Guide
The best driving roads in Europe
Nearly three-quarters of our catalogue is European, and not by accident: Alpine passes stacked with hairpins, Highland single-tracks, fjord roads that end at the water. These are the finest European drives of the lot, ranked with the World Icons first, every road mapped from its real geometry and fact-checked.
Bealach na Bà7 mi · 18 min · 633 m summitView the roadbook ›
Why it makes the list
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1
7 mi18 min
Bealach na Bà
Britain’s most dramatic mountain pass, Alpine hairpins climbing from sea loch to a 626-metre summit.
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2
10 mi20 minSnaefell Mountain Road
The legendary mountain section of the Isle of Man TT course.
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3
1,983 msummitTransfăgărășan
Romania’s legendary ribbon of hairpins over the Făgăraș.
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4
1,183 msummitRoute Napoleon (Grasse to Castellane)
The most renowned stretch of the historic Route Napoleon, sweeping from the perfume town of Grasse up into the Provencal Alps.
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5
2,774 msummitStelvio Pass
The cathedral of mountain passes, 48 stacked hairpins to a 2,757 m sky.
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6
14 mi31 minGeiranger Eagle Road
Eleven hairpins above one of the world’s great fjords.
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7
2,526 msummitGrossglockner High Alpine Road
Austria’s grand toll road, sweeping past glaciers to 2,500 m.
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8
7 mi16 minConor Pass
Ireland’s highest and most thrilling mountain road.
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9
20 mi36 minSouth Coast at Vík
Paved Ring Road run past waterfalls to black beaches.
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10
3 mi7 minSa Calobra
Mallorca’s coiled serpent, a road that ties itself in a knot.
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11
2,466 msummitFurka Pass
A high Swiss pass of Bond-film fame above the Rhône glacier.
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12
16 mi32 minDouro Valley
Voted the world’s best driving road, through terraced vineyards above the Douro.
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13
1,616 msummitVršič Pass
Fifty cobbled hairpins over the Julian Alps.
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14
1,042 msummitSchwarzwaldhochstraße
The Black Forest High Road, fast sweepers through dark pine and open ridge.
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15
13 mi32 minKotor Serpentine
Sea-level hairpin wall climbing high above the Bay of Kotor.
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16
2,141 msummitOrdino-Arcalis Road
The CG-3 climb from Ordino through El Serrat up to the Arcalis ski area and Tristaina lakes.
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17
8 mi17 minUčka Poklon Road
The old hairpin road over the Učka massif via Poklon pass, the mountain wall separating Istria from the Kvarner coast, bypassed by the A8 tunnel.
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18
6 mi11 minParnassus Delphi to Arachova Road
A high balcony road on the flank of Mount Parnassus linking the ancient oracle of Delphi with the stone village of Arachova, above the silvery olive sea of the Pleistos valley.
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19
25 mi46 minFlatruet
Sweden’s highest public road across an exposed gravel mountain heath at 975 m.
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20
8 mi16 minGlencoe
The A82 sweeps through Scotland’s most storied glen, ringed by brooding peaks.
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21
2,102 msummitTransalpina
The highest road in Romania, riding the open ridge.
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22
2,554 msummitCol du Galibier
A Tour de France giant on the Route des Grandes Alpes.
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23
2,261 msummitPasso Sella
A Dolomites pass beneath the sheer Sella massif.
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24
5 mi11 minTrollstigen
Norway’s Troll’s Ladder of eleven dramatic hairpins.
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25
2,050 msummitSilvretta High Alpine Road
A graceful toll road of stacked hairpins to the Bielerhöhe.
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26
25 mi51 minRing of Kerry
Famous coastal loop around the Iveragh peninsula.
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27
9 mi15 minLake Myvatn Loop
Route 848, the paved road running along the southern and eastern shore of volcanic Lake Myvatn, passing pseudo-craters, the Dimmuborgir lava fields and steaming geothermal ground, with the Ring Road closing the loop on the far side.
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28
1,391 msummitPuerto del Pico
Hairpin climb over the Sierra de Gredos beside a famous old cobbled calzada.
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29
2,223 msummitSusten Pass
Switzerland’s most beautifully engineered pass.
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30
8 mi16 minPeneda-Gerês Forest Road (Mata da Albergaria)
A storied national road (N308-1) climbing through the ancient Mata da Albergaria oakwood in Peneda-Geres National Park to the Portela do Homem pass on the Spanish border.
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