Guide
The best driving roads in the UK
Britain’s best roads are a particular pleasure: narrow, old, draped over the landscape rather than carved through it. From 129 hand-picked British roads in our catalogue, these are the ones worth planning a weekend around, ranked with the icons first. Every road is mapped from its real geometry, and every claim about it has been 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
8 mi16 minGlencoe
The A82 sweeps through Scotland’s most storied glen, ringed by brooding peaks.
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3
12 mi27 minBlack Mountain Pass
A sinuous ribbon over the western Brecon Beacons, all open moor and big sky.
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4
7 mi18 minHardknott & Wrynose Passes
Among England’s steepest roads, back-to-back passes of 1-in-3 hairpins.
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5
15 mi31 minSnake Pass
The A57 traverses the high Pennine moors between Manchester and the Hope Valley.
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6
21 mi42 minEvo Triangle
The legendary driving loop, three roads across the empty Denbigh moors.
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7
9 mi19 minCat and Fiddle
A celebrated moorland road climbing past one of England’s loftiest old coaching inns.
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8
39 mi1 h 19 minCauseway Coastal Route
One of the world’s great coast roads, tracing the Glens of Antrim toward the Giant’s Causeway.
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9
6 mi12 minLlanberis Pass
A rugged cleft beneath Snowdon’s highest crags, strewn with boulders and history.
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10
8 mi16 minThe Snow Road
The A939 rides the roof of the Cairngorms over the Lecht, Britain’s snow-gate country.
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11
8 mi16 minButtertubs Pass
A quiet single-track climb between two of the Yorkshire Dales, past its namesake potholes.
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12
3 mi5 minCheddar Gorge
Britain’s grandest limestone gorge, the B3135 winding beneath 130-metre cliffs.
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13
22 mi45 minRest and Be Thankful
A storied Argyll pass climbing Glen Croe to a famous viewpoint and summit.
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14
15 mi32 minCairnwell Pass
The highest main road in Britain, over the Cairnwell between Glenshee and Braemar.
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15
13 mi27 minThe Duke's Pass
A twisting climb through the Trossachs between Aberfoyle and Loch Katrine.
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16
33 mi1 h 6 minGlen Shiel
A magnificent run beneath the Five Sisters of Kintail toward Skye.
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17
19 mi40 minHartside Pass
A celebrated Pennine climb to a high summit above the Eden Valley.
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18
12 mi26 minKirkstone Pass
The highest pass open to traffic in the Lake District, between Windermere and Ullswater.
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19
20 mi38 minDunmail Raise
The classic central-Lakes road past Thirlmere between Grasmere and Keswick.
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20
13 mi28 minSutton Bank
A dramatic escarpment climb with one of the great views in England.
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21
16 mi30 minWensleydale
A flowing dale road through classic Yorkshire countryside.
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22
6 mi12 minHope Valley
The Peak District road beneath Mam Tor and the Great Ridge.
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23
21 mi38 minAshbourne to Buxton
A high, open ridge road across the White Peak plateau.
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24
7 mi14 minHorseshoe Pass
A sweeping moorland horseshoe above Llangollen in north Wales.
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25
24 mi45 minCambrian Mountains
A lonely crossing of mid-Wales between Aberystwyth and the headwaters of the Wye.
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26
7 mi15 minNant Gwynant
A spectacular valley road beneath Snowdon between Beddgelert and Pen-y-Gwryd.
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27
16 mi33 minSt Ives to St Just
A wild granite-and-Atlantic coast road across the tip of Cornwall.
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28
18 mi35 minJurassic Coast Road
A clifftop coast road above Chesil Beach on the Dorset Jurassic Coast.
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29
12 mi23 minBraemore to Ullapool
A fast Highland run to the fishing port of Ullapool past the Corrieshalloch Gorge.
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30
17 mi37 minGlen Torridon
A single-track drama beneath the great sandstone peaks of Torridon.
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