Best driving road in the UK

[Daimlerman]

I hope this thread has not been done before but there are certain roads that are an absolute joy to drive (unlike the M25!) and I would be interested to hear other posters thoughts on their favourites.

I would nominate the A285 from Duncton to Goodwood in West Sussex. A fast road that climbs through the South Downs with open sweeping bends and gentle gradients.

On top of that it has the nostalgia of having been driven by the likes of Salvadori, Moss, Ireland et al on their way to Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Relive it at Revival time.

[JimW]

The A689 from Alston to Frosterley in Northumberland gets my vote. In the early morning on the way to Thruxton, the A435 from Cheltenham to Cirencester is another fine drive.

Regards

Jim

[Kicking-back]

Lots of the roads out towards Oban are good - the A85 is the main road into the town - but there are plenty of others once you get there - very good driving experience and great scenery.

[Dan Friel]

Not a bad thread..

I nominate:

1. A272 across the South Downs, and couple of the roads around it (linking down to Goodwood)

2. My route from Romsey to Castle Combe across Salisbury Plain (including A3057 and A342).

3. B4009 between Newbury and Wallingford.

All good stuff!

[noodles]

Back in 1988, I was in London on business for a few weeks. A mate was playing in the British Open at Lytham-St Annes and with my boss being a golf nut, we had to take the week off and head up to watch my mate. Had a brand new RS Escort Turbo as a rental car which absolutely flew (literally at one point).

Stayed in a magnificent old restored hotel in Lancaster, and everyday drove down to Lytham-St Annes via some wonderful back roads, that included a funny little toll bridge at 10p per car. At one point in the roads there was some kind of hump, presumably, a rise over an irrigation channel or similar. Hit that hump at about 75 mph, and then there was spooky silence. No tyre noise. We instantly had our very own Dukes of Hazzard experience.

[Ian Sowman]

The Fen Lanes between Sutton Cheney and Fenny Drayton are good. One of our partners once thanked me for giving him a set of directions that took him on that road as it was a great place to play with his Lotus Elise.

[wensleydale]

I don't really have a single favourite road, but most of the ones in/around the Forest of Bowland are amazing. In the light there is stunning scenery, at night they are a real challenge and test of nerve.

Wens

[Ian Sowman]

Having been a passenger with wens, I can say that pretty much any road is a test of nerve with him driving

[bella]

do you wanna slap him wens, or shall i?

[Ian Sowman]

okok, I drove into a hedge. Well, two.

[bella]

...*rustle*...

[bella]

anyway, yeah.

my best driving road isn't necessarily the best one for actual driving. there's a cross country route between scotland and england that i'm very fond of, partly for scenery but mostly because it was a great trip up to knockhill.

then again, there's a road up to tanneron from mandelieu la napoule town, and once you get out of the annoying towny bit, you've got a magnificent set of gentle curves and some fairly steep inclines with a mega sweeping road. fantastic fun, just so long as you remember to keep your eyes off the view and on the road...

[Ian Sowman]

Originally Posted by bella

...*rustle*...

No, it was more screech/bang/boing/bang actually...

[rdjones]

I have too say I did enjoy the roads around Knockhill.

But for a challange you should try The Hardknott Pass and then Wrynose Pass in the Lake District, its a single track right the through the middle of the lakes and its very steep and twist but great fun.

The Snake Pass between Glossop and Sheffield is also a good road, 2 of my uni friends have written cars off on there.

[Mackmot]

The roads between Menston and Keighley are mental, they are narrow and windy but you can see far enough ahead to go at the national speed limit. They are some jumps though that catch you out a bit when you are going that speed.

[garcon]

Originally Posted by Mackmot

...They are some jumps though that catch you out a bit when you are going that speed.

...as evidenced by some not insignificant scars on the underside of my last Impreza...

[Mathias]

Lots of goodies there - and a wide variety of driving styles too. Wrynose Pass is amazing. Can I add the B4009 east of Wallingford too - that's where I wrote off my Cav.

My favourite road is the A41 from the M25 junction to the edge of Aylesbury (or vice versa). It's a superbly engineered bit of road - almost sculptural through the Chilterns, and the new extension at the Aston Clinton bypass is very fast indeed. Plus, it was designed when the A41 was used by lots of trucks to get to Birmingham avoiding the M1/M6 before the M40 was opened, but now the M40 is opened, it's relatively empty. It's my route to and from work too, and I only tire of it when the traffic is a bit heavy. I imagine that if you were the sort of person who didn't stick to legal speed limits, for example, unlike law-abiding me, you could go very very very fast, and with the sweeping corners and dramatic level changes... well...,

[Bluebottle]

.... and no cameras yet! that was one of my fave drives when I was living in Watford.

[Mathias]

Good point - perhaps I should've kept quiet!

[silver bullet]

Here's one that starts and finishes at a pub (the highest one in Britain)
From Tan Hill head south to Hawes via the Buttertubs then turn right for a quick blast along the A684 to the junction of the B6259 at The Moorcock (another pub) turn right onto the 6259 down the Mallerstang valley to the village of Nateby turn right onto the B6270 until you get to Keld where you turn left back to Tan Hill.
A drive that has everything, climbs, decents, fast corners and slow corners on classic road rallying roads. Oh and did I mention it starts and finishes at a pub.

[L-B]

Not Oban K-B .....

try the A82, A830, A whatever it is that goes up to Aviemore, oh and the road to Oban, all from a slightly more significant West Highland Town

Oh and the best one anywhere is Cockbridge to Tomintoul in the middle of the Grampians. best I've been to in England is probably Kirkstone Pass.

[L-B]

Tan Hill Inn isn't the highest drinking establishment in Britain btw. Both the Ptarmigan restuarant and the snowgoose restuarant in the Scottish ski areas are far higher.

[Kicking-back]

L-B - I had a very good run from Oban up to Fort William last February, then explored the roads around there - they were excellent.


I'm off to Argyll next weekend, the Loch Fyne area - so hopefully there will be some good driving roads around there.

[Sheila M]

Originally Posted by L-B

Tan Hill Inn isn't the highest drinking establishment in Britain btw. Both the Ptarmigan restuarant and the snowgoose restuarant in the Scottish ski areas are far higher.

The Tan Hill Inn is the highest in the People's Republic of Yorkshire (aka God's Own County). Alas, it was closed last time I was up there but, I agree, that road over the Buttertubs is pretty spectacular.

[ensign14]

The A40-A47 route to Hay-On-Wye from Hereford is pretty fun. I'm not a fast driver but when I was ****ed off at being behind 2 caravans and a trail of a dozen cars behind them it only took me about 2 minutes to get past them all. Then whee! 60mph on lovely swoopy roads.