Words: Antony Ingram
It’s looking like this year might not be the ideal time to hop on a plane or travel huge distances into Europe on your holidays, with global events sending energy prices, oil especially, through the roof for the umpteenth time this decade. But as the weather improves and many of us begin to slowly awaken our classics from a long winter snooze, the opportunity to get out on the road is still a tempting one.
Perhaps the best way of combining these seemingly disparate goals is to find somewhere slightly closer to home for this year’s driving holiday. As such we’ve selected five locations within the UK that you might not have visited for a while, or at all, but are ideal for enjoying your classic.
All five have a mix of flowing roads, striking scenery, and plenty of towns, villages and stops nearby for refuelling – both for the car, and for you and your passengers. While some might take a little while to get to, depending on where you live, all are more easily accessible than similarly grand European driving destinations, and while you’ll have to suffer the UK motorway network to get there in most cases, each should prove blissfully empty once you arrive, compared to the country’s clogged arterial roads.
So from Yorkshire to Hampshire, and Wales to Scotland, here are five travel suggestions for this year’s holiday season. And if you have any suggestions for alternatives (or specific places to visit among our choices), be sure to add them in the comments.
Mid Wales
The appeal of North Wales and South Wales as driving destinations is well known, each popularised from the roads in Eryri (Snowdonia) and Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) appearing in decades’ worth of car magazines and TV shows. But mid-Wales is equally appealing and perhaps ideal if you want to set a slightly slower pace while encountering less tourist traffic.
Our focus is on the Elan Valley. The little Lotus would be ideal here, given most of the roads are pretty narrow, and being able to drop the roof is a bonus too, as provided there isn’t stuff falling from the sky (and that’s by no means guaranteed in this part of the world), the scenery certainly invites an expansive view. This part of Wales is known for multiple large reservoirs and some pretty impressive dams, the largest being Claerwen, and linking them all together isn’t a bad way to see the area.
The road linking Rhayader and Aberystwyth is great fun in something with a bit of pep (just be mindful of the sheep at certain times of year, which have thousands of acres to roam around in but love sitting inches from the road). As you pass the Elan Valley sign the view opens out spectacularly; bring a camera, as you’ll be stopping to take photos. In general, the roads in this part of Wales are quite narrow, so they’re not best suited for every car, but smaller classics will feel right at home, even with so many hills to navigate.
Yorkshire Dales
Jeremy Clarkson made one particular road in the Yorkshire Dales famous in his Clarkson’s Car Years program, when in a largely un-narrated section he drove along it in an Escort Cosworth. That road was Cliff Gate Road, better known as the Buttertubs Pass, a real rollercoaster of a road that winds its way past deep limestone potholes, the eponymous Buttertubs.
It’s become a driving destination in itself, but it’s far from the only reason to visit the area – in fact, if you’ve driven up through the Dales from the south, through either Ingleton or Settle, you’ll probably already have had a great time on the rolling country roads that pass the Yorkshire Three Peaks (Pen-y-Ghent, Ingleborough, and Whernside), and some of the chocolate-boxy villages that sit in the valleys.
Thrill-seekers might want to stick to the fast, flowing main roads (they’re a favourite with bikers too), but those who prefer a slower pace might enjoy heading down some of the single-track roads that climb some of the hills, and offer the best views, with only the occasional need to dive out the way of a tractor or briskly-driven Defender. For a more leisurely drive, the route between Sedbergh to the west and Bedale to the east (easily reachable via the M6 and A1 respectively) is great for regular stops and enjoying the picturesque villages.
North Pennines
One clue to looking for the best places to cruise along behind the wheel is to find the areas with the fewest roads. It seems counter-intuitive, but major highways and large towns and cities tend not to be built where there are large hills, forests, and bodies of water. And sitting above the similarly large gap on the map that is the Yorkshire Dales, you’ll find the stunning North Pennines.
It’s boxed in by four large roads, the A69 to the north, A66 to the south, A68 to the east, and M6 to the west. Those take people where they need to go, leaving the smaller routes across the middle largely empty of traffic; it’s just you and the other vehicle-enjoyers and sightseers. For the latter there are the stark windswept vistas, abandoned mines, and numerous waterfalls. For the former, a selection of roads that wiggle their way across the landscape.
Linking these are numerous small towns and villages and virtually every one of them is littered with cosy cafes, and finding accommodation up here isn’t difficult either, which is particularly relevant if you’re travelling a fair distance up from the south, or perhaps linking it with a day in the Dales or Lake District.
New Forest
If you’ve ever driven in the New Forest, you’ll be aware that it’s not a driving destination in the sense of somewhere you’d go to clip apexes and enjoy the upper reaches of your rev counter. There are some inviting-looking corners there, for sure, but low speed limits and the hooved locals invite a gentler pace.
That doesn’t mean it’s not worth enjoying the roads though, which wind through a truly beautiful area of the country, through moorland and, of course, forests. Regular car parks and areas to pull over make it easy to go at your own pace, and if you’re handy with a camera, then it’s a pretty picturesque place to take a few snaps not just of the scenery, but of your car too.
And of course, there’s a rather well-known automotive destination in the heart of the New Forest, which is the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. The museum itself is fantastic but it regularly hosts automotive events too throughout the warmer months, with numerous themes – Minis, French cars, Land Rovers, and more. There are also the big autojumbles; the roads will be a little busier at these times obviously, but they’re a good excuse to head down to the New Forest.
Cairngorms
It takes some driving simply to get to the Cairngorms, even from some other areas of Scotland, but it’s well worth the effort, with some of the most stunning scenery in the British Isles. It’s geographically fascinating – the higher reaches of this mountain range are classified as a tundra, remaining cold all year round, with some near-permanent snow patches – but you’ll also find forests, rivers, and some great roads too.
To explore the higher reaches you’ll need a 4×4 and some good walking boots, but we’re more interested in the flowing valley roads that lead you up through the range. The most famous of these is dubbed the Old Military Road. This is the A93 that nominally starts around Perth, but more famous for the section that begins around Bridge of Cally, runs through Glenshee, up to Braemar, passes Balmoral, and if you continue following it, will eventually take you all the way to Aberdeen.
Numerous smaller roads meander off the A93 and are worth exploring too, some with fantastic views of the mountains. If you’re sick of potholes, you’ll be amazed by how well-surfaced many of the roads are around here – one of the benefits of the low traffic levels this far up Scotland. It’s easy to find places to stay (Braemar is a favourite), while on the roads surrounding the Cairngorms, you can barely move for road signs pointing to all the whisky distilleries, if you’re looking for something to bring back as a reminder of the trip.
Do you have any suggestions for alternatives (or specific places to visit among our choices)? Be sure to add them in the comments below.
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