Route 66 · self-guided
The driving tour, west to east
Nine stops on the real 1926 alignment, in driving order — house numbers on Foothill ascend as you head east, so this reads like your odometer. Allow two to three unhurried hours; add dinner and the neon and it’s an evening.
The one stop with hours is the service station museum (Thursday–Sunday, 10–4) — if it matters to you, build the drive around it and confirm at (909) 271-1024.
Magic Lamp Inn
Start where the neon is. If it's daytime, photograph the Aladdin lamp anyway and plan to swing back at dusk for the flame. The renovated dinner house reopened in late 2024.
Vince's Spaghetti
The everyman institution — red sauce by the vat since 1984 on this corner, with family roots on the route decades older. Lunch option one.
The Sycamore Inn
Travelers have eaten on this site since the 1840s. Dinner house now, stagecoach stop then — the oldest hospitality ground on this entire stretch of 66.
Route 66 Trailhead Park
A quick leg-stretch: Route 66 theming at the Pacific Electric Trail crossing. The rail-trail here is the old interurban line that competed with the road.
Thomas Winery Plaza
California Historic Landmark No. 490 — vines went in here in 1839, making it the state's first commercial winery site. Plaque, barrels, and signage survive in the retail plaza.
Klatch Coffee
Same plaza — the hometown roaster with world-championship espresso. Order the 2026 Centennial espresso: the road's birthday in a cup. Coffee stop, obviously.
Hide-A-While Bar & Lounge
The route's surviving dive. If it's late enough and you have a designated driver, this is the most honest room on the boulevard.
Cucamonga Service Station & Route 66 Museum
The anchor stop, and the only one you can walk inside: a c.1915 station, National Register 2018, free museum Thu–Sun 10–4. Time your drive so you hit it during open hours.
Virginia Dare Winery Tower
Finish at the 1908 Mission-style bell tower of the old Virginia Dare winery, kept as the centerpiece of an office plaza. The vineyard era and the highway era in one frame.
