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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Most Beautiful Roads in the World
The greatest driving roads inthe world should have a perfect mixture between challenging andcomplicated bends, long fast straights, little to no traffic andespecially breathtaking views!
These roads might have enough twists and turns to give you a headache but you’ll feel incredible after you’ve conquered them and you’ll surely want to try it again and again and again.
Hereis a list with the Most Beautiful Roads in the World to drive on andanother five honorable mentions that you’ll surely like. Enjoy!
The Overseas Highway – Florida Keys
TheOverseas Highway leaps from island to island across 42 bridgessouthwest through Florida Keys and it was built in 1938 along thecourse of an old railroad that has been destroyed by a hurricane. The highway is mostly over water and in about four hours you can enjoy the beautiful scenery and the ocean and of course, the incrediblesunrises and sunsets if you come here at the right time. Duringholidays the traffic will make journeys through this highway a bitlonger but I’m sure everyone would love to stay on this road as long aspossible.
Red Rock Scenic Road – USA
TheRed Rock Scenic Road winds through Sedona’s Red Rock Country, oftencalled a “museum without walls”. The road provides a splendid view ofthe stunning red rocks which seem alive like a timeless spirit thatcaptivates and inspires everyone. The Red Rock Scenic byway also passesthrough the Montezuma Castle National Monument and the Coconino National Forest giving every driver an amazing sense of intimacy with nature.
Iroha-zaka – Japan
Iroha-zakais a winding road from Japan which connects central Nikko andOku-Nikko. The road comprises of 48 curves and each corner has anancient Japanese alphabet, starting in alphabetical order from I-ro-hawhich also gave this road’s name. Iroha-zaka is actually made of tworoads, one to come down and another to go up and they both have 48curves matching the 48 letters of the ancient Japanese alphabet.
Atlantic Road – Norway
TheAtlantic Road was voted as the Norwegian construction of the centuryand it’s a five mile long stretch of road connecting Molde andKristiansund in this country. The road rides above some rough anduneven surfaces and it’s spectacular because it rises itself and fallsat many places like a sea at the time of a rough tide. Apart fromthe incredible road itself, the scenery surrounding it could give any driver shivers.
Oberalp Pass – Switzerland
TheOberalp Pass in an incredible road in the high Swiss mountains that’san important link between Central Switzerland and the GraubundenOberland. The road is really popular for all drivers from Europe butit’s only open during summer months. In winter this pass is closed forroad traffic and the road itself is used as a ski slope, toboggan runand hiking trail!
North Yungas “Road of Death” – Bolivia
TheNorth Yungas Road is a 43 mile road connecting La Paz and Coroico deepinto the Bolivian Andes. The road is name by the locals “El Camino dela Muerte” or the Road of Death and it was named the world’s mostdangerous road in 1995. The road, famous for its extreme danger has asingle lane width with terrifyingly drop offs, tight hairpins, narrowpassages and almost no guardrails at all. The fog and rain can makevisibility poor and the road surface muddy which addseven more dancer to any journey on this road. On average, there is afatal accident every couple of weeks on this road and it is estimatedthat 200 to 300 travelers are killer per year on this treacherous road.Today however, the Youngas road has less traffic and it used mostly bytravelers who want to feel its thrill.
Trollstigen – Norway
Oneof the most notable attractions from the Fjord in Norway is theTrollstigen road, a steep winding mountain road located in the Raumaregion. The word Trollstigen means the Troll Ladder in English and itrepresents a series of stunning roads with a breathtaking view and acouple of incredible waterfalls.This road is very narrow and leaves very few possibilities for vehiclesto pass each other and with its steep 9% gradient and 11 hairpins it’sreally, really challenging. But it’s all worth it if you get to the topwhere you’ll see this amazing road from above and the Stigfossenwaterfall, a 320 m waterfall which falls down the mountain side.
Guoliang Tunnel Road – China
TheGuoliang Tunnel Road was built by 13 local villagers headed in onlyfive years in the Taihang mountains in the Hunan province of China.Many villagers lost their lives in accidents during the construction ofthis tunnel but in 1977 it was opened to traffic. The tunnel carvedfrom the mountains is 1,200 meters long, 5 meters high and 4 meterswide and its also one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Thisextremely beautiful scenic route was dubbed as “the road that does nottolerate any mistakes” and its a key destination on the Chinese tourismmap.
San Bernardino Pass – Switzerland
Another high mountain pass across the Swiss Alps is the San BernardinoPass and the road that goes through it and connects the Swiss townsMisox and Hinterrhein is also one of the world’s greatest roads. Thepass is located at 2,065 meters and the road has incredibly smoothroads, a lot of hairpins and challenging bends and of course, amazingscenic views. The road also goes through an impressive 6.6 km longtunnel.
Los Caracoles Pass – Andes
LosCaracoles Road passes through the harsh terrain of the AndreasMountains from the Andes on the way between Chile and Argentina. Theroad has many hard switchbacks on an extremely steep incline andnumerous hairpins without any safety guard rails.For the most part of the year, this pass is covered by snow and thatmakes it incredibly hard to negotiate. Despite the fact that it’s oneof the most challenging roads in the world, the Los Caracoles Pass hasa strong safety record.
Col de Turini – France
TheCol de Turini is situated in a mountain pass in the south of France inthe Alps at more than 1 mile above sea level. The road is included aspart of a 20 miles rally stage every year of the Monte Carlo Rally inthe World Rally Championship and it combines 34 hairpins and longstretch lines where cars can reach top speeds of over 110 mph. Thisstage is one of the most challenges stages from the WRC and apart fromthe wonderful road, the scenery also makes it one of the mostattractive and exciting roads on Earth.
The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road – UAE
TheJebel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates extends for 7.3miles with 60 turns up the mountain of a height of 1,219 m. The UAEroad scales the mountain with a beautiful view of the desert below andends at a parking lot with only a hotel and of course, a palace,belonging to the country’s rulers. The road is a mixture of faststraights and sweeping curves that merge perfectly from one to anotherforming this amazing driving road in the middle of the desert.
Lysebotn Road – Norway
TheLysebotn Road is considered one of the most breathtaking roads inEurope and it all starts with the narrow road up the steep walls of theLysefjord, Norway. The road includes 27 challenging hairpins and a 1.1km long tunnel at the bottom which also has 3 switchbacks inside tomake things even more interesting. The surface of the road is perfectand the ones who were already on this road think of it as arollercoaster. It’s probably the most fun road from Norway and its last30 km to Lysebotn will put a smile on every driving enthusiast’s face.
Stelvio Pass – Italy
Fromthe Eastern Alps in Italy, the Stelvio Pass Road connects theValtellina with Merano and the upper Adige valley. This is the secondhighest paved mountain road in the Alps and its situated at an altitudeof around 1.7 miles (about 2,757 meters) above sea level. The StelvioPass is one of the best continuous hairpin routes in the world and itsfame came from the presence of 48 hairpin bends and the fact that theroad becomes very narrow at some points and it has a couple of verysteep inclines. This road is regarded by many car enthusiasts as one ofthe most challenging roads in the world and it’s scenery is absolutelybreathtaking and spectacular.
Transfagarasan – Romania
TheTransfăgărășan (that’s the exact spelling) is the highest and mostdramatic paved road from Romania. Built as a strategic military routeby the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu between 1970 and 1974, thisroad connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia, andthe cities of Sibiu and Pitesti. The Transfagarasan represents 90 km oftwists and turns run North to South across the tallest sections of theCarpathian Mountains between the highest peaks of the mountain in thiscountry.
On top of themountains this road provides access to Balea Lake, a glacier lake whichhas been here for thousands of years and it also has an almost 1 kmlong tunnel straight through the mountain’s top. The road was built ata high cost both financially and from a human standpoint with more than6 million kilograms of explosive being used on the northern face andofficial records of 40 soldiers who lost their lives while building it.Unofficial records however mention that only the tunnel took about 400lives.
The north end ofthe road is the most spectacular and it’s dotted with steep hairpinturns, long S curves and sharp descents combined with an absolutelystunning view! Between October and June this road is under the snow andusually closed so… that means only a couple of months in the summerit’s available to enjoy a pure driving pleasure. Top Gear also namedthis road as the best road in the world !
Honorable mentions:
Millau Viaduct – France
Autobahn – Germany
Great Ocean Road – Australia
Taroko Gorge Road -Taiwan
Leh–Manali Highway – India
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