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Various recommendations, scoured from various people/places &
personal experience.
Tracks can be found here, the following are road routes. The maps have been split up to aid navigation as follows:
See also Daves Bike Maps here (covers the SE)
Other notable world class drives include:
- America's Highway 50 which crosses the Nevada desert
- El Camino de la Muerte, Bolivia
- Death Valley, California
- Gergen to Oslo, Norway
- Trollstigen in Norway
- Lysebotn Road, Norway
- Cape Town to Franschhoek, over the Helshoogte pass, South Africa
- Torquay to Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
- Twizel to Queenstown, New Zealand
- Leh–Manali Highway, India
- Russia’s Lena Highway, the Highway from Hell
- Russian-Georgian “Military” Mountain Roads (to be tackled only by the Russian military)
- Guoliang Tunnel Road, China
- Taroko Gorge Road in Taiwan (Chungheng)
- Pasubio (Vicenza), Northern Italy - a hiking trail made out of an ancient road
- The Halsema Highway in the Philippines, also called the Baguio-Bontoc Road
- Los Caracoles Pass in Andes
- Iroha-zaka winding road, Japan
- Van Zyl’s Pass, Namibia, a classic extreme road
- El Espinazo Del diablo, Mexico (The devil’s backbone)
- Havana to Pinar del Rio, Cuba
- Cape Town to Kruger National Park - see here for details, or here for the Google map
- The South Africa Garden route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town - see here for details, or here for the Google Map
-
Down South Island (534km), NZ -
Karamea , Westport, Bay House cafe, Punakaiki. The highway turns inland at Haast; leave it to follow the tiny oceanside road to Jackson’s Bay - have some fish and chips from the caravan there. Google Map here
A nice
site for route planning, and suggested tours in New Zealand:
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/driving-routes-home.cfm
Some more ideas at http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/drivingroads.html, http://www.pistonheads.com/roads/uk.asp,
and the Motorcycle Tour Guide to France and Spain http://www.btinternet.com/~ultrablade/index.html
See also the Top Gear article here (JPG image), and the following extracts (the routes are all included in the lists above), or the Top Gear guide to secret street circuits throughout Europe here (PDF)
In
search of highways to heaven |
The Times, THURSDAY
MAY 10 2001
BY ANDREW NORFOLK
LONELY 45-mile stretch of road in the northern Pennines
has been catapulted to fame after appearing on a list
of the world's most beautiful drives.
The
winding journey from Penrith to Corbridge was the
only English route to be chosen by the Automobile
Association for its Ten Great Drives list. It also
chose a road in Scotland and another in Wales. Other
entries ranged from a spectacular Alpine road in France
to America's famous Highway 50, which crosses the
Nevada desert.
For
Cumbria and Northumberland, whose tourist economies
have been hit hard by the impact of foot-and-mouth
disease, the AA's decision to highlight the cross-county
route came as a welcome boost. The Northumbria Tourist
Board said yesterday that it was delighted to be on
the list.
The
list of "the world's most beautiful roads", published
in the AA magazine, describes the Penrith to Corbridge
journey as a trip through "England's last great wilderness"
The
route, which is mainly along the A686, passes across
the River Eden valley, then climbs from Melmerby to
Hartside Cross, 1,900ft above sea level "with stunning
views across Solway Firth to Scotland". It continues
to Alston, "a charming little place with cobbled streets"
which is the highest market town in England, then
crosses "another breathtaking expanse of windswept
upland before running down to the River Allen's beautiful
wooded gorge", finally passing through Hexham to Corbridge.
Neil
Wishart, landlord of the roadside Carts Bog Inn, said
that he was already anticipating extra visitors.
Mr
Wishart, who has lived and worked alongside the road
for 13 years, said that the route was already popular
with driving enthusiasts, including motorcyclists
from Germany and Scandinavia. "Some of the manufacturers
use it to test their cars and at weekends we see E-type
Jaguars, Lamborghinis and Porsches out to stretch
their legs," he said. "The road goes over the backbone
of the Pennines. On a clear day there are beautiful
views."
The
Welsh road included on the list is the 55-mile journey
from the small border town of Presteigne to Aberystwyth
on the coast. In Scotland the AA opted for a 320-mile
trek with "spellbinding scenery" from Fort William
to Tongue.
Also
in the top ten are three French roads, including the
Great Alpine Road from Evian to Nice, and one each
in Ireland, Spain, Germany and the United States.
Jeremy
Clarkson, the motoring broadcaster, said that his
favourite British road was not the Penrith to Corbridge
route - "a good road, but too busy" - but, instead,
Buttertubs Pass between Hawes and Thwaite in the Yorkshire
Dales. "It's England's only truly spectacular road,"
he said. "I
once raced a helicopter in a Jaguar along there. You
can do it in ten minutes if you really cane it, but
you do tend to hit a few sheep." |
Mazda6 - Six Of The Best Roads
This website actually describes a journey from St Andrews, down
the western side of the UK, flowing through:
1. A68, Edinburgh. Crossing the Forth road bridge, with the famous
rail bridge alongside, past Edinburgh taking the A68, towards
the Borders.Past Jedburgh, heading for the Cheviot Hills, Northumberland
and England.
2. B6318, Otterburn.Take the A696 where the road splits at Otterburn,
then cross-country on the squiggly B6309 to the B6318. Often it’s
arrow straight, but never boring as it climbs and dips through
wild, beautiful countryside. What makes the B6318 special is what
runs alongside Hadrian’s Wall and the old Roman forts at
Chesters, Housesteads and Vindolanda.
3. A686, Gilderdale Forest - Penrith. From halfway along the
Wall, turn south west onto one of the best of all British roads,
the A686, over the fells, through Gilderdale Forest to Penrith.
4. A6, Penrith-Kendal For over thirty miles the A6 winds across
moors and fells. This road was the main North-South road before
the M6 was built.From Penrith it climbs steadily until the village
of Shap. At over 1300 feet, Shap Summit is the highest point,
and in winter one of the wildest. There's a spectacular run into
Kendal with huge views and more great driving. It’s an ancient
town, largest in Westmorland and eastern gateway to the Lake district.
From Kendal take the M6 for a fast run past Lancaster, Preston,
Wigan and Warrington, then switch motorways, west towards Chester
on the M56, south on the M53, to the A483 - winding south along
the Welsh borders in and out of Wales itself, past Wrexham, Oswestry,
Welshpool, Newtown, Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells. And finally,
cross-country towards Brecon, along a few miles of A40.
5. B4560, Brecon
6. A272, Winchester. Leave Wales by the A40 and A449, onto the
M4 over the new Severn bridge. And a choice of great roads:
a. west again and Devon and Cornwall are packed with options
b. east towards Salisbury Plain,
c. Winchester. and the A272, this runs from Winchester to east
of Uckfield. It was the major part of the old Pilgrim’s route
between Canterbury and Winchester. |
