Tulsa, Oklahoma's second-largest city, was built on oil boom money, and it shows. Ornate Art Deco architecture fills downtown, world-class museums sit beside tunnels built by oil barons to transport cash, and a century of boom-era ambition left its mark on nearly every block. It sits at the intersection of three Tribal Nations, is a center for civil rights history, and is home to one of the most interesting food scenes in the American heartland. People who live there call it a "big small city." Travelers who visit often wonder why it took them so long.

If you've been sleeping on Tulsa, 2026 is your year to make it happen: Route 66 turns 100. Tulsa is where Cyrus Avery-the road's founding father-lived, worked, and dreamt up the idea of the Mother Road (not to be confused with Springfield, Missouri, widely considered the Birthplace of Route 66). You can do Tulsa as the destination, or use it as an anchor for a road trip along one of America's most iconic stretches of highway.

No matter which way you experience it, Tulsa's got it. Especially heading into a summer when costs might have you second-guessing travel plans, a good old-fashioned road trip or weekend getaway to the heartland may be exactly what the doctor ordered. Read more in Kristi Eaton's Guide to Tulsa. 

Don't miss

History, culture, and open road-Tulsa delivers all of it. These highlights show why the city is more than a pit stop.

Eat and drink

Great food finds you in Tulsa. It's smoked low and slow, ladled out of a pot at a no-frills counter, or plated with intention at a chef's table that could hold its own in any major city. 

Time to hit the (Mother) Road

A Route 66 road trip is one of the great American adventures, and in its centennial year, it's worth doing right. A few ways to make it work financially this year:

Use your credit cards strategically. Gas is expensive right now, but the right card can turn that into an asset. Some cards earn 5x or 10x points on gas purchases. Others double or triple points on groceries or dining out, both of which you'll be doing plenty of on a road trip. If you know which card to reach for at each stop, you can offset a meaningful chunk of your trip costs, and those points eventually cash out as flights, hotel stays, and car rentals. Basically, a road trip done right can help fund your next adventure.

Skip the backtrack. Book open-jaw flights. If you're flying in rather than starting the road trip from your driveway, there's no need to retrace your steps. Open-jaw tickets let you land at one end and take off from the other, so you can get the full journey without doubling back. 

The classic move: Fly into Chicago (the eastern terminus) and out of the LA metro (the western end). Drive west, drop the car, fly home. Or, if you don't want to do the whole thing, fly into and out of any combo of airports that fit your timeline and interests. St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, and Las Vegas are all great jumping-off or landing points. 

The best part? Open-jaw tickets often run the same price as a standard roundtrip. You're not paying extra for the flexibility. You're just using it.