7 UNMISSABLE TRIPS IN 2026

With new routes, big anniversaries and fresh ways of discovering familiar favourites, TOM HALL highlights historical destinations to explore this year

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Tulsa, Oklahoma

Road age

This year marks the centennial of surely the most famous highway in the US: Route 66, the 'Mother Road', opened in 1926 to link Chicago with Santa Monica, California. It was a primary route for people moving west in the 1930s and, though much of Route 66 has been diverted, Oklahoma boasts the longest surviving continuous stretch of the original road.

Tulsa is hosting major celebrations for the anniversary (oklahomaroute66.com/centennial), including a huge classic car rally. But it's worth visiting anytime for the fantastic architecture of the Deco District, a legacy of the roaring 20s and 1930s when the city proclaimed itself the 'Oil Capital of the World'. Set on the Arkansas river, it also has a wonderful urban park, the Gathering Place - the big green lung of the city.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

Break on the border

On England's far northeast coast, almost on the Scottish border, Berwick was founded as an Anglo-Saxon town, then became a Scottish burgh, but was surrendered to England in 1482. In 1603, the union of the crowns ended the possibility of dispute.

Berwick has the only complete Elizabethan town walls in Britain, and you can walk around them - it takes about an hour - for lovely views of the river Tweed and the rail bridge approaching from the south.

There's plenty of brilliant walking nearby, too: walk up or down the coast, or tackle a route with historical links: St Cuthbert's Way, for example, links Holy Island with Melrose Abbey across the border.

There's more modern history, too: just a short journey inland is the Union Chain Bridge, pictured left, recently reopened after repairs, and now the oldest suspension bridge still carrying road traffic.