No need to head to the US to take a world-beating road trip. Here in the UK one famous route is so scenic that drivers adore it – as well as fearing some of its more challenging junctions.
Along southwest England’s A39 there is a section that’s also known as the Atlantic Highway – a 70-mile strip that runs from Barnstaple in Devon to Newquay, Cornwall.
The road offers stunning scenery, with rolling hills and glistening coastline – but it also is infamous as Cornwall’s deadliest road, due to its often-narrow, winding nature and tricky junctions.
One publication has recently named the route as the sixth-best road trip in the UK and Ireland.
Conde Nast Traveller said: “Taking in a string of south-west England’s salty beach towns, the Atlantic Highway knots together a course through Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
“Pick up a car in honey-stoned, genteel Bath or eclectic, graffitied Bristol and drive through Somerset’s rolling farmlands towards the Devonshire border.”
The winding road also travels through Exmoor National Park before passing some of Cornwall’s most stunning beaches and ports such as Bude, Port Isaac and Padstow before finishing at Land’s End.
But take note: It’ll also make your “bum-clench” during parts according to a website that discusses the world’s most dangerous roads – dangerousroads.org.
It said: “Ever-changing scenery, a road layout that’ll keep you guessing and hills so steep it’ll make your bum clench.
“Even the odd farm vehicle and heavier traffic in the summer doesn’t detract from its charm.
“With bends to negotiate, hills to climb and Exmoor to soar over, time will bomb past and you won’t have a care in the world, whenever you decide to drive it.”
Meanwhile, the Cornwall region has been named the UK’s most popular holiday hotspot.
The new analysis from Sykes Holiday Cottages’ annual Staycation Index for 2024 has revealed that more than three-quarters of British travellers will take at least one holiday in the UK this year.
When it comes to the most popular destination, Cornwall has regained its crown as the number one “most popular” destination.
Sykes Holiday Cottages surveyed 2,000 UK adults for the report, discovering that the region known for its charming coastal towns and beautiful beaches is at the top of many Britons’ wish lists.