Greatest road trip in Britain?

[Chris71]

There are good roads dotted around everywhere, but what's the most entertaining route that actually covers some distance in the UK? Say it has to cover at least 100 miles point to point, with as much of that as possible spent on credible driving roads. Any ideaS?

[Gad-Westy]

Drive North from Glasgow until you get wet.

[Chris71]

Yep, suspect that will be the answer, but I thought I'd put it to the floor!

However, there have got to be others. It must be possible to drive most of the way through Wales without encountering a bad road? Through Cornwall, over Bodmin Moor, across Dartmoor and onto Exmoor? Or maybe the east coast of England - Norfolk, into Lincolnshire, into Yorkshire (across the Moors) and either west into the Dales and Cumbria, or keep north towards Northumberland?

[Gad-Westy]

Coast to Coast, Lakes over to North Yorks would be good. It could be very elongated to encompass yorkshire dales and Hartside before dropping down to North York Moors. You would be on great roads start to finish. Another enjoyable one is Newcastle to Edinburgh, avoiding the A1 and A68 once north of the border.

[gordonb]

Just back from this wee trip! My Trip

600 miles of the finest roads in these Isles. Apart from the sections on the A82 / A9 / A96 they where completely empty. Fantatstic!

[ad551]

Coast to coast? Sort of like they did in evo this month.

Start off at St Bees Head, across Wrynose/Hardknott, bit of the Lakes down to Kendal, A65 to Ingleton, B6255 to Hawes (best road I've driven), through the Dales, across the Moors, finish in Yorkshire somewhere. Don't really know the roads over the Moors but there must be some good ones.

Failing that, northern Scotland is meant to be brilliant! edit: as the post above says!

Edited by ad551 on Tuesday 29th September 23:23

[HereBeMonsters]

gordonb said:

Just back from this wee trip! My Trip

600 miles of the finest roads in these Isles. Apart from the sections on the A82 / A9 / A96 they where completely empty. Fantatstic!

Looks brilliant. How long did it take you?

[gordonb]

HereBeMonsters said:

gordonb said:

Just back from this wee trip! My Trip

600 miles of the finest roads in these Isles. Apart from the sections on the A82 / A9 / A96 they where completely empty. Fantatstic!

Looks brilliant. How long did it take you?

We did it over 4 days, with overnight stop in Plockton, Durness and Nairn.

[Gad-Westy]

ad551 said:

Coast to coast? Sort of like they did in evo this month.

Start off at St Bees Head, across Wrynose/Hardknott, bit of the Lakes down to Kendal, A65 to Ingleton, B6255 to Hawes (best road I've driven), through the Dales, across the Moors, finish in Yorkshire somewhere. Don't really know the roads over the Moors but there must be some good ones.

Failing that, northern Scotland is meant to be brilliant! edit: as the post above says!

Edited by ad551 on Tuesday 29th September 23:23

The Hawes road is a corker. Still one of my favourites. North York Moores is a little different in that the roads tend to be straighter and better sighted and in general much faster, if you're that way inclined.

[whirligig]

gordonb said:

Just back from this wee trip! My Trip

600 miles of the finest roads in these Isles. Apart from the sections on the A82 / A9 / A96 they where completely empty. Fantatstic!

Some nice roads there although you missed out the fabulous A87 Invergarry to Kyle with its fast well sighted corners and the Applecross Pass and coast road to Shieldaig which is a driving experience in itself!

[Marvindodgers]

[/quote]Some nice roads there although you missed out the fabulous A87 Invergarry to Kyle with its fast well sighted corners and the Applecross Pass and coast road to Shieldaig which is a driving experience in itself!
[/quote]

Absolutely! The mountain pass into Applecross and the coastal road out to Shieldaig is the finest route I have driven in Britain! As I was driving it the other week, I couldn't help thinking the only way to make it even better was if the roads could be shut off to create an Applecrossring type circuit!!
Not that it is overpopulated with traffic as it is.
Just keep heading north along the west coast and you'll soon forget any considerations from either England or Wales in this category. Nothing compares.

[Chris71]

Gad-Westy said:

ad551 said:

Coast to coast? Sort of like they did in evo this month.

Start off at St Bees Head, across Wrynose/Hardknott, bit of the Lakes down to Kendal, A65 to Ingleton, B6255 to Hawes (best road I've driven), through the Dales, across the Moors, finish in Yorkshire somewhere. Don't really know the roads over the Moors but there must be some good ones.

Failing that, northern Scotland is meant to be brilliant! edit: as the post above says!

Edited by ad551 on Tuesday 29th September 23:23

The Hawes road is a corker. Still one of my favourites. North York Moores is a little different in that the roads tend to be straighter and better sighted and in general much faster, if you're that way inclined.

I was up there about a month ago. The B6255 is indeed a good road, but quite straight. The problem is most of the twistier roads - the initial ascent out of Thwite on the Buttertubs for example - are a bit narrow and poorly sighted to really have any fun on. I found bits of the A684 to be the best roads on the trip actually. Yes, in some places it's conspicuously fast, and in others it's very slow through the villages, but there are plenty of twisty, yet well-sighted sections out of town too.

I think the local constabularly are well aware of the various Dales roads allure though. There was a very pimp looking Evo VIII parked up having a chat with some bikers last time I did the Ingleton Road. Bet he enjoys his job!

[davekeel]

I have written a blog about my last trip from Liverpool right through Wales and on to the south coast.
Hope you find something of interest here and I hope the link works.
http://cid-4cf6f4ecb4dc223c.spaces.live.com/blog/c...


My favourite drive used to be the road from Fort William to Mallaig in Scotland. However the more scenic photography I did I discovered a route right up through the Southern end of the Lake District beginning at Haverthwaite. Taking in Ulpha, Wrynose Pass, Langdale Pikes all the way up to Buttermere.
For variety of scenery it was amazing. The only thing which it doesn't have which the Mallaig road has is those beautiful sandy white beaches.

Edited by davekeel on Wednesday 30th September 20:28

[snowy slopes]

Okay, the roads across dartmoor and bodmin moor are now mostly dual carriageway and boring, but most of the others suggested are good roads, and for me having just been upto northumberland, a good one is to come off the a1 at darlington and take the a68 northbound until you reach otterburn, then take the back roads to alnwick. Loads of wide open quick roads then some small tight back roads around the outside of the otterburn military ranges. Some parts are nsl and up and down so it pays to keep your eyes open, and when you get to alnwick there is a really good sandwich shop in the town centre that does excellent food.

[dcb]

snowy slopes said:

a good one is to come off the a1 at darlington and take the a68 northbound until you reach otterburn,

Punters should note that there are very very few overtaking spots
on this road and they are covered in speed cameras, to make life more
interesting.

It might be a good road when it's quiet, but I always end
up stuck behind a 40 mph lorry for miles and miles and miles
whenever I try out the A68.

[Chris71]

snowy slopes said:

Okay, the roads across dartmoor and bodmin moor are now mostly dual carriageway and boring

We must have been driving on very different roads across Dartmoor! Admittedly I've never been there with the aim of crossing from one side to another, but I remember the roads around Princetown, Two Bridges etc. being rather superb. Used to see a lot of interesting cars and fast bikes when I was up there for Ten Tors training in the past.

Don't know about Bodmin Moor, that was just a guess (based largely on the word Moor being included in the title - usually a good start!) but Exmoor has some good roads too. In fact, maybe you could follow it round past Brizzle into South Wales?

ETA: I can imagine worse driving roads than these (nicked from a previous thread, taken on Dartmoor):







Sorry, my Devonian roots getting a bit protective it seems...

Edited by Chris71 on Friday 2nd October 13:03

[snowy slopes]

Chris71 said:

snowy slopes said:

Okay, the roads across dartmoor and bodmin moor are now mostly dual carriageway and boring

We must have been driving on very different roads across Dartmoor! Admittedly I've never been there with the aim of crossing from one side to another, but I remember the roads around Princetown, Two Bridges etc. being rather superb. Used to see a lot of interesting cars and fast bikes when I was up there for Ten Tors training in the past.

Don't know about Bodmin Moor, that was just a guess (based largely on the word Moor being included in the title - usually a good start!) but Exmoor has some good roads too. In fact, maybe you could follow it round past Brizzle into South Wales?

Ahhh, i see what you meant now, i thought you were on about getting across as fast as possible, which would mean the dreaded a38(i think) but yes you are probably correct, i didnt really explore much of the side roads, sorry!

[snowy slopes]

dcb said:

snowy slopes said:

a good one is to come off the a1 at darlington and take the a68 northbound until you reach otterburn,

Punters should note that there are very very few overtaking spots
on this road and they are covered in speed cameras, to make life more
interesting.

It might be a good road when it's quiet, but I always end
up stuck behind a 40 mph lorry for miles and miles and miles
whenever I try out the A68.

Yeah okay fair point, i maybe should have added that it gets better north of corbridge, but being a homer i forgot, D'oh!

[gshughes]

snowy slopes said:

dcb said:

snowy slopes said:

a good one is to come off the a1 at darlington and take the a68 northbound until you reach otterburn,

Punters should note that there are very very few overtaking spots
on this road and they are covered in speed cameras, to make life more
interesting.

It might be a good road when it's quiet, but I always end
up stuck behind a 40 mph lorry for miles and miles and miles
whenever I try out the A68.

Yeah okay fair point, i maybe should have added that it gets better north of corbridge, but being a homer i forgot, D'oh!

Don't really know the bit around Darlington, but the A696/A68 between Newcastle and Jedburgh is superb, with lots of overtaking opportunities and not much traffic. The bit between Jedburgh and Edinburgh is less good and tends to be busier.

[raf_gti]

dcb said:

snowy slopes said:

a good one is to come off the a1 at darlington and take the a68 northbound until you reach otterburn,

Punters should note that there are very very few overtaking spots
on this road and they are covered in speed cameras, to make life more
interesting.

It might be a good road when it's quiet, but I always end
up stuck behind a 40 mph lorry for miles and miles and miles
whenever I try out the A68.

I never enjoy this road even although it should be fantastic. Always end up behinf dlow vehicles and the journey to Edinburgh seems to take forever.

Coming the opposite direction from the Scottish Border to Newcastle airport is fantastic (can't remember the road), fast and sweeping and some very well sighted corners, far nicer than going the whole way down the 68.