Fourteen roads worth renting a car just to drive.

Distance About 1,320 km (820 mi) — the full loop

Country

Key Stops Golden Circle detour, Vík í Mýrdal, Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon & Diamond Beach, Skaftafell, Mývatn, Akureyri, Seyðisfjörður

Road Difficulty Fully paved and mostly two-lane, but single-lane bridges and blind rises are common. Side trips onto F-road highland tracks need a 4x4 and are only open in summer; ice, wind and short daylight make winter driving demanding.

Best Season June–August for reliable roads and long daylight; May and September are quieter with a real chance of snow at higher points

Recommended Car A standard 2WD covers the ring road itself in summer; a 4x4 is worth it for any F-road detour or a winter trip

Distance About 50 km (30 mi) between Sorrento/Positano and Vietri sul Mare/Salerno

Country

Key Stops Positano, Praiano, Amalfi, Ravello, Minori, Vietri sul Mare

Road Difficulty Extremely narrow with continuous hairpin turns along a cliff edge, plus heavy tour-bus traffic in summer — routinely rated one of the more stressful drives in Europe

Best Season May–June or September–October; many travelers skip driving it in August and take the ferry or bus instead

Recommended Car The smallest car you can rent — width matters more than power on this road

Distance 516 miles (830 km) — a loop starting and ending at Inverness

Country

Key Stops Applecross Pass (Bealach na Bà), Ullapool, Durness, John o' Groats, Dunrobin Castle

Road Difficulty Long stretches of single-track road with passing places, especially on the west coast, plus a steep hairpin mountain pass at Bealach na Bà

Best Season May–September for weather and daylight; midges are worst in high summer, and some sections are difficult in winter

Recommended Car A standard car is fine; large campervans and motorhomes struggle on the single-track sections

Distance 720 km (447 mi), Lake Geneva at Thonon-les-Bains to the Mediterranean at Nice

Country

Key Stops Col de la Colombière, Col du Galibier, Col d'Izoard, Col de la Bonette, Briançon

Road Difficulty A succession of high mountain passes with steep hairpins — well-paved but demanding driving, and many of the cols close completely for winter

Best Season Late June–September, once the highest passes have reopened for the year

Recommended Car A standard car is fine once the passes are open; check each col's status before setting out

Distance About 2,500 km (1,555 mi), Kinsale (County Cork) to Malin Head (County Donegal)

Country

Key Stops Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, Slieve League cliffs, Dingle Peninsula

Road Difficulty Mostly well-paved national and regional roads, though many coastal stretches narrow to single-lane with passing places; drives on the left

Best Season May–September for weather and daylight, though the route is signposted and drivable year-round

Recommended Car A standard car is fine for the whole route

Distance About 90 km (56 mi) across the Făgăraș Mountains, cresting at Bâlea Lake (2,042 m)

Country

Key Stops Bâlea Lake, Poenari Castle, Vidraru Dam

Road Difficulty Continuous steep hairpins at high altitude — a genuinely demanding mountain drive, and the road closes completely by snow most winters

Best Season Usually mid-June–October, but the alpine section closes for winter and can shut at short notice; confirm current police road status before setting out

Recommended Car A standard car is fine in season; confirm the pass is open before driving up, since it can close with little notice outside summer

Distance State Route 1 runs about 1,050 km (656 mi) end to end; the classic San Francisco–Los Angeles run through Big Sur is roughly 465 km (290 mi)

Country

Key Stops Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Monterey & Carmel-by-the-Sea, Santa Barbara, Malibu

Road Difficulty Well-paved but narrow and cliffside through Big Sur. Highway 1 fully reopened through Big Sur in January 2026, but slides can still trigger short-notice closures — check Caltrans conditions before travel.

Best Season April–October; coastal fog is common on summer mornings and usually clears by midday

Recommended Car A standard car is fine — a convertible is a popular choice for the Big Sur stretch

Distance About 1,240 km (770 mi), Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins

Country

Key Stops Pumalín Park, Queulat hanging glacier, the Marble Caves at Puerto Río Tranquilo, Cerro Castillo

Road Difficulty Long gravel sections, remote stretches with limited fuel, and multiple ferry crossings — including Caleta La Arena, Hornopirén–Caleta Gonzalo and Puerto Yungay — make advance planning essential

Best Season November–March, the Southern Hemisphere summer

Recommended Car A high-clearance vehicle or 4x4 is strongly recommended; carry a spare tire and extra fuel

Distance 232 km (144 mi), Lake Louise to Jasper

Country

Key Stops Peyto Lake, Bow Lake, Columbia Icefield & the Athabasca Glacier, Sunwapta Falls

Road Difficulty A well-paved two-lane highway, straightforward in summer; winter driving needs snow tires and caution, and wildlife on the road is a real hazard year-round

Best Season June–September for full access and the clearest weather; open year-round but winter driving is demanding

Recommended Car A standard car in summer. Snow tires marked with a snowflake or M+S, or tire chains, are mandatory November 1–March 31; a valid national parks pass is required year-round.

Distance About 3,860 km (2,400 mi), Chicago, Illinois to the Los Angeles area; exact mileage varies by historic alignment

Country

Key Stops Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, TX), Petrified Forest National Park, a Santa Fe detour, a Grand Canyon detour, Oatman, Arizona

Road Difficulty Decommissioned as a US highway in 1985, so this is a mix of preserved historic alignments and modern highway substitutions rather than one continuous signed road

Best Season Spring or fall, to avoid summer desert heat in Arizona/New Mexico and winter snow in the Midwest

Recommended Car A standard car is fine for the whole route

Distance 243 km (151 mi), Torquay to Warrnambool

Country

Key Stops Bells Beach, Lorne, Apollo Bay, the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge

Road Difficulty Well-paved but narrow and winding along the coast; busy with tour traffic in summer

Best Season September–November or March–May for good weather without peak-summer crowds

Recommended Car A standard car is fine for the whole route

Distance 2,463 km (1,530 mi) and about 35 hours of driving for the official 16-day Christchurch loop

Country

Key Stops Dunedin, Fiordland and Milford Sound, Queenstown, Wānaka, the West Coast, Nelson, Blenheim and Kaikōura

Road Difficulty Winding mountain roads with some gravel side-roads and single-lane bridges; mountain passes can need snow chains outside summer

Best Season November–April, the Southern Hemisphere summer; December–February is busiest

Recommended Car A standard car covers the main route. In winter, carry chains where required and obey road-status instructions rather than relying on four-wheel drive alone.

Distance About 300 km (190 mi), Mossel Bay to the Eastern Cape border near Storms River

Country

Key Stops Knysna, Wilderness, Plettenberg Bay, Tsitsikamma National Park, an inland detour to the Cango Caves at Oudtshoorn

Road Difficulty An easy, well-paved national highway drive

Best Season Enjoyable year-round; Easter and the December holidays are the busiest periods, and rain is possible in any month

Recommended Car A standard car is fine for the whole route

Distance A roughly 600 km (375 mi) loop from Chiang Mai via Pai and Mae Hong Son, and back

Country

Key Stops Pai, Tham Lod Cave, Mae Hong Son town, Su Tong Pae Bridge

Road Difficulty A continuously winding mountain road — popularly said to hold around 1,864 curves — well-paved but demanding to drive alert for the full loop

Best Season November–February, the cool dry season; March–April brings heavy haze from seasonal burning, and June–October is the wet season

Recommended Car A standard car is fine; a smaller car is easier through the tightest curves