touring
Route 66 Tours plan and book everything in advance for all of their guided driving and riding tours - from the accommodation (all hotels, no camping) and hire vehicles to the lunch stops, fuel stops and roadside attractions.
A support van carries everyone’s luggage, along with an esky for roadside refreshments, tools, first aid kit and other essentials. With everything organised, all you have to do is enjoy the tour.
“We want you to get the most out of your time while you’re on holiday, so we’re pretty meticulous on the planning,” Dan explains. “We won’t be driving around and around in circles looking for somewhere to stop for a hamburger!”
Route 66 Tours put in a lot of time between tours researching hotels, eateries and attractions that may be closing - or opening – and what changes may be required to the itinerary and the route. All this legwork that Route 66 Tours puts in saves you having to do the same.
In terms of mileage on a Route 66 tour, around 177 miles (285km) are covered daily, so it’s not a slog and you won’t be worn out by the end of each day. On the Sturgis tours, it varies, as long sections of open road allow more miles to be eaten up in certain sections. Also, as the Sturgis tour doesn’t need to stick to Route 66, the itinerary is more fluid, allowing different areas to be explored travelling to and from Sturgis.
Tour groups usually number between 25 and 30 people (mostly couples or mates travelling together, but sometimes whole families) and always have lead and sweep drivers. Same goes for the motorcycle tours, with Dan the lead rider on most occasions. If the group’s large enough, a third rider will be added.
Hire cars are equipped with UHF radios, allowing communication between the lead/sweep drivers and tour participants. Vehicles are decorated with Aussie flags, too, which provides a good talking point for locals when parked up and helps everyone identify each other if they get separated in traffic.
Route 66 Tours – Route 66 Highlights
For tours on the iconic Route 66, the itinerary laid out by Route 66 Tours includes all the roadside attractions people want to see, like abandoned gas stations and restored ones, like the Conoco Station in Shamrock, Texas, that was the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the animated movie, Cars. There are also the old mom and pop stores, classic American diners, motels, drive-ins and museums. You’ll also see souvenir stops and roadside attractions that were created to tempt travellers back in the day, like the Gemini Giant in Illinois, Blue Whale of Catoosa in Oklahoma, the Cadillac Ranch in Texas, Wigwam Hotel in Arizona, Blue Swallow Motel in New Mexico and the World’s (Second) Largest Rocking Chair in Missouri, to name a few.
The Route 66 tours are a real nostalgia trip, evoking how America was decades ago. They also show how diverse the American landscape can be – from deserts and high mountains to seemingly endless acres of cornfields and idyllic rural scenes that look like they’re from a painting.
As Route 66 is now bypassed in so many areas, traffic is light, so the driving’s pretty easy for newcomers to LHD vehicles and driving on the “wrong” side of the road.
Heavy traffic will be encountered in really big cities, like Santa Fe, St, Louis and Oklahoma City, but in many other areas, the route is virtually deserted.
“There are times on Route 66 when you won’t see another car or bike coming the other way,” Dan says. “The road is different across all the states, too, and is more winding and twisty in some states than people realise.”
For more details on the Route 66 Tour, click HERE.
Route 66 Tours – Sturgis Highlights
“The Sturgis tour is really about the scenery and the riding,” Dan says. “The way we get to Sturgis and how we come back is what sets us apart from others.”
With no set path to follow (like there is for Route 66), there’s freedom on a Sturgis tour to alter the itinerary and ensure some of the best riding roads to and from Sturgis are part of the route.
“The roads are great and the scenery’s spectacular. I call it ‘Free Riding’,” Dan adds. “You can ride to the conditions, ride to your own ability and just enjoy the riding.”
The Sturgis Tour takes in some of America’s best-known wonders, like Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and the Devil’s Tower (from Close Encounters of the Third Kind) as well as lesser-known natural attractions, like Bryce Canyon and Beartooth Pass.
From Las Vegas, the itinerary takes riders through Utah and Wyoming to South Dakota, where accommodation (five nights) is in Deadwood that’s a short ride from Sturgis and much less crowded. The return to Vegas takes a different route, which is regularly changed, ensuring no two tours are the same.
“We always try to give clients the best day on the bike, whether it be a scenery thing, or a climate thing, or a different way to get to the next place,” Dan says.
For those who’d like to do a Sturgis Tour but don’t have a motorcycle licence, guided drive tours are available.
For Route 66 Tours’ Sturgis Tour, click HERE.
Something New – Every Time
Normally, riding Route 66 or visiting Sturgis during the annual rally is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but there are Route 66 Tours customers have signed up for two, three, four and more tours. One customer has been on eight Route 66 tours!
The reason for this repeat business is pretty simple: “They had such a good time on the first tour,” Dan says, adding that, while the tours on Route 66 cover similar territory, no two are ever the same.
Changes in businesses along the route, road conditions and new attractions popping up all serve to alter the itinerary. Route 66 Tours also make their own tweaks, like the run up Pikes Peak in Colorado that was added to the Route 66 Plus Tour this year.
Dan says that customers appreciate the overall Route 66 experience, but also love how well everything is organised on their tour, allowing them to really enjoy their holiday.
“We take care of all that planning – just come on the tour and it’s all done for you.”
Looking Ahead
Route 66 Tours on Route 66 start from just $7,995 (per person, twin share) for a 17-night Express Tour (from $11,995 for a single traveller) and from $10,995 (per person, twin share) for one of the 26-night seasonal tours.
If you’re planning a Route 66 tour in the future, consider pencilling 2026 in your diary. With 2026 marking the centenary of Route 66’s foundation, Route 66 Tours are predicting a lot of interest in tours that year and places to be filled well in advance. With celebrations expected along the entire route throughout the year, a 2026 Route 66 tour will truly be once-in-a-lifetime experience
The 23-night Sturgis tours start at $11,995 (per person, twin share). There’s also a ‘Kool Deadwood Nites’ tour that’s of 23-nights’ duration, but is more for the car crowd, coinciding with the festival of the same name and including a lot of hot rod, classic car, rock & roll and ’50s-themed attractions.
Regardless of which tour you choose and when, Route 66 Tours will look after you every step of the way, with their experienced guides ensuring you have the best holiday possible.
If you have a particular request, contact the Route 66 Tours team to discuss your needs. And if your Route 66 or Sturgis tour is part of a longer US holiday, Route 66 Tours can help with itinerary planning before and after, too.
Find Out More
If this has given you a taste for a Route 66 Tours guided tour, call 1300 760 806 or go to route66tours.com.au for general tour information, testimonials, FAQs and more.
For details on individual tours and to book, go to the following links.
For Route 66 seasonal tours of Route 66, click HERE for the Spring Tour. Click HERE for the Summer Tour. Click HERE for the Autumn Tour.
For Route 66 Tours’ Express tour of Route 66, click HERE.
For Route 66 Tours’ Sturgis Tour, click HERE.
For Route 66 Tours’ Kool Deadwood Nites Tour, click HERE.
