Millau Viaduct in France / Photo: pixe_bebe
At Matador, we’ve never shied away from the road. In fact, we live for the road.
From Jack Kerouac cruising in a convertible down America’s highways to Ewan McGregor on a motorbike kicking up dust in the Mongolian plains, the road is an open call for the adventurous traveler. Even Clark Griswold had his moments on the road: Christie Brinkley in a red Ferrari; a dead grandma in the backseat. Adventure I tell you.
We’ve profiled great road trips in the past:
Roadtrip Australia: Melbourne to Sydney Along the Sapphire Coast
Matador’s Top 7 Summer Road Trips in the US and Canada
Munching Montana: A Road Trip Guide to Montana’s Most Unique Local Foods
And we’ve also given you some rock solid tips for saving cash and ideas for tunes:
8 Ways to Save Money on a US Cross Country Road Trip
Greatest Road Trip Soundtrack Ever
Highway Blues: Essential Tunes for a Delta Roadtrip
Now, our attention has been brought to three recently published articles on roads around the world — some which are considered top, some unusual, and a few that are downright deadly.
Canadian Rockies / Photo: Lianne Viau
Top Drives in the World
National Geographic Traveler published Drives of a Lifetime: The World’s Greatest Scenic Routes which highlights 50 of the world’s best road trips. There are, of course, the famous ones: Amalfi Coast in Italy, Banff and Jasper in Canada, and the Pacific Coast Highway in California.
A few of the others include:
James River, Virginia – A short 63-mile drive spanning centuries of American history.
Pirate Route, Jamaica – 380 miles starting in Port Royal, the base for many of the pirates who plundered Spain’s New World “treasure ships.”
North Island, New Zealand – A 460-mile drive taking in real-life Lord of the Rings scenery.
Flower Route, Netherlands – A tour of Western Holland in prime bloom time — April and May.
Most Unusual Drives in the World
Rental car website VroomVroomVroom has listed their picks for the Top 10 Unusual Drives on Earth…which doubles as their top 10 reasons to get extra insurance on your rental. Here are some of the weird things they found:
Baldwin Street, NZ / Photo: elisfanclub
World’s steepest road – Baldwin Street in Dunedan, New Zealand rises 230 feet in only 1150 feet of distance.
World’s longest road tunnel – Travel 15.2 miles through mountains from Laerdal to Aurland in Norway.
World’s highest bridge – The Millau Viaduct in France takes the cake at 1125 feet high (you could fit the Eiffel Tower underneath it).
World’s longest continuous road – The Pan-American Highway stretches from Alaska down Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America, all the way to the tip of Argentina. How long, you ask? Over 29,000 miles.
The Most Dangerous Drives in the World
The Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT) has released their list of the most dangerous roads on the planet based on car crash data, Forbes.com reports.
Photo: Roni_S
You may have already guessed the worst: the North Yungas Road in the Bolivian Andes, which claims hundreds of lives each year.
Others to enjoy this dubious distinction:
Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China – This high elevation road between Chengdu and Tibet is subject to landslides and rock avalanches. It’s part of the reason there were 82,000 road deaths in China in 2006.
Cotopaxi Volcan, Ecuador – It’s a 25-mile dirt span that connects the Pan-American Highway with Cotopaxi Volcan national park. It’s pothole riddled and runs through a stream that easily floods when it rains.
Luxor-al-Hurghada Road, Egypt – Apparently, headlights are faux-pas on this road as the vast majority of drivers don’t use them after dark.
A44, UK – This motorway runs from Oxford to Aberystwyth. 25% of the collisions are head-on.
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
What fascinating road trip experiences do you have?
What country or area is your favourite for road-tripping?
Share your stories below!
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16 Comments... join the discussion!
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I like your style Kathy! Duly noted.
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Nice roundup, Carlo. Makes a person itchy to be moving out across the landscape.
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That steepest road is wack. I would’ve guessed SF or something, not NZ.
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Cool! I survived Cotopaxi! I didn’t realize it was so dangerous at the time, but now I feel like I deserve a t-shirt.
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The A82 in Scotland = one of the most beautiful drives, in any season! Rows of cliffs, one-of-a-kind shades of green, streams and lochs and meadows and a picture to take at every bend in the road. Everyone should experience the West Highlands at least once.
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The Pan-American is NOT continuous. There is a not-so-subtle gap between Panama and Colombia called the Darien Gap. It’s home to guerrillas, narcos and impassible jungle and swamp. Only Land Rover has made a true trans-continental crossing including the Darien. It was nuts. Check out the movie The Art of Travel, it’s all about the Darien.
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Thanks for the movie tip, I’ll check into that.
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Facebook really works; you sent me here from there. Great post. Thanks !
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Great collection of roads and roadtrip ideas! Thanks!
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I would also add the road in North Kashmir, India from Srinigar to Leh. Through the Himalayas. Scariest time of my life. one road wide enough for one vehicle, dodging transport trucks, no guard rails, 3,000 feet down
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Try the road between Sarahan and Neko in Himachal Pradesh, in the Indian Himalayas. Stuff like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigyahu/845374006/ will blow your mind.
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Damn, now that’s a dodgy road! Thanks for the link.
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I did the North Yungas Road in Bolivia on my way to Coroico. It’s terrifying but worth it if you make it alive. Coroico is just beautiful, so peaceful…Along the road, you can see the flowers for all those who didn’t make it. This is very sad. I heard they made it a bit safer by setting times to traffic each way. I hope they did it because everybody should visit Coroico if they are in La Paz.
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Hi there -
Great post! I really enjoyed it – so much so that I’ve featured it in my blog post today….have a look
Thanks again for such cool content! I’ll check back often.
Kathryn @Travelfusion
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Hi Kathryn, thanks for the mention in your blog!
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