U.S. specialist tour operator Purely America has launched a new self-drive trip that profiles the experiences the Midwest state of Missouri has for those travelling on the U.S’s ‘Mother Road’*
‘Heart of Route 66’ in Missouri is a seven-night self-drive itinerary that features the state’s 280-plus mile stretch of Route 66, highlighting the route’s birthplace as well as characterful and authentic experiences along the way.
The itinerary takes clients from St Louis – and its famous arch (America’s tallest man-made monument) – to Kansas City, the self-proclaimed home of American BBQ (and also over 200 fountains, a total more than Rome).
There is also a stop in Springfield, where the name ‘U.S. 66’ was first proposed and accepted by federal officials in 1926.
At Springfield’s History Museum on the Square, visitors can learn about Route 66’s birth while overlooking the spot where America’s first recorded Wild West style gunfight took place in 1865.
Also featured is small-town Americana in Lebanon and Joplin, some classic diners, and outlaw Jesse James’ one-time hideout in the spectacular Meramec Caverns
The seven-night fly-drive package starts from £1,399pp, based on two adults sharing, including flights to St. Louis and returning from Kansas City, accommodation and rental car.
Route 66, which by common consent begins in downtown Chicago, Illinois, and ends in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean in California traverses around 2,448 miles or 3,940 kilometres.
Marking its centenary in 2026, the road passes through eight states – Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California – which are planning their own events and celebrations next year.
*In his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck wrote a chapter about Dust Bowl migrants traveling Route 66, which he nicknamed “The Mother Road.” The highway is also sometimes called “The Main Street of America”.
purelytravel.co.uk; visitkc.com; travelsouthusa.com
