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 · 626 m summitView the roadbook ›
Why it makes the list
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1
7 mi18 min
Bealach na Bà
First on every list we make, and it always will be. The Pass of the Cattle climbs out of Loch Kishorn in a series of exposed hairpins that would not look out of place in the Alps, single-track almost the whole way, to a 626 m summit with the sea and Skye spread out below. Take it from the Kishorn side so the hairpins come as a climb and Applecross village arrives as the reward, then eat at the inn and drive out round the coast. Gradients touch 1-in-5, passing places are the law of the land, and the weather changes faster than you can. Not a road for hurrying, and all the better for it. Pair it with Glen Torridon and the run down to Ullapool for the full north-west pilgrimage.
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2
8 mi16 minGlencoe
Even in the rain, especially in the rain, Glencoe takes your breath away. The A82 drops off the emptiness of Rannoch Moor and the mountains simply close over you: the Three Sisters on one side, the Aonach Eagach ridge a thousand metres up on the other, and the road flowing through the middle of it like it was poured there. It is a fast, open A-road rather than a technical pass, so the driving challenge is restraint: traffic bunches at the viewpoints, walkers cross where they should not, and the weather rewrites the scene by the hour. Stop only in the lay-bys, because you will want to stop. Pair it with the Rest and Be Thankful for the classic west-coast day out of Glasgow.
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3
12 mi27 minBlack Mountain Pass
The road that started this whole thing for us. The A4069 climbs out of Llangadog onto the bare western flank of the Brecon Beacons and just opens up: cambered, open curves you can read from a quarter mile away, no hedges, no walls, the moor falling away on every side. Clarkson made it famous and for once the television was right. Climb it from Llangadog, crest past Herbert’s Quarry, and let the rhythm carry you down to Brynamman. The sheep have right of way by force of numbers, several summits are blind, and the fog comes in off the moor without an invitation. Go early on a weekday and it is still one of the emptiest great roads in Britain. Pair it with a Beacons loop east or the run up to the Evo Triangle.
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4
7 mi18 minHardknott & Wrynose Passes
England’s most extreme tarmac, two passes back to back. Wrynose warms you up out of Little Langdale, then Hardknott delivers the main event: 1-in-3 ramps, unguarded hairpins stacked on a fellside, single-track the whole way, with the Roman fort of Mediobogdum watching you sweat from above. Drive it west toward Eskdale so Wrynose comes first, and treat it as a clutch-control exam with a view. It is genuinely unsuitable for big vehicles, caravans and bravado; first gear, cool head, give way early. In good weather it is the best half hour in the Lake District. In bad weather it is a story you will tell for years, so check the forecast and choose which one you want. Pair it with Kirkstone for the full Lakeland passes day.
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5
39 mi1 h 19 minCauseway Coastal Route
Cliffs, castles and the Giant’s Causeway on a single road. The A2 out of Larne hugs the Antrim coast for nearly forty miles, the sea on your left, the nine Glens opening one after another on your right, villages and harbours threading it all together. It is a touring road rather than a technical one: the corners are honest, the pace is gentle, and the point is the endless argument between land and sea. Take a whole day, stop often, and finish at the Causeway itself. Watch for cyclists, tour traffic in season, and weather that comes straight off the North Channel with nothing to slow it down. This is Northern Ireland at its most cinematic, and the best answer to anyone who thinks the great coast roads all live abroad.
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6
6 mi12 minLlanberis Pass
Straight through the heart of Eryri beneath Crib Goch, and visually overwhelming for every one of its five and a half miles. The A4086 falls from Pen-y-Pass between dark walls of rock, climbers' boulders scattered to the fences, Snowdon’s crags stacked overhead. It is short, steep and busiest of all the roads on this list: walkers spill off the paths, the car parks overflow, coaches take their half of the road in the middle. Go at dawn, out of season, in weather that keeps the crowds away, and it is raw and brilliant; the rock glistens and the pass feels a thousand years older than the tarmac. Park properly at either end and mind loose stone after rain. Pair it with Nant Gwynant next door and the Horseshoe Pass for a full Welsh mountain day.
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7
8 mi16 minThe Snow Road
One of the highest public roads in Britain, riding the roof of the Cairngorms. The A939 from Tomintoul crosses the Lecht in a series of steep pulls and long open sightlines through rolling heather, with the ski centre marking the summit and the snow gates at each end telling you everything about winter up here. In summer it is a gloriously fast, open run; the drops off the Lecht are properly steep, the gradient changes arrive suddenly, and the wind owns the top. Drive it from Tomintoul so the big descent comes as the finale. Check the gates in the cold months, then pair it with the Cairnwell over at Glenshee: the two highest-road experiences in Britain, one afternoon.
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8
15 mi31 minSnake Pass
The Pennines' great serpentine, and rightly named. The A57 climbs out of Glossop onto the gritstone watershed in long, writhing curves, moody and weather-beaten, then unwinds down toward the drowned valley at Ladybower. It is regularly among the first roads in England the snow closes, and the fog and standing water hold seniority the rest of the year, which is precisely its character: this is a road you read rather than attack. Midweek, early, in shifting cloud, it is atmospheric like nowhere else in the Peak. Watch for cyclists on the climbs and give the reservoir corners respect. Pair it with the Cat and Fiddle and the Hope Valley for the definitive Peak District triangle.
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9
21 mi42 minEvo Triangle
The loop a car magazine loved so much it borrowed the name. Three roads lap the empty Denbigh Moors: the A543 over Mynydd Hiraethog, the B4501 past the Llyn Brenig reservoir, the A5 home through Pentrefoelas. Long sightlines, flowing bends, and a rhythm that explains every group test ever shot here. It is also unfenced common land and a public road, not a circuit: the sheep hold committee meetings on the apexes, the phone signal disappears, and the weather turns in minutes. Drive it clockwise, keep your margins, and it is still one of the best hours in Wales. Pair it with the Black Mountain Pass to bookend the country, or the Horseshoe Pass on the way home.
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10
8 mi16 minButtertubs Pass
The quiet one in this list’s top ten, and many people’s favourite. A narrow moorland road climbs out of Hawes in Wensleydale, crests beside the deep limestone shafts that give the pass its name, and drops into Swaledale with the best view in the Dales through the windscreen. It is proper old-fashioned motoring: steep in places with real drops, sheep everywhere, and a summit that asks you to stop and peer carefully into the buttertubs themselves. The Tour de France came over here in 2014 and the cyclists never left, so give them room on the ramps. Pair it with the Wensleydale road for a full Dales day, and take the descent gently; the drama is in the last mile.
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11
9 mi19 minCat and Fiddle
Britain’s most storied moorland road, bending past the second-highest inn in England between Macclesfield and Buxton. The sequence of open bends over the moor is genuinely superb, which is exactly why the road carries the accident history it does and the enforcement that follows from it: this is a place to flow well inside the limits, not to prove anything. Bleak, brilliant and never dull, especially with weather moving across the tops, the old inn appearing out of the murk like a lighthouse. Go early when it is empty, mind the tight stuff near the summit, and pair it with the Snake Pass across the valley for the Peak District’s two great moorland crossings in one morning.
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12
3 mi5 minCheddar Gorge
Two and a half minutes of pure theatre. The B3135 enters at the bottom of Britain’s biggest gorge and climbs between sheer limestone walls 137 metres high, tight curves stacking beneath the cliffs before the road pops out onto the open Mendip plateau. It is short, it is busy, and it is unforgettable: wild goats on the ledges, climbers on the walls, rockfall netting reminding you the gorge is still a working landscape. Drive it uphill out of the village so the walls close in as you climb, keep it slow through the pedestrian stretch, and look up as often as the road allows. Pair it with the Jurassic Coast road for a proper West Country day, and go at opening time before the village wakes.
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13
22 mi45 minRest and Be Thankful
The name is the review. The A83 climbs Glen Croe in long, fast sweeps with the old military road visible below, stitching up the hillside like a rough draft, and the summit viewpoint explains three centuries of travellers stopping to catch their breath. It is a storied Argyll crossing rather than a hairpin fest: big scenery, honest bends, fast descents that deserve respect. The glen’s landslips occasionally shut it at short notice, so check before you commit, and pause at the viewpoint rather than on the road. Pair it with Glencoe for the classic western day: Loch Lomond up the A82, over the Rest, and into the glen with the light going gold.
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14
15 mi32 minCairnwell Pass
The highest main road in Britain, over the Cairnwell between the Glenshee ski slopes and royal Braemar. In summer it is fast, open and surprisingly grand, the road rolling over the shoulder of the mountains with long views down both glens; in winter the snow gates close it with some regularity, which is half its identity. The gradients are real and the mountain weather does what it likes at this height. Drive it north to Braemar so the descent unwinds toward Deeside, and time it for early evening light on the hills. Pair it with the Snow Road over the Lecht: Britain’s two highest-road crossings, and between them the finest high-country driving England and Scotland can offer inside one tank of fuel.
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15
13 mi27 minThe Duke's Pass
A twisting climb through the Trossachs between Aberfoyle and Callander.
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16
33 mi1 h 6 minGlen Shiel
The A87 runs 32.8 miles from Shiel Bridge to Invergarry, a fast road that climbs the length of Glen Shiel with laybys for the views.
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17
19 mi40 minHartside Pass
The A686 crosses the North Pennines from Eamont Bridge to Alston, 19 miles that climb onto open moorland.
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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 A591 links Windermere, Grasmere and Keswick across the central Lake District, a 20-mile run over Dunmail Raise.
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20
13 mi28 minSutton Bank
The A170 runs 13.2 miles from Thirsk to Helmsley, climbing the 1-in-4 bank onto the western escarpment of the North York Moors.
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21
16 mi30 minWensleydale
The A684 covers 15.9 miles from Sedbergh to Hawes, climbing Garsdale to the head of Wensleydale.
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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
The A498 follows Nant Gwynant from Beddgelert up to Pen-y-Gwryd, 7.1 miles of narrow valley road through Eryri with parked cars and walkers at the trailheads.
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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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