Longtime television travel host Samantha Brown revealed in a recent interview that she will feature Route 66 from Albuquerque to Santa Monica in future episodes of her PBS show.
Brown, who is marking 25 years on television, sat for an interview with USA Today before the season premiere of “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love.”
It was during that time Brown said the show is expanding its focus on Route 66.
The one I’m really excited about is that we’re completing Route 66 and we’re in the middle of it now. Route 66 turns 100 in 2026, and so we started in Illinois last year, and we realized, Oh, we should do the whole thing. So, this year, we completed from St. Louis, the (Gateway Arch), all the way to Santa Fe. And then this year – we haven’t shot it yet – we’ll pick up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and make it all the way to California.
So we’re in the middle. And what I love about the middle is it’s Oklahoma and Kansas and the panhandle of Texas. These are places that few people travel to, and the history there and the people are fascinating. … And you really come away with it thinking, Man, what an amazing country we live in.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Brown said her favorite U.S. city is Santa Fe, New Mexico, also on Route 66.
It’s my absolute favorite city here in the United States. … It’s such a confluence of Native American (and) Spanish influence and cultures. I’ve done four different series there, shows, episodes, and then I brought my mother and my sister on separate trips. So that’s the city I’ve returned to, not just for professional reasons, but for personal ones.
Many old Samantha Brown episodes can be viewed online via PBS streaming.
(Image of Samantha Brown at Gearhead Curios in Galena, Kansas)