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Various recommendations, scoured from various sources &
personal experience.
For maps, see the following pages:
For other world class drives, see the recommended Top Gear recommended routes here - this includes:
- El Camino de la Muerte, Bolivia;
- Death Valley, California;
- Gergen to Oslo, Norway;
- Cape Town to Franschhoek, over the Helshoogte pass, South Africa
- Torquay to Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia.
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
Some personal favourites (Stelvio and Alps aside!):
Buttertubs Pass & Tan Hill
Between Hawes and Thwaite in the Yorkshire
Dales.
View Larger
Map
Route above shows Buttertubs at point D, but also includes includes Tan Hill at point E (pub stop - see http://www.tanhillinn.com/), and the road from Dent to Ingleton.
Snake Pass / Cat'n'Fiddle Pass
The following route combines the Snake Pass
(A) with the Cat'n'Fiddle Pass (C).
View Larger
Map The following route is a double loop that starts at the Cat'n'Fiddle:
View Larger
Map
Colsterworth to Helmsley
The following route leads from the south (Colsterworth) up to Helmsley:
View Larger
Map
Unsorted & Untested
Adam Buckley
For serious action, you can't beat the long twisty road to
the top of Feldberg (about 45 minutes north of Frankfurt). Allthough
full of mad jerry bikers trying to show their immortality, it's
the best. Lots of bad accidents so sometimes heavy police presence.
Only ever done it on a bike but if it were nearer the Elise
would love it. Not been there for years so maybe it's been 'speedhumped'
Brynammen to Port Aber (and onto Brecon)
Twizel to Queenstown
Scottish Nurburgring - Campbell
At least, that's what Autocar called it. The B709,
from Langholm to Middleton.
I drove it on Sunday, as part of a new loop I wanted to try
out: - Edinburgh
(Fairmilehead) to Moffat via A701.
- Moffat to Lockerbie via old A74 (now the "sideroad"
to the M74...always deserted)
- Lockerbie to Langholm
- Langholm to Innerleithen (B709)
- Innerleithen to Middleton (B709 plus some other B road)
All told, something like 180 miles and about 3.5 hours including
a couple of short stops.
Edinburgh to Moffat is dreamy. Pretty good surface, only
a couple of scary blind tightening corners and a decent surface
all the way.
Moffat to Lockerbie is quite potholed. Worth avoiding,
and I'll be trialling some other options to get to the B709
in due course.
The B709 itself is a lot of fun. Narrow in places (almost
single track) but plenty of twists and a reasonable surface
in the main. Watch out for the sheep though!
Just after Innerleithen the 709 runs right through a golf course.
Crash Helmet recommended.
The last stretch over the Lammermuir Hills has some great open
straights but watch the T-junction with the A7, you don't want
to overshoot that one ;-)
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. |
