A hundred years of Route 66. The legendary ‘Mother Road’ still tells the story of America

Everyone has, at least once, dreamt of driving through the vast expanses of the American heartland. Of getting lost on its endless roads that exude adventure, the quest for the unknown, great tales and great stories. And, amongst all these roads, one resonates in the collective imagination, having for years enticed travellers with the idea of travelling along it at least once in their lifetime: Route 66. In 2026, this legendary road will celebrate its centenary, but the first thing to know is that, officially speaking, it hardly exists anymore. Or rather: it no longer exists as a single, federal, continuous road; the mythical route, however, still endures, continuing to transform – through its surviving stretches and along its ‘Historic Route 66’ signs – the road trip into one of America’s great narratives. An imagery that still resonates today in the old service stations, the ramshackle motels, the diners where the waitresses address you as ‘Honey’ or ‘Sweetheart’, and in the neon signs.

Following its establishment in 1926 and its early history characterised by hard work, shadows, profound despair but also great hopes – a period during which it truly marked a crucial turning point for countless people wishing to change their jobs, their state or their lives – Route 66 has, over time, become unforgettable, thanks above all to the imagery that has spread even across the Atlantic and to pop culture. An imagery made up of songs, films, TV series, postcards and comics – indelible echoes that everyone feels they know, even though they’ve never been there. Ultimately, the Route has become one of the many ways in which America has conveyed to the outside world (and, to some extent, to itself) its own idea of freedom: the chance to set off, to change one’s life, to chase the horizon astride a roaring motorbike as it devours the kilometres on the scorching tarmac. 

Today, amidst the high-speed motorways and countless alternative routes – both tarmac-surfaced and brand-new – choosing to travel a stretch of the ‘Historic Route 66’ in all its myriad fragments means deliberately choosing to slow down. It means veering off the quickest route and taking in what modern travel usually overlooks: the faded signs, the disused petrol stations, the drive-ins, the small town streets and the clusters of houses with just a few hundred inhabitants. As the landscape constantly changes, crossing one state border after another, one is reminded that America is also (and perhaps above all) this: a diversity of social and cultural landscapes far removed from the big cities and motorways. Endless places where life often flows very slowly, shunning speed.

The fascination with Route 66 continues to captivate us to this day, perhaps even more so in the echoes of what remains of it: gathering the stories that flow along this endless road, cherishing the idea of dropping everything, packing a rucksack and setting off, accelerating and leaving everyday life, progress, routine and monotony behind forever. Looking ahead, towards the hope of another life.