Route 66 from Page, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada

Staying in Page, Arizona was the perfect place during our 2 week US road trip itinerary to stop for 2 nights to visit the must see attractions within the area. Situated next to the Colorado river, Monument Valley and Glen Canyon Dam, we were able to visit Horseshoe Bend and even took a longer drive to hike at Zion National Park for the day. Page is located on route 89, which we followed during our Scenic Route 89A through the Vermillion Cliffs and Navajo Bridge. But for our trip, we headed south to Route 66 for the next step in our American adventure!

Our next step of our US road trip was to leave early in the morning from our motel in Page, Arizona to arriving late at night at the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was our first long drive of the road trip with up to 8 hours on the road. Leaving early gave us plenty of time to visit our tour at the Antelope Canyons in Page. From here we had planned to visit the Meteor Crater a little drive in the wrong way from Las Vegas, followed by a drive through Flagstaff along Route 66 for some lunch.

Antelope Canyons

Booked on the 07.30am tour of the upper antelope canyons, we were ready with our water and a warm jumper. A few months before our road trip we came across photos of the canyon on Pinterest and it wasn’t long before we planned it into our schedule in Page. Luckily we had discovered the canyons at this time as it was already fully booked except for the earliest first time slot and the very last time slot. We’ve made a separate detailed post about the Antelope Canyons here!

Meteor Crater

Within a few hours we were already arriving at the Meteor Crater near Winslow and Flagstaff. It’s location is on the original route 66 road but we didn’t really notice anything interesting to stop at so we easily cruised along the interstate with no traffic. When we arrived it was already busy with other tourists but very amazing to see and worth the extra driving from our original itinerary straight to Las Vegas. We could join a free tour at the top of the rim before exploring by ourselves more in the museum and the viewpoints. We’ve made a separate detailed post about the Meteor Crater here!

Route 66 Galaxy Diner

Food sure is needed when driving for hours, so with using google maps we followed the route to the Galaxy Diner. A hip, route 66 typical diner filled with all you would expect a Route 66 diner to have. Very friendly staff, black and white photos completely covering on the walls, red and white booths and an open bar set-up for when you want a quick coffee. This place was recommended by a few people we had met during our road trip and we checked it out on Trip Advisor before we went.

We started by choosing one of the 101 milkshakes advertised and ordered food for our late lunch.

At a typical diner it was worth having typical American food, with my partner choosing American fluffy pancakes with syrup. I on the other hand couldn’t resist a chicken burger and fries. We were totally wanting one of the delicious deserts advertised but we were too full! One desert advertised was an Elvis Banana Split – banana, ice cream, syrup, whipped cream and bacon. Tempting, but we were too full to try it!!

Arriving in Las Vegas

We planned to stop at Hoover Dam to check out before we arrived in Las Vegas, but as it was already dark and late we decided just to stop for some dinner at a Denny’s. At this point we had still one hour to go. Driving through the darkness didn’t last very long though as the sky behind the mountains showed the light pollution of Las Vegas in the distance. No more star gazing in Las Vegas!

Firstly, how awesome it was to be driving into the lively city at night, full of bright lights and loud music. Distracted with all directions along the strip, with a pyramid and sphinxes from Egypt, the Statue of Liberty from New York to the Eiffel tower from Paris. Secondly, it was pretty scary to be driving in Las Vegas, remembering that I could be overtaken on both sides and everyone seemed to be significantly speeding which made me worry. Also plenty of taxis that loved pushing in and owning the road. You can check out our full driving experience as europeans post here!

We’ve made a separate detailed post about the Las Vegas here! (Coming Soon!!)

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Have you driving on Route 66 before? We didn’t stop at too many places but would love your tips for next time!