Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2020. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Guides
    • Flight Deals
    • Travel Deals
    • Ways to Save
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Disney Vacations
    • Festivals + Events
    • Airlines + Airports
    • Buses + Trains
    • Ground Transportation
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Culture + Design
  3. TV + Movies
  4. The Best Drive-in Theaters in the U.S.

The Best Drive-in Theaters in the U.S.

By Claire Trageser
October 03, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
Luxury movie theaters are the new trend across the country, offering padded and reclining seats, gourmet food and drinks, and even interactive elements like shaking seats and spraying water. But there are still old school ways to see a movie: drive-ins.

In grassy fields and paved lots across the country, you can pull up your car in front of a screen and take in a film or two (or three).

Related:Here’s Everything New That’s Coming to Netflix in October

Some drive-ins stick to the classic model. Park your car and listen to the movie audio over your car radio. Others offer added twists to make the experience more interesting.

From the classic to the more unusual, here are some of the best drive-ins across the country.
Start Slideshow

1 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Coyote Drive-In, Fort Worth, Texas

Credit: Raul Rodriguez

Pets are welcome at this drive-in theater — and that includes horses. In fact, the Coyote Drive-In is free if you’re on a horse. The theater provides hitches so you can tie up your ride while you take in a movie or refreshments from the cantina.

1 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Wellfleet Drive-In Theater, Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Credit: Paul Marotta/Getty Images

This classic theater on Cape Cod also has miniature golf, a dairy bar with soft serve and hard ice cream, and a flea market during the day.

2 of 13

3 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Alamo Drafthouse, Austin, Texas

Credit: Courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse

Watch the classic thriller “Jaws” from an inner tube on a lake. Luckily, drinks are served to calm your nerves.

3 of 13

Advertisement

4 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Delsea Drive-In Theatre, Vineland, New Jersey

Credit: Courtesy of Delsea Drive-In Theatre

This theater’s food menu goes far beyond candy and popcorn. It has an entire gluten-free menu, Atkins items and menu options such as chicken cheese steak and teriyaki chicken with edamame.

4 of 13

5 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

South Bay Drive In, Imperial Beach, California

Credit: Courtesy of South Bay Drive In

You can smell the ocean breezes from this spot right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The theater has three screens, giving you more double-features to choose from.

5 of 13

6 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Field of Dreams, Liberty Center, Ohio

Credit: Courtesy of Field of Dreams, Liberty Center

Built in the owners’ back yard, this theater takes “if you build it, they will come” literally. It’s also one the few theaters that lets you not only buy tickets online but pay extra to reserve a parking spot.

6 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Fairlee Motel and Drive-In Theater, Fairlee, Vermont

Credit: Trevor Paulhus

One of the few motel-movie-drive-in combos left in the United States, this theater offers both a motel and an outdoor cinema. You can watch a movie from your car, or from your motel room.

7 of 13

8 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In, Gibson City, Illinois

Credit: Courtesy of Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In

This is the first and likely the only drive-in theater to be powered by wind turbines. It also takes other environmentally-friendly measures, including using LED lighting and recycled materials.

8 of 13

9 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Mesa Drive-In, Pueblo, Colorado

Credit: Courtesy of Mesa Drive-In

Take in a film or two with a beautiful Colorado backdrop. This theater has three screens and a call-ahead menu so you can order food in advance.

9 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Malco Drive-In Theatre, Memphis, Tennessee

Credit: Courtesy of Malco Summer Drive-In

Part of a movie theatre chain that has been family-owned for more than 100 years, this classic theatre maintains its retro feel.

10 of 13

11 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Bengies Drive In Theatre, Middle River, Maryland

Credit: PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

This theater boasts that it has the largest drive-in screen in the country, measuring 52 by 120 feet. That means films aren’t cropped or cut in their displays.

11 of 13

12 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Route 66 Drive-In, Carthage, Missouri

Credit: Mark Williamson/Getty Images

Located along the historic Route 66, this theater lets you bring in outside food and drinks but warns “if you do, you are contributing to the demise of drive-in theatres.”

12 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Hull's Drive In, Lexington, Virginia

Credit: Visions of America, LLC/Alamy Stock Photo

One of the only nonprofit theatres in the country, this classic drive-in is run by Hull’s Angels, which is dedicated to preserving the theater.

13 of 13

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Claire Trageser

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 13 Coyote Drive-In, Fort Worth, Texas
2 of 13 Wellfleet Drive-In Theater, Wellfleet, Massachusetts
3 of 13 The Alamo Drafthouse, Austin, Texas
4 of 13 Delsea Drive-In Theatre, Vineland, New Jersey
5 of 13 South Bay Drive In, Imperial Beach, California
6 of 13 Field of Dreams, Liberty Center, Ohio
7 of 13 Fairlee Motel and Drive-In Theater, Fairlee, Vermont
8 of 13 Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In, Gibson City, Illinois
9 of 13 Mesa Drive-In, Pueblo, Colorado
10 of 13 Malco Drive-In Theatre, Memphis, Tennessee
11 of 13 Bengies Drive In Theatre, Middle River, Maryland
12 of 13 Route 66 Drive-In, Carthage, Missouri
13 of 13 Hull's Drive In, Lexington, Virginia

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

The Best Drive-in Theaters in the U.S.
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.