Random Best Driving Roads in World (18 items)

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  (#1) Pacific Coast Highway, California

  If you haven't heard of the PCH, then you've never seen a single movie made in California. This 515-mile stretch of photo ready perfection follows the Pacific coastline from Los Angeles to San Francisco and features some of the most thrilling twists, turns, drops, and rises in North America.

  It's also said to be the most filmed road in the world, having shown up in seemingly every car movie you've ever seen. No American can call themselves a gearhead without driving the PCH at least once.
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  (#2) Col de Turini, Italy

  Top Gear fans will recognize this 30-mile plate of asphalt spaghetti from the 2007 special "World's Best Driving Road." It runs through the Alps from Sospel, Italy to La Bollene, and has featured as a stage on the World Rally Championship tour for over 50 years. It's beautiful, narrow, dangerous, rife with blind corners, and absurdly deadly at night. Still, for those who dare, the Col de Turini may be about as close to driving heaven as Europe has to offer. 
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  (#3) Schweizer National Park, Switzerland to Italy

  Another road that has been featured on Top Gear, this one spans 57 miles from Davos, Switzerland to the Stelvio Pass in Italy. The Schweizer Road features 60 hairpin turns going up and down the mountain pass, and offers plenty of tight, technical sections, as well as places to go flat-out fast. The only downsides: the road is well-known and half of it is in Switzerland, where speeding is a more serious offense.
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  (#4) New Zealand's Southern Alps

  Is it any surprise that Middle Earth makes driving fantasies come true? You might recognize these as the Misty Mountains, but they're actually the Southern Alps. That name is a little deceptive, though. They're not the Alps of Italy. They're bigger than the Alps and the Pyrenees combined, and host some of the most beautiful scenery this side of the Undying Lands.

  New Zealand's roads are also better than most in America, and are planned and banked almost like a race circuit. Check out the 100-mile stretch down Route 6, from Wanaka to Haast Beach. If the cops ask, just tell them you're on a mission to Mordor. 
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  (#5) Transfagarasan Highway - Romania

  Of all the great roads in the world, very few can match the Col de Turini for switchbacks, hairpin turns, scenery, or pure driving pleasure. The Transfagarasan Highway that connects Walachia and Transylvania was built by a communist dictator as a massive (and massively pointless) public works project. Since it basically goes from nowhere to nowhere, traffic on this road is practically nonexistent, allowing you to get into a seamless rhythm like few other places on Earth.

  It's a bit more well-known now, since Top Gear officially crowned it the Best Driving Road in the World, but even so, this Romanian wonder will impale your heart with sheer driving nirvana.
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  (#6) The Touge Roads - Japan

  If you're a fan of drifting, or Initial D, "the touge" needs no further explanation. Pronounced "tau-GEY," touge is a generic Japanese term for "mountain pass." It could refer to any of the hundreds of incredible mountain switchbacks running throughout Japan - the roads where drifting was born. Each one is completely unique, and the best of the best are well-kept secrets in Japan. Of course, there's the Mt. Fuji touge, which is pretty, and a nice draw for tourists. But you could spend a lifetime exploring Japan's amazing mountain roads and still never see half of them.

  If you get the chance to visit Japan, just think of yourself as a ronin, forever wandering the land in search of the perfect duel to challenge your skills. You'll never win them all... but you can't lose, either.
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  (#7) The Lang Whang, the UK's A70

  This road's name is Scottish, and it covers 75 miles between Edinburgh and Ayr, in the misty moors. Apart from being the twisting B-road for which all British roadsters are build, the A70 winds through the emerald and heather expanses of the Scottish highlands amid castles, mountains, and lots and lots of sheep. With an eerie and Druidic charm of its own, the Lang Whang is a must-see for anyone planning a drive through the Auld Country.
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  (#8) Death Valley, California to Nevada

  Everyone's seen those pictures of the iconic and arrow-straight "endless road" running through Death Valley, but few are aware of the incredible mountain roads that surround it. The 328-mile road (Route 168) running from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes offers pretty much every combination of tight hairpin, high-speed sweeper, and up and down imaginable, and it's just vacant enough to have some fun. Featured in almost as many movies as the PCH, Death Valley Road is a can't miss in America's wild west.
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  (#9) Nurburgring North, Germany

  Technically, it's a racetrack and not a public road in the purest sense. But it kind of used to be, and for $33, anybody who wants to can experience all 187 turns of this legendary track. (Think of it as a toll road!)

  At 17.53 miles, it is easily the longest racetrack in the world, and Nurburgring lap times have become the new standard by which all performance cars are measured. If you're in Europe looking for great driving experiences, you can't miss this one. And if $33 seems a little unreasonable, it is about 1/10,000th the cost of a speeding ticket in Switzerland.
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  (#10) Great Ocean Road, Australia

  Turn California's PCH upside down and sideways, and you've got Australia's 155-mile Great Ocean Road. In fact, you could say that there are only three major differences between the two: length, the fact that it faces Antarctica instead of Australia, and you're more likely to hit a wallaby instead of a hipster wearing a wallaby t-shirt. Otherwise, though, it's an equally beautiful and challenging road.
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  (#11) Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

  This section of Wyoming Route 296 covers about 50 miles around Yellowstone National Park. There are two roads worth looking at: the aforementioned and Beartooth Highway (Route 212) going into Yellowstone. These roads are very popular among bikers, and offer a surprising mix of non-stop hairpins and high-speed sweepers. One of the better aspects of these roads is that, on four wheels at least, they're even fun if you're staying within the posted speed limit. Just don't get distracted by the scenery - Yellowstone's roads don't let up for a moment.
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  (#12) Ardal to Tyn - Norway

  Norway has some of the most incredible scenery on Earth, and produces some of the best drivers around. Both of those have not a little bit to do with the country's incredible fjords, and the roads that run along them. Really, you could pick practically any road in the country, but one particularly worth mentioning is Highway 53, running from Ardal to Tyn.

  Of course, scenic beauty is a given, but this road has a combination of switchbacks, straights and complex corners that will challenge even the best drivers. Not least of which because it's covered in some amount of snow most of the year. This road is not for the faint of heart, but worth it for the stunning view alone.
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  (#13) Isle of Man

  With a name like "Isle of Man," you know it has to be good. The Snaefell mountain road (A18) spans 15.3 miles between Douglas and Ramsey, and you almost certainly know it from the annual Isle of Man TT race. It's a brooding, foggy, serious road that seems specifically built for spirited driving.

  Like any good road course, it offers a selection of tight, technical sections, sweepers, long straights, and best of all, local traffic laws are extremely "understanding." As long you're not full-out racing, posing a danger to the public, or just being a general jerk, the good constables of the Isle aren't averse to letting you have your fun. Just be sure to show your appreciation by visiting some of the local businesses.
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  (#14) Snakes, Cats, and Fiddles

  The Snake Pass (A57) and Cat n' Fiddle (A537) are two different roads located south and east of Liverpool England, respectively. Both run 10 miles or less, and were popular among "cafe racers" in the 1950s.

  The latter is named for a pub at the summit of the road, where motorcycle racers would meet before racing hell-for-leather down the road. Snake Pass is tighter and twistier, while Cat n' Fiddle (pictured) is more of a high-speed bomb. Some of the best scenery England has to offer, these roads are worth seeing for the views alone. But the steak and kidney pie isn't bad, either.
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  (#15) Pacific Rim Highway - Vancouver Island

  Located on Canada's most famous Pacific Island, Route 19 is a 95-mile stretch of seaside perfection running from Parksville to Tofino. On one side, you've got the strait of Georgia, and lots of pretty offshore islands to gawk at. On the other, you've got a mountain range.

  With its ever-changing scenery, combination of technical and high-speed sections and general lack of traffic, the Pacific Rim Highway will keep you engaged from start to finish. It's also fairly wide as such highways go, so a bit more forgiving than a lot of others on this list.
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  (#16) The Dragon's Tail at Deal's Gap

  If America has anything comparable to the Alps, it has to be the 120-mile Dragon/Cherohala loop in the tri-state area between Tennessee, North Carolina, and North Georgia. The most famous section is known as The Tail of the Dragon, an 11-mile stretch of Route 129 going through Deal's Gap in North Carolina.

  Calling this road "well known" is an understatement of massive proportions; the whole area is practically an open-road track, and the locals proudly bill it as America's best motorcycle and sports car road. Take it from someone who lived there and drove the loop regularly: Don't challenge the dragon's 318 curves unless you're 100% on your game. This road is treacherous, dangerous, and well-traveled by psychotic bikers and tractor trailers alike.
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  (#17) The Forest - Route 314a

  To those in the know, the 23.5-mile 314a loop is Central Florida's Nurburgring. No, the scenery on this particular road isn't stunning, and it's well known as a meat grinder for the unwary, but it's also an incredible driving challenge, and offers a combination of slaloms, hairpins, sweepers, and high-speed straights the equal of any rally circuit on Earth.

  It does go through a few residential areas, so be careful, and be considerate. The locals are pretty understanding if you drive like a gentleman... Florida police, not so much.
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  (#18) The Snake - Spain

  As a general rule, Spain these days is not the kind of place you want to live. But, it still has some great vacation destinations, including the 52 miles of N-152 from Puigcerda to Ribes de Freser. The turns and jinks on this road are almost nonstop, punctuated only periodically by short straights. In truth, N-152 is probably a bit exhausting for four-wheeled drivers, but motorcyclists love it.

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