This is the second instalment of a two-part feature. Check out the first 5 roads in our roundup of the world’s most scenic drives.
Traversing breathtaking scenery, these out-of-town highways will have you struggling to keep your eyes on the road.
Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
Over the space of seven miles, 60 turns and a gradient of 8 per cent, this road rises some 4,000 feet from the foothills of the Jebel Hafeet Mountain to its peak.
The road’s immaculate surface, fast straights and sweeping curves makes you wonder if it was constructed as a race course for the UAE’s ruling sheiks.
Overseas Highway – Florida Keys, Florida (USA)
Linking Key Largo and Key West, the Overseas Highway is nearly 130 miles from end to end. Engineers required 42 bridges to get this road to cross the expanses of the Gulf of Mexico between each of the Keys – a remarkable feat of engineering given it was built in 1938.
Trollstigen – Rauma (Norway)
We’ve included Trollstigen for two reasons. One, its name translates as Troll’s Footpath in English. And two, we love how it winds its way first down and then across, all with a seriously steep incline (9 per cent).
Transfagarasan – Transylvania (Romania)
Former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu demanded a strategic military route be built to connect Romania’s Transylvania and Wallachia regions. The Carpathian Mountains in between presented a real headache for engineers in the early 1970s.
Their solution was to blast their way through using over 13 million pounds (6 million kilos) of explosives, and lay down 55 miles of twisting and turning asphalt as they went along. The resulting high mountain pass was deemed by Top Gear to be the most pleasing road to drive in the world.
Los Caracoles Pass – Andes Mountains (Chile/Argentina)
Maybe the name of this road has something to do with its remarkably strong safety record – it translates as Snail’s Pass. Admittedly, it might also have something to do with the fact that snow closes it for most of the year. Characterised by countless switchbacks, Los Caracoles straddles the border Argentine/Chilean border.
On the downside, safety is somewhat compromised by the total absence of guardrails. On the flipside, nothing interrupts the view of the spectacular Andean landscape.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
