Travel Route 66: A Guide to the History, Sights, and Destinations Along the Main Street of America

by Jim Hinckley

Long one of America’s most cherished byways, Route 66 remains a popular tourist attraction and travel route for thousands of travelers every year. While stretches of the once-glorious road have been paved over or bypassed by the interstates, the journey from Chicago to Santa Monica along the path of the “double six” remains chock-full of unique roadside attractions, spectacular natural landscapes, and fascinating historical landmarks. Communities throughout each of the eight states touched by the “Main Street of America”—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California—have embraced this vital piece of American history and offer a vast array of opportunities to experience the grandeur as well as the lost innocence of the glory days of Route 66. In Travel Route 66 , Route 66 expert and enthusiast Jim Hinckley provides detailed descriptions and itineraries that allow travelers of all ages and inclinations to explore the myriad wonders to be found along the highway’s 2,500 miles. In addition to specific recommendations for places to visit, eat, and spend the night, Hinckley presents history for the highway and its attractions and suggests detours and daytrips off the beaten path, all while providing a vivid picture of the road that has long captured the imaginations of travelers from throughout the world. Illustrated with a wealth of color photos and vintage memorabilia, Travel Route 66 is a practical and entertaining guide to the America’s Mother Road.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Telling America's story. Inspiring road trips by telling people where to go. Sharing the adventure. It's what we do at Jim Hinckley's America.
We do this with books, 23 published to date including Route 66: 100 Years, Here We Are ... On Route 66, Backroads of Arizona, The Big Book of Car Culture, Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Murder and Mayhem on The Main Street of America: Tales From Bloody 66, Ghost Towns of Route 66, and The Illustrated Route 66 Historical Atlas. And we do it with the weekly Coffee With Jim podcast on Podbean, an official Route 66 centennial program. This as well as presentations made internationally illustrate why author, historian and humorist Jim Hinckley has earned the reputation of being a master storyteller.

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel Route 66 is a great travel guide for those curious about the world famous highway. The author is clear and informative in his writing, although I do feel like the language sometimes felt a little stiff. The book also features a massive array of beautiful, high quality pictures that were a joy to look at. As far as travel guides go, I liked this. I do generally prefer more casual guides ( in terms of language) but nevertheless this was still a fun and enlightening read. Would recommend.

Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were numerous books available on Route 66 at my local bookstore, I guess I picked this one because I was seduced by all the color photo's. The photos & illustrations are impressive in this book. The book is broke down by chapters, for each of the Route 66 states. For me the biggest issue with this book, that makes it really unuseable and unnavigable is that there is not a single map anywhere in the book.

[Joe Bolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is easy to read and packed with information about Route 66, although I wish there was an edition for those of us traveling west to east on the Mother Road. A few reservations, but not deal-breakers: the binding is very fragile and the paper is glossy, making it hard to read without just the right angle of lighting. Well worth the effort, though!

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

We arrived at Santa Monica today having completed the trip from Chicago using the EZ66 guide for travellers as our bible (Also 5 stars and reviewed separately).
Using this book on my kindle by its side provided the additional history, background and quirky stories which was a great bonus. I would recommend using the two in conjunction to any travellers on the great road.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

We took a road trip across country from CA to SC mostly OM route 40;which includes Route 66. Used this as a reference book. Wasn’t extremely helpful but found some interesting things we didn’t know about. I traveled quite often on Route 66 from IL to CA as a child so I knew about quite a few interest points already.

[Bruce Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book

Fun read, well written and great pictures. I will enjoy reading it again when I travel along route 66 on future road trips.
Thanks you to Jim Hinckley for a very well written book.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

a travel guide less interesting and with less information than the regular travel guide

[Dewayne Stark]

Lots of great pictures. I grew up a few blocks from the end of 66 in Santa Monica. Traveled on it east several times. My Aunts lived in San Bernardino and my good buddy Butler actually lived on it.

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting ,
historical information ,
like you are on a trip with this book .

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a "take it along with you" travel book, but I enjoyed it just as much sitting at home reading it. The format is a delight with bright, colorful photos and easy-to-read sidebars. Some sidebars in other books make you lose the narrative, but these are set so as not to do that. The directions seem very clear, although I was traveling from my home, not in a car, so they are not tested. There is just enough information to make me want to hit the road and discover new sites and revisit old ones. There has to be so much on this route to be discussed, that the author seems to have done a great deal to make it clearer for the "double six" enthusiast or initiate to not get bogged down by the thought and just be ready to set off on a wonderful adventure.