Motorcycle Tour: Route 66

As soon as you catch sight of Chicago – the most important city of the Midwest, standing on the shore of Lake Michigan –, its skyline will leave you awestruck. After the devastating 1871 fire, Chicago was rebuilt by the most famous architects of the day – namely Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van de Rohe. The city is now one of the finest examples of contemporary architecture in the world. Chicago also boasts plenty of modern artworks, on display at the Millennium Park and in virtually every square, museums as outstanding as the Art Institute and an extremely thriving music scene, with several top-notch jazz, blues and rock clubs and festivals.

From Chicago, embark on the historic Route 66 to discover a piece of authentic America. This famous road, which connects Chicago to Los Angeles, stretches for 482 km in Illinois and is dotted with rustic cafes, quirky shops, and unique and bizarre works of art and architecture. Take a photo of the imposing Railsplitter Covered Wagon in Lincoln, or the enormous pink elephant near the Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston. Discover Route 66 memorabilia in Pontiac, at the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum. From here, drive south for about two hours to immerse yourself in the life of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum, the Old State Capitol, and the Lincoln Home. Stop at Doc's Soda Fountain in Girard, along Route 66 (about 30 minutes from Springfield), to enjoy a gigantic Banana Split.

St. Louis is located downstream from the confluence of the Missouri River with the Mississippi River and experienced a boom in the 19th century as a gateway for caravans heading westward. It was from St. Louis that the legendary Lewis and Clark expedition departed in 1804, becoming the first to reach the Pacific coast by land. The iconic arch for which the city is now famous, a gleaming 192-meter-high steel parabola, was installed in 1965 to commemorate this expedition. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, St. Louis played a fundamental role in the development of jazz and blues.

The actual capital of the homonymous state, Oklahoma City, has a strong economy based on the energy industry, aerospace, and agriculture. The historic Route 66 passes right in front of its majestic Capitol, the only government building in the world surrounded by active oil wells.

After leaving Oklahoma City, continue along Route 66 until you reach Hydro, Texas, and visit Lucille's Service Station. Built in 1929, it is one of the few remaining historic service stations on Route 66 in Oklahoma. Continue along Route 66 to the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton. Here you will find memorabilia that tells the story and legends of the most famous highway in the United States. As you cross the state border towards Amarillo, Texas, you will travel through a part of Route 66 rich in vintage icons and references to the Wild West. Long stretches of the old road still remain, in various places with the original pavement. Amarillo, whose name in Spanish means yellow, is due to the color of the clayey soils when wet. It is located along Route 66 and near Palo Duro Canyon National Park. The city offers excellent Tex-Mex cuisine, thanks to the numerous cattle ranches in the area.

Continue west along Route 66 until you reach Adrian, Texas, and make a stop at the Midpoint Cafe. This is the midpoint of Route 66: from here, Chicago is 1,833 km to the east, and Los Angeles is the same distance to the west. Enter New Mexico and stop in Tucumcari to visit one of the last curiosity shops in this state, the Tee Pee Curios. It's fun not only from the outside but also inside, with all the souvenirs, t-shirts, and jewelry dedicated to Route 66. Head west and then north on Route 84, which was once part of the old Route 66 on the way to Santa Fe, while the landscape becomes desert-like and mountainous with the classic mesas (flat-topped hills).

A town located along the historic Route 66, it was once home to many celebrities, including Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, and Ronald Reagan, at the legendary El Rancho Hotel and Motel.

The Grand Canyon is the most famous and most spectacular example of river erosion - an inconceivable abyss formed by the wear of the Colorado River. The Canyon is 1,500 m deep, 450 km long and 16 km wide. Its layers disclose the geological history of the last 2 billion years and its rocks change color according to the time of the day - your first glimpse of this majestic landscape will leave you speecheless. The Grand Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a truly unforgettable sight.

Gradually leaving behind the Kaibab National Forest, an extensive forest of Ponderosa pines, Douglas firs, aspens, and junipers that reaches the edge of the Grand Canyon, we continue along the historic Route 66, passing through the towns of Seligman and Kingman. Standing at the southernmost tip of Nevada, Laughlin is a well-known gambling city in the USA, the biggest after Las Vegas and Reno. It boasts a dozen huge casinos, parading along the Colorado riverbank.

Las Vegas is beyond words. It shines like a diamond the middle of the desert, dazzling with its extravagant luxury hotels, bustling with all sorts of shows and revelry. A place – but can such a place even exist? – without equal in the whole world.

Los Angeles – the land of Hollywood, Disneyland and Universal Studios, where life is as carefree as can be. With its ever-shining sun, palms in the breeze, movie stars with their fancy houses in Beverly Hills, wonderful museums, futuristic buildings, and surfing spots, Los Angeles truly makes for an unforgettable destination.