Any recommendations for a *somewhat* luxury way to see parts of old Route 66? I'm trying to plan a birthday trip for early fall

Is there an interesting part of the route that is
-doable in 4-5 days or so
-starts/ends near a city easy to reach by nonstop flights from NYC
-has some of the nostalgic/tacky sites of Route 66 lore
but also
-would let me stay in nicer hotels, not roadside motels?

By nicer hotels I mean Sheraton/Marriott kind of quality (not necessarily The Four Seasons )
Historic hotels are also good as are interesting inns (not small B&Bs)

So can I have it both ways?

ttt

Fly into St Louis and explore the Mother Road both north in Illinois and South through Missouri.

You can go up and back to your base in St Louis in one day. Going southwest you might overnight in Springfield, MO and Tulsa, OK.

Keith

New Mexico and Arizona would have the most scenic sites on or near Route 66.

Santa Fe, NM to Flagstaff, AZ is the route I would take.

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/66-Mainpage.html

I moved to Texas from the St. Louis area in 1981. Driving through MO, there used to be lots of the old (usually abandoned) motor courts, with their cool signs. Now it seems that they are almost all gone.

To piggyback on this thread, we are going to be doing a college visit in Tulsa and I noticed that the campus is near old route 66. Anything left to see?

missypie, I don't know much about in Tulsa itself, but if you head northwest a short distance, the stretch through Kansas has a lot cramed into a few short miles: http://www.kansastravel.org/route66.htm

Here is the Tulsa stretch of the Route, from a friend's trip last August: http://therealwombat.wordpress.com/2007/08/page/2/

Keith

The discusion of the Tulsa stretch begins from the entry at the bottom of the page.

Keith

We have drived the old 66 in several "segments" :
-from Chicago to Oklahoma City
-from Oklahoma to Holbrook
-from Holbrook to LA.
If you want to have a "taste" from the 66 really, the best segment is the first one, from
Chicago to Oklahoma, through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas(a really very little portion) ,Oklahoma : a lot of old pavements can be seen and drived.
There are a lot of old buildings there, and traces of Drive Inn,...but the sightseeing are less spectacular that the 2nd one...
(Dwight, Sprinfield,Saint Louis, Tulsa ,are some of cities with
some nice old station-dwight-, old bridge(chain of rock), some legendary portion(devil's elbow),...
-if you are in look for spectacular sightseeings, the portion from Oklahoma to Holbrook worth the drive
Amraillo-with the palo duro canyon, the cadillac ranch, santa Rosa and the blue hole, the New mexico part of old 66...
In every city there are some nice hotels.
The last portion worth only for the arizona portion. The last segment in California is monotone..
Erik.

Remember, with the interstate system, most people do not drive this route...thus, luxury might be a question.

But, think of this: find a good RV Rental dealer and rent a motorhome to take your trip in...travel in style; with a bathroom all the time; your own kitchen to eat at will; be able to stop when & where you want. Just a thought.