roads to drive on

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rotherham
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roads to drive on

Post by rotherham »

My gf will pass her test soon and I need ideas on which are Britain's best roads for us to go on.
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Ruperts Trooper
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

rotherham wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 14:34 My gf will pass her test soon and I need ideas on which are Britain's best roads for us to go on.
A686 from Langwathby to Haydon Bridge - BUT - I'm not sure that a newly qualified driver should be heading for Britain's best driving roads.
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Chris5156
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by Chris5156 »

Where in the UK are you? Or are you planning a tour of the whole UK?

The A82 and B3306 are honestly two of my favourite roads I've driven, but they're unlikely to feature on the same trip, especially if you've just passed your test! An idea of where you might go would be useful.
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jervi
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by jervi »

Really depends what you think the "best" roads are.
Nice views, no traffic, interesting roads, historic roads etc really a load of metrics you can measure "best" with.

If you want a nice drive, Sunday mornings at 6am (this time of year) is the best time, no traffic and suns up. My most memorable drive was A82 last summer in those conditions.

Other than that, if I want a nice relaxing drive I use the tomtom route planner (https://plan.tomtom.com/en/route/plan/) and set the settings to be curvy, hilly & thrilling. It gives you a route down back country roads where there is nearly no traffic & often new views, not the "best road", but normally a nice drive, which might take twice or even triple as long to do. But doing this you have to be cautious of cyclists, horse riders etc as well as questionable road surfaces.
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solocle
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by solocle »

Chris5156 wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 21:18 Where in the UK are you? Or are you planning a tour of the whole UK?

The A82 and B3306 are honestly two of my favourite roads I've driven, but they're unlikely to feature on the same trip, especially if you've just passed your test! An idea of where you might go would be useful.
I didn't actually do the B3306, but I did pass it on the A30, and then do the A82, on the same trip. :D
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It was a rather long trip, particularly given my choice of transport!
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The A82 was the best scenery of the whole trip. The A9/99 had some nice coastal views, the C32 (North Yorkshire) and B6521 were very scenic too.

From the SABRE Wiki: C32 (North Yorkshire) :

The C32 is a road of two parts, both famous road climbs.

Fleet Moss is a hill pass renowned for being the highest paved road in Yorkshire, reaching a summit of 588 m [1929 ft], connecting Wharfedale and Wensleydale. Although the shortest route between Wharfedale's B6160 and Hawes, the recommended route for drivers is to continue along the B6160 to the A684. A narrow road with low traffic, and an epic climb to boot, this road is very popular for cyclists, although sometimes narrow

... Read More
WHBM
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by WHBM »

There's an instructor here in Canary Wharf, who does "Pass Plus" after getting your licence. One thing they do is drive right across London, to Heathrow, stop for a cup of tea, then come back via M25 north side/M11. About 3 hours overall. Apparently everyone comes back feeling its great.
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owen b
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by owen b »

solocle wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 14:53 I didn't actually do the B3306, but I did pass it on the A30, and then do the A82, on the same trip. :D

It was a rather long trip, particularly given my choice of transport!

The A82 was the best scenery of the whole trip. The A9/99 had some nice coastal views, the C32 (North Yorkshire) and B6521 were very scenic too.
LEJOG I take it. I was investigating LEJOG when I stumbled on a cycle holiday outfit offering Dover to Cape Wrath. While LEJOG appealed (and still does, though I'm not getting any younger) the Dover to Cape Wrath route looked amazing, and so it turned out. Overnights were at :
Brentwood (after a trip on the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry)
St.Ives (Cambridgeshire)
Castle Donington
New Mills (just off the A6 on the edge of the Peak District)
Gargrave (Yorkshire Dales)
Penrith (via Dent, the hardest cycling of the trip, also the only bad day of weather)
Thornhill (north of Dumfries)
Brodick (Arran) via Ardrossan ferry
Craignure (ferry to Kintyre, cycle, Oban ferry to Mull)
Mallaig (via Lochaline ferry)
Kinlochewe (via Mallaig to Skye ferry, then over the Skye bridge, then via Shieldaig)
Ullapool (long way round Wester Ross A832)
Durness

We were supposed to get the ferry and then use mountain bikes to Cape Wrath. In the event the ferry wasn't running so it didn't happen, but I had been to Cape Wrath many years previously so wasn't upset.

The reason I relate all this is to say that the route followed a lot of the most scenic and no doubt fun to drive roads in the UK, especially up the west of Scotland, but also in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales.
Owen

From the SABRE Wiki: C32 (North Yorkshire) :

The C32 is a road of two parts, both famous road climbs.

Fleet Moss is a hill pass renowned for being the highest paved road in Yorkshire, reaching a summit of 588 m [1929 ft], connecting Wharfedale and Wensleydale. Although the shortest route between Wharfedale's B6160 and Hawes, the recommended route for drivers is to continue along the B6160 to the A684. A narrow road with low traffic, and an epic climb to boot, this road is very popular for cyclists, although sometimes narrow

... Read More
Glenn A
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by Glenn A »

Once again, the A7 from Carlisle to Hawick, the modernised section from the Scottish Border to Langholm is a fantastic wide S2, and the drive from Langholm to Hawick passes through some excellent scenery with very little traffic off peak and there are two overtaking lanes to beat the occasional tractor.
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solocle
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by solocle »

owen b wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 17:02
solocle wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 14:53 I didn't actually do the B3306, but I did pass it on the A30, and then do the A82, on the same trip. :D

It was a rather long trip, particularly given my choice of transport!

The A82 was the best scenery of the whole trip. The A9/99 had some nice coastal views, the C32 (North Yorkshire) and B6521 were very scenic too.
LEJOG I take it. I was investigating LEJOG when I stumbled on a cycle holiday outfit offering Dover to Cape Wrath. While LEJOG appealed (and still does, though I'm not getting any younger) the Dover to Cape Wrath route looked amazing, and so it turned out. Overnights were at :
Brentwood (after a trip on the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry)
St.Ives (Cambridgeshire)
Castle Donington
New Mills (just off the A6 on the edge of the Peak District)
Gargrave (Yorkshire Dales)
Penrith (via Dent, the hardest cycling of the trip, also the only bad day of weather)
Thornhill (north of Dumfries)
Brodick (Arran) via Ardrossan ferry
Craignure (ferry to Kintyre, cycle, Oban ferry to Mull)
Mallaig (via Lochaline ferry)
Kinlochewe (via Mallaig to Skye ferry, then over the Skye bridge, then via Shieldaig)
Ullapool (long way round Wester Ross A832)
Durness

We were supposed to get the ferry and then use mountain bikes to Cape Wrath. In the event the ferry wasn't running so it didn't happen, but I had been to Cape Wrath many years previously so wasn't upset.

The reason I relate all this is to say that the route followed a lot of the most scenic and no doubt fun to drive roads in the UK, especially up the west of Scotland, but also in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales.
Yep, that's the one! Given the opposite corners there's a surprising amount of commonality on the route. My first stop was Exeter, then it was my childhood home, just a mile off the A30 in Dorset. Then it was the turn NE, calling in at Cirencester.
Next, a bit of the Cotswolds before rolling through Stratford-upon-Avon to the hotel in R. Leamington Spa.
It was rather funny finding this bus just north of Winchcombe, after coming down off the Cotswolds:
capture5.jpg
Then I called in at Bosworth Field for lunch, before the next stop in Derby. From there, it was up the A6 through Matlock, then up to Fox House.
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After descending the A625 into Sheffield, it was up to Woolley Edge Services for that night, through the secret entrance. From there it was up through Leeds, then down into Otley, before following Wharfedale, the B6160 route via Bolton Bridge. That road is pretty scenic itself. I had to dodge some wandering sheep around here... :lol:
Image
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But the C32 Fleet Moss is utterly brutal. Gorgeous, but brutal. It climbs to 1900' above sea level.
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It's not an easy road to drive, that, whereas it's a fun challenge on a bike.

The next day started with the B6259 out of Wensleydale, paralleling the Carlisle-Settle line.
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On reaching Kirkby Stephen, I headed on a back road route via Appleby, paralleling the A66, to Penrith, meeting the A6 again.
Image
But I chose a back road closer to the M6 to carry on to Carlisle, rather than follow the A6. I could have snuck in at Southwaite Services had I needed to.

From Carlisle, it was the old A74 up to Glasgow, which was a lovely road, although a bit undermaintained. After Glasgow, it was basically the A82 (from Loch Lomond), before going the other side of Loch Ness to Inverness.
Image
B7076, West Coast Mainline, and A74(M) at Beattock Summit.

From the SABRE Wiki: C32 (North Yorkshire) :

The C32 is a road of two parts, both famous road climbs.

Fleet Moss is a hill pass renowned for being the highest paved road in Yorkshire, reaching a summit of 588 m [1929 ft], connecting Wharfedale and Wensleydale. Although the shortest route between Wharfedale's B6160 and Hawes, the recommended route for drivers is to continue along the B6160 to the A684. A narrow road with low traffic, and an epic climb to boot, this road is very popular for cyclists, although sometimes narrow

... Read More
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owen b
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by owen b »

solocle wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 17:51 But the C32 Fleet Moss is utterly brutal. Gorgeous, but brutal. It climbs to 1900' above sea level.
I'm not trying to compete, you are quite obviously a vastly better and keener cyclist than I'll ever be, for which respect is due :) , but I can beat that in the UK, twice in fact.

I've done the highest public road in England, the Langdon Beck to St.John's Chapel road (from Teesdale to Weardale), which tops out above the 630m contour on the OS 1:25,000 map. I haven't done the Great Dun Fell access road, which is tarmac and usually open to the public, although not as I understand it a public road, and gets to over 840m.

In Scotland I haven't cycled up any of the public roads over 2,000 feet, but I noticed when researching a Corbett I wanted to hill walk that there's a tarmac road going a long way up Stob an Aonaich Mor from the south by Loch Rannoch. It also tops out between the 630m and 640m contours on the OS 1:25,000. I cycled to the high point on my road bike and then yomped up the final mile or so to the hill summit. I did get a puncture about half way down while being a bit over enthusiastic and misjudging a gravelly pothole, but it saved a lot of time and it was great fun.
Owen
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solocle
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by solocle »

owen b wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 18:09
solocle wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 17:51 But the C32 Fleet Moss is utterly brutal. Gorgeous, but brutal. It climbs to 1900' above sea level.
I'm not trying to compete, you are quite obviously a vastly better and keener cyclist than I'll ever be, for which respect is due :) , but I can beat that in the UK, twice in fact.

I've done the highest public road in England, the Langdon Beck to St.John's Chapel road (from Teesdale to Weardale), which tops out above the 630m contour on the OS 1:25,000 map. I haven't done the Great Dun Fell access road, which is tarmac and usually open to the public, although not as I understand it a public road, and gets to over 840m.

In Scotland I haven't cycled up any of the public roads over 2,000 feet, but I noticed when researching a Corbett I wanted to hill walk that there's a tarmac road going a long way up Stob an Aonaich Mor from the south by Loch Rannoch. It also tops out between the 630m and 640m contours on the OS 1:25,000. I cycled to the high point on my road bike and then yomped up the final mile or so to the hill summit. I did get a puncture about half way down while being a bit over enthusiastic and misjudging a gravelly pothole, but it saved a lot of time and it was great fun.
Nice - I've not done Langdon Beck, but I have done GDF. It's a lovely climb that, although the weather meant that I actually could see the radar dome better from the foot of the climb than when I was up there :lol:. Silky smooth tarmac, I did actually meet a car that was coming up the hill on my way back down, but it's quiet up there.
capture5.jpg
But with that one I just went up it and came back. Fleet Moss is a brutal kick in the teeth near the end of an 80 mile day, as the steepness just sort of ramps up on you. Actually the famous climb is the north face of it, as it's even steeper. I've done it, once, when living in Leeds, but some stops were in order.
Image
Going down it? I got within spitting distance of the NSL! I topped out at 57 mph. :o

Regarding Scotland, I have a holiday in Skye planned for September, so I do have my eye on Bealach na Ba.
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owen b
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Re: roads to drive on

Post by owen b »

solocle wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 18:41 I have done GDF. It's a lovely climb that, although the weather meant that I actually could see the radar dome better from the foot of the climb than when I was up there :lol:. Silky smooth tarmac, I did actually meet a car that was coming up the hill on my way back down, but it's quiet up there.
capture5.jpg
But with that one I just went up it and came back. Fleet Moss is a brutal kick in the teeth near the end of an 80 mile day, as the steepness just sort of ramps up on you. Actually the famous climb is the north face of it, as it's even steeper. I've done it, once, when living in Leeds, but some stops were in order.
Image
Going down it? I got within spitting distance of the NSL! I topped out at 57 mph. :o

Regarding Scotland, I have a holiday in Skye planned for September, so I do have my eye on Bealach na Ba.
Well done on GDF and Fleet Moss, and good luck with Bealach na Ba. I cycled at college and then took it up again about ten years ago in my early 40s, but have gravitated back towards hill walking since the pandemic. I'd love to do some of those crazy hills but they're beyond me now unless I push, and I'm not getting an electric bike any time soon. As for down hill, 48mph is my top speed and that was a few years ago. These days I don't have the nerve to go so close to the edge, and I find increasingly on steep descents that my eyes water copiously, which is less than ideal.
Owen
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