Travel trivia – top ten road trips

Where in the world are these top ten road trips?

1. Between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Route 62 is 748k (464 miles) and the 65+ wineries along the way will have you wishing you were a passenger rather than the driver.

2. North Coast 500 or NC500 is 830k (500 miles) and opened in 2015 as part of a future king’s initiative to showcase the craggy grandeur of this country’s coast.

3. Ticlio Pass is 132k (82 miles) along the highest paved road in South America (almost 4,877 meters above sea level) with a view worth nearly dying for.  The route snakes through the Andes but drivers face giant boulder landslides, prayer-inducing twists and turns, as well as suicidal wildlife.

4. Jebel Hafeet, is11.7k (7 miles) of road providing a 60 minute round trip. But theodds are you will want to take the trip – voted the greatest driving road on the planet by various international magazines and websites – again and again.  Carved into the desert, with 21 hairpin bends plus race-track-worthy corners that sweep around the Hafeet mountain, Jebel Hafeet is the place to go if you have a supercar for the day.

5. The Atlantic Road is just 8k (almost 5 miles) of high-octane technical driving with belly-flips, bridges and regular vicious storms to intensify the ride. There will be unusual birds overhead, seals and whales swim off the coastline and at dusk, a wickedly orange sunset.

6. The Alcan Highway is 2,167k (1346 miles) of moody wilderness between Dawson Creek and Delta Junction.  the engineering marvel of World War II and was once described as the largest and most difficult construction project since the Panama Canal.  In between the snowstorms, find classic mountains, sparkling lakes, dog-sleds, wolves and the odd grizzly bear.

7. Transfagarasan Road, is a 116k (72 miles) thrilling journey that is only fully open between June and October.  It takes in tunnels, (the longest is more than 800 meters and pitch black), plus endless twists and turns reaching the highest peak in the country. Fully open only from June to October

8.  Great Ocean Road, is 253 k (1157 miles) and has more attractions than cars with mountains, oceans, rainforests, cliffs, lighthouses and national parks  that are home to anteaters, kangaroos, penguins, koalas and multi-coloured parrots.

9. Amalfi Coast Road, 56 k (37 mile) clings to the coastline between Sorrento and Salerno and while one of the prettiest routes, these coastal roads are crammed with enough hairpin bends – and other drivers – to raise your blood pressure. It has recently been declared one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

10. Milford Road also known as State Highway 94, is a 120k (75 mile) drive through this country’s mountains, glacier valleys, clear blue lakes and native rainforest from Te Anau to Milford Sound.  It’s described as possibly the most scenic route on the planet.

Answers:

1. Route 62, South Africa
2. North Coast 500, Scotland
3. Ticlio Pass, Peru
4. Jebel Hafeet, United Arab Emirates
5. The Atlantic Road, Norway
6. The Alcan Highway, Canada to Alaska
7. Transfagarasan Road, Romania
8. Great Ocean Road, Australia
9. Amalfi Coast Road, Italy
10. Milford Road, New Zealand

Source:  CNN