Can a VFR flight follow an IFR route?
Yes.  In fact, before GPS came along, if you were flying somewhere and wanted to use your VOR to get from A to B, that's exactly what you did a lot of the time if it was convenient; fly along the victor airways if they were more or less on your route.  IFR traffic is only separated from other IFR traffic and when VFR in non positive control airspace you can go wherever you want notwithstanding other restrictions.  

In the GPS era nobody uses VORs very much any more and you can fly direct almost all the time when VFR (I haven't used the VOR in my plane in eons; mostly I just use a tablet or my phone), but there is nothing to stop you from flying along an airway if you feel like it.