The complete guide to UK scenic drives

The fastest route is almost never the best one. Somewhere between the motorway slip roads and the dual carriageways, Britain keeps its real driving: single-track passes over the Lake District fells, coastal lanes in Cornwall, the long sweep of a Highland glen with not another car in sight. You won't find these by accident — the apps that get you to work won't suggest them, and the roads themselves rarely shout about it. This guide is a map to the good stuff: the iconic drives every driver or rider should do once, the regions worth building a weekend around, and the practical know-how to do it well.

What actually makes a drive scenic

A great drive is more than a pretty backdrop. It's a combination of three things: the road, the landscape, and the rhythm. The best roads have a flow to them — corners that link together, crests that reveal a view, a surface good enough to relax on. The best landscapes change as you go, so the drive feels like a sequence rather than a single postcard. And the best rhythm comes from quiet roads where you can settle into the drive without a queue of traffic behind you.

In the UK that almost always means A-roads and B-roads rather than motorways. The classification is a useful shorthand. Motorways (the M-roads) are built for speed and volume, and they're deliberately featureless. A-roads vary enormously, from grim dual carriageways to glorious mountain passes. B-roads are the quieter, narrower routes that connect villages and thread through countryside — and they're where most of the magic lives. A handful of the drives below are single-track, with passing places rather than two lanes, which rewards patience with genuine remoteness.

The Scottish Highlands

If you only do one big drive in your life, make it a Highland one. The scale is unlike anywhere else in Britain: empty glens, sea lochs, and mountain passes that feel borrowed from a much larger country.

The North Coast 500

The North Coast 500 is the headline act — a 516-mile loop that starts and ends at Inverness Castle and traces the northern Highlands by way of the west coast, the far north, and the east. Launched in 2015, it strings together some of the best driving in Europe: towering mountains, white-sand beaches, waterfalls, and single-track roads where you'll share the tarmac with more sheep than cars. Most people give it five to seven days. The most demanding stretch is the Bealach na Bà, the pass to the Applecross peninsula — Britain's third-highest road, climbing through a series of tight hairpins to views across to the Outer Hebrides. It isn't for the faint-hearted or for large vehicles, but it's unforgettable on two wheels or four.

Glen Coe and the A82

If the NC500 is a holiday, Glen Coe is a day. The A82 runs up the side of Loch Lomond before climbing across Rannoch Moor and dropping into the glen, where steep mountains rise on both sides and waterfalls streak the rock. It's so cinematic it has stood in for the wilds in James Bond and Harry Potter films, and the drive is genuinely world-class even without a detour. Branch off onto the single-track road through Glen Etive — the Skyfall road — for one of the most beautiful dead-ends in the country.

The Lake District

The Lakes pack more dramatic driving into a small area than anywhere else in England. The honeypot is Hardknott Pass, frequently ranked the most scenic drive in the UK and just as frequently the most intimidating. It tops out at 393 metres with gradients as steep as 1-in-3 (around 33%), much of it single-track with sharp hairpins that are slippery when wet. Pair it with the neighbouring Wrynose Pass for a white-knuckle traverse between Eskdale and the Duddon Valley — but only in good weather, in a car or on a bike you trust, and never in a hurry.

For something more relaxed, Kirkstone Pass (the A592) links Ambleside and Ullswater over the highest pass in the Lakes that's open to through traffic, with a welcome pub at the top. The drive along Honister Pass between Borrowdale and Buttermere is another classic, and the lakeside run beside Ullswater or Derwentwater gives you the scenery without the gradients.

Snowdonia & Wales

Wales is arguably the best value driving in Britain — huge variety, modest distances, and roads that feel purpose-built for enjoyment. In Eryri (Snowdonia), the A5 through the Ogwen Valley and the A4086 over the Llanberis Pass deliver mountain scenery to rival the Lakes, with Pen-y-Pass as a natural high point and a base for walkers.

Further south, the A4069 Black Mountain Pass in the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) is the one enthusiasts talk about. It wriggles for 19 miles between Llandovery and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, all sweeping hairpins, blind crests and open moorland — so good that Top Gear filmed here, earning it the nickname "the Top Gear road." Combine it with the A470, often called Wales's spine, and the wooded A466 through the Wye Valley for a weekend that covers mountains, rivers and ruined abbeys. Mid-Wales also hides the so-called Evo Triangle, a loop of fast, flowing roads beloved of car and motorcycle photographers.

The Peak District

Close to Manchester, Sheffield and the Midlands, the Peaks are the most accessible great driving for millions of people. Snake Pass (the A57) is the famous one — a demanding, sinuous climb and descent across the moors that's as loved by cyclists and riders as by drivers, though it's prone to closures in bad weather. Nearby, the short, steep Winnats Pass near Castleton funnels you through a dramatic limestone cleft, and the roads around the Hope Valley and Curbar Edge string together gritstone scenery and honest pubs.

The Yorkshire Dales

The Dales are all drystone walls, stone barns and green valleys, joined by some superb moorland roads. Buttertubs Pass is the standout — a narrow climb between Wensleydale and Swaledale that featured in the 2014 Tour de France, with vast summit views and the curious limestone potholes (the "butter tubs") that give it its name. The roads around Malham, the run over to Hawes, and the climb to Tan Hill (home to Britain's highest pub) make the Dales a brilliant unhurried touring region.

The Cotswolds

Not every great drive is a mountain pass. The Cotswolds are the antidote — honey-stone villages, rolling hills and gentle lanes that reward pottering rather than pressing on. The A429 (the old Fosse Way) runs arrow-straight along a Roman alignment, while the smaller roads linking Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters and Broadway are made for a Sunday with no particular destination. It's the kind of region where the stops — a farm shop, a churchyard, a tea room — matter as much as the driving.

The South West

Devon and Cornwall give you coast and moor in the same trip. The A39 Atlantic Highway shadows the north Cornish coast with sea views and surf towns, while the lanes off it drop steeply to coves and harbours. Inland, Dartmoor and Exmoor offer open moorland roads with grazing ponies and big skies — the B3212 across Dartmoor and the coastal roads around Lynton and Lynmouth on Exmoor are particular favourites. Over in Somerset, the B3135 through Cheddar Gorge threads beneath cliffs almost 400 feet high through England's largest gorge; it was named the best driving road in the UK in 2018 and is an easy, spectacular detour.

Northumberland

England's emptiest county is a quiet secret. The B6318 Military Road runs alongside Hadrian's Wall, rising and falling with the crags in a way that makes the history feel physical. Add the coast road past Bamburgh and Lindisfarne, and the lanes through the Northumberland National Park, and you have some of the least crowded great driving in the country.

Iconic single roads, at a glance

If you're collecting drives rather than regions, these are the roads that belong on any UK list:

• Bealach na Bà, Applecross, Scotland — Britain's most dramatic mountain pass.
• A82 through Glen Coe, Scotland — world-class glen scenery on a main road.
• Hardknott & Wrynose Passes, Lake District — the steepest, most thrilling driving in England.
• A4069 Black Mountain Pass, Wales — the "Top Gear road," 19 miles of hairpins.
• A4086 Llanberis Pass, Snowdonia — mountain drama with easy access.
• Snake Pass (A57), Peak District — the classic moorland test piece.
• Buttertubs Pass, Yorkshire Dales — narrow, high and gorgeous.
• B3135 Cheddar Gorge, Somerset — England's largest gorge, voted best driving road.
• B6318 Military Road, Northumberland — Hadrian's Wall in motion.

When to go

Timing makes or breaks a scenic drive in Britain. The sweet spots are late spring (May–June) and early autumn (September–October): long daylight, fresh greenery or autumn colour, and noticeably fewer cars than the school-holiday peak. Midsummer gives you the most daylight — invaluable in the far north, where June evenings barely get dark — but the honeypots like the Lakes and Snowdonia get busy. Winter is a different proposition: the light can be magical, but high passes such as Hardknott, Wrynose and Bealach na Bà routinely close for ice and snow, and short days limit how much you can fit in. Always check the forecast and road status before committing to a mountain route between November and March.

Time of day matters too. Set off early and you'll have the best roads largely to yourself, catch the light at its softest, and reach the popular viewpoints before the car parks fill. An early start is the single easiest upgrade to any scenic drive.

Single-track roads and driving etiquette

Many of Britain's best drives are single-track, and a little etiquette keeps them enjoyable for everyone:

• Use the passing places properly. Pull into (or opposite) a passing place to let oncoming traffic through, and to let faster vehicles overtake. Never park in one.
• Give a wave. A thank-you to drivers who wait for you is part of the culture on Highland and Lakeland roads.
• Watch for animals. Sheep, deer and ponies wander freely on open moorland and unfenced roads. Slow right down.
• Don't tailgate the view. People brake for scenery. Leave room, and if you're the one stopping, find a safe spot rather than halting on a blind bend.
• Fuel up early. In remote areas — the far north of Scotland especially — petrol stations are sparse and may be closed on Sundays. Fill the tank when you can.

Planning the route

The hardest part of a scenic drive isn't the driving — it's finding the roads in the first place. A few principles help. Start with a destination you loosely care about, then deliberately choose the indirect way there; the detour is the trip. Favour B-roads and minor A-roads over the obvious trunk route, and string together two or three named drives rather than chasing a single one. Build in stops — a viewpoint, a café, a short walk — because a scenic drive is as much about where you pause as how you drive.

You can do all this manually with a paper map and local knowledge, and plenty of enthusiasts still do. But if you'd rather skip the planning, a scenic route planner does the legwork: describe the kind of drive you want and let it pick the roads. That's exactly what brieflylost is built for — UK-focused, natural-language route planning for drivers and riders that prioritises the beautiful roads, then navigates you along them turn by turn. It's free for your first 50 routes a month, on iOS and Android.

Frequently asked questions