10 of the best road trips in the world
Get your motor running, head out on the highway and check out some fantastic road trips in America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe
1. Big Sur in California
A Big Sur sunset: picture by Trey Ratcliff
It’s quite hard to drive the 90-mile stretch of America’s Highway One from Big Sur to Carmel in one go – there are so many great places to stop off at along the way!
Big Sur is a fine starting point for any journey – its northern end is just 120 miles south of San Francisco and its southern end is just 245 miles north-west of Los Angeles.
Driving away from the shade of Big Sur’s towering redwoods, you will be able to see mysterious Hearst Castle perched on top of a woody hill, halfway between LA and California. This mansion, which over-looks the ocean in San Simeon, was built by American newspaper magnate William Hearst in 1919 and has become a leading tourist attraction.
Carmel is journey’s end for many Big Sur road-trippers – it’s the place where Clint Eastwood was once Mayor). Eastwood’s film Play Misty for Me provided a fine advertisement for Highway One’s charms as many of the driving scenes were shot on its hairpin-bend, clifftop-hugging roads.
Take your time driving to Carmel – there are many rocky beaches, redwood groves and magnificent mission towns to see along the way.
2. Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Austria
Grossglockner High Alpine Road: picture by Kwong Yee Chung
Take the Grossglockner High Alpine Road and you will drive through the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park. It’s quite a journey – its 36 bends will take intrepid drivers zig-zagging past blooming alpine meadows, pine-scented forests and mist-shrouded cliffs and up to an altitude of 2,504 metres – affording magnificent glimpses of the Grossglockner: Austria’s highest mountain.
3. The Isle of Man circuit, England
Every year the Isle of Man’s play host to one of the most famous motorcycle races in the World – The International Isle of Man TT Race. The narrow twisting roads make it one of the more dangerous races in the world, but the road trippers who stick to the speed limit shouldn’t have too much trouble retracing their route.
If drivers want to hog the best view of the island then they should consider travelling anti-clockwise; don’t worry there are still sights such as Snaefell Mountain to be seen from the passenger side!
Break up your journey by taking a break halfway round in Douglas – the capital’s sandy beach is a fine place to stretch your legs. You can really let your hair down as you drive past charming harbours and wooded glens – there is no speed limit outside built-up areas; no wonder racing driver Nigel Mansell lived there for so many years!
If you do take a trip to the Isle of Man, don’t forget to take out adequate breakdown cover.
4. The Great Ocean Road, Australia
Some of the 12 Apostles of the Southern Ocean. Picture by Hendy Ongkodjojo
This road winds for 151 miles along the south-eastern coast of Australia and has become a matter of great national pride – it was built by soldiers who had returned from conflicts and is dedicated to casualties of World War I.
The soldiers certainly chose a good location for their road as it takes in some of the country’s most spectacular scenery. Seeing the Twelve Apostles –the dozen limestone stack formations which stand guard on the Southern Ocean – is reason enough to embark on the road trip. The coast by the road is the place to see dolphins, whales and seals while the inland part of the journey gives the change to seek koalas, kangaroos and emus.
If you embark on this Aussie road trip, it is a good idea to share out the driving duties – the Great Ocean Road travels through some wonderful wine regions; it would be rude not to sample some en-route!
5. New Zealand’s South Island Road Trip
Milford Sound: picture by Katrina Bowman
The road from Christchurch to Queenstown is paved with lakes, snow-capped mountains and glaciers. Set aside at least two weeks to take in all the sights on this journey and make Lakes Pukaki and Lake Tekapo two of your stopping-off points; Pukaki has one of the highest-altitude salmon farms in the world; Tekapo is famous for its hot springs.
On the east coast, the famous Moeraki Boulders, naturally-forming spherical rocks as tall as a human being, are well-worth making a detour for.
Arguably the highlight of any South Island Road Trip must be Milford Sound in the south-west of New Zealand’s South Island; a fjord fringed with misty mountains which has become the playground of fur seals.
Others might insist that the route between Queenstown and Lake Wanaka is even better – it gives you the chance to drive on a (gritted) mountain road above the snow line.
This is one of the longest road trips you can take but clocking up the miles certainly pays dividends.
6. The Atlantic Road, Norway
The Storseisundet Bridge on Norway’s Atlantic Road. Picture by Pavel Koelio
In contrast to the South Island road trip, this is one of the shortest road trips you can take – the Atlantic Road is just five-miles-long – but it is not short of dramatic views. The road is built on several small islands – all connected by causeways, viaducts and bridges.
Of the bridges, the most prominent one is the curvaceous Storseisundet Bridge – describing it as looking like something from a deluxe Scalextric kit can’t even begin to do its design justice.
Workers who built the bridge in the 1980s had to brave 12 hurricanes during the construction process – in fact, visiting the notoriously-stormy Hustaadvika ocean part of the route is popular with many who embark on the Atlantic Road-trip. When the waves and winds settle down you might catch a glimpse of whales and seals.
7. The Icefields Parkway, Canada
The Icefields Parkway: picture by Palestrina 55
The 144 miles of this journey will fly by as you drive through two national parks in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
You might occasionally have to share the road with the wildlife which calls the area’s lakes, valleys and glaciers home – the speed limit in some areas is kept to 70km in consideration of the grizzly bears which can be found there. For an even more memorable road trip, why not visit in the winter when heavy snow fall makes landmarks such as Mistaya Canyon, Peyto Lake and Crowfoot Glacier look even more beautiful.
8. Hai Van Pass, Vietnam
Hai Van Pass: picture by Terence
Jeremy Clarkson described this twisting Vietnamese mountain pass as “a deserted ribbon of perfection” when the Top Gear team boarded mopeds to treat Hai Van’s twisting road as their own private race track in 2008. At the crown of the pass you can take in the air at an altitude of 3,848 feet; at its foot there is the South China Sea – a view which even the hard-to-please Clarkson was bewitched by. No wonder he called Hai Van “one of the best coastal roads in the world”.
9. Stelvio Pass, Italy
Stelvio Pass. Picture by Tim Connors
Another road favoured by the Top Gear presenters, this Italian mountain pass was named the best road in the world by Jeremy Clarkson, who eloquently described it as “15 miles of asphalt spaghetti draped on the Alps”.
During World War I fierce battles between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces used to take place near the pass – it’s a place worth fighting over. Today, the pass is far more peaceful and is sometimes traversed by Giro d’Italia cyclists who use their skills to tackle the hairpin bends.
10. Route 66
Route 66: picture by Javier Carcamo
“Well it winds from Chicago to L.A., more than 2,000 miles all the way”.
The words of the song Route 66, penned in 1946 and made popular by the likes of Chuck Berry and The Rolling Stones in the 1960s, describe America’s most super-highway perfectly.
The popularity of the song couldn’t prevent Route 66 from being removed from the United States Highway System in 1985. However, portions of the road, now re-named Historic Route 66, still survive and thrive – attracting celebrities like Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell to make this pilgrimage-style road trip.
Route 66 was referred to as the ‘Mother Road’ in the 1939 John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath.
In 2012 it still is the mother of all roads for history-loving drivers – get your kicks on it as soon as you can!
Author: James Christie is a content writer for car breakdown cover company GEM Motoring Assist.
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You missed the Pan-American Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the lower reaches of South America – only interrupted between panama and columbia
Only did the great ocean road so far. It’s a nice drive if you have time, but has quite narrow and windy roads near Apollo Bay. You should try and camp in one of the National Parks there, and with a bit of lock you may even spot some Koalas.
Great ideas – we especially liked that you started and ended your article with two iconic California road trips!
Great read -
California Native