Author: Charlotte Vowden
Images: Charlotte Vowden
Fancy a change of scene? Classic car adventurer Charlotte Vowden shares five creative road trip ideas to make summer 2025 one to remember.
Plot a Route Using Postcards
It’s 130 years since picture postcards were given the Royal Mail seal of approval, and this old-fashioned means of sharing a snapshot of your travels can be used as a medium to discover new places too. Pick a selection that feature somewhere you’ve never been, or something you’ve never seen, and use the locations to plot your route. At each destination, put pen to postcard and jot about your journey, then save it as a keepsake, or better still, buy a stamp and pop one, or all of them, in the post. I’ve found this works particularly well if, like me, you fall into the trap of following signposts to a favourite place. For me, that’s the Eryri National Park, or Snowdonia as it’s formerly known. There’s wonder in driving familiar roads in different seasons and at different times, but it’s good to let curiosity get the better of you. On a recent visit in my MX5, I did just that. Rather than defaulting to a Google search, I bought some postcards and found myself completely charmed by the novelty of navigating to pastures new using pocket-sized rectangles of cardboard.
Go Globetrotting
Egypt to Holland via the Surrey Hills? Philadelphia to Toronto in less than one hour? The UK has an abundance of locations that share the same name as towns, villages and cities in far flung parts of the world, so save your air miles and hit the road. You’ll find Florence in Staffordshire, California on the Norfolk coast, Moscow in East Ayrshire, Hollywood just south of Birmingham, and Barcelona in Cornwall. How they fare against their overseas counterparts, well, you get to be the judge. My Americana-loving best friend was delighted to discover Boston and New York in Lincolnshire and with only ten miles between them we ticked off both in one day.
Follow Your Stomach
Notching up more calories than miles with a road trip tailored to trying local and regional delicacies is something my dad and I do very well. So large are our appetites (for adventure and for food) we’ve round-tripped from London to Cornwall for a pasty in a single day – behind the wheel of my MGA. Melton Mowbray for pork pies and Bakewell for Bakewell pudding have also chartered our culinary course. Do Eccles cakes make you salivate? Or are Empire biscuits your kind of tea time treat? From Bath buns to butteries, clootie dumpling and bara brith, there are lots of beloved British products to recommend. Do you fancy a slice of Dorset apple cake, a slab or Perkin, or serving of Sussex pond pudding? If that’s not enough to get you, and your tastebuds, on the go, then make a truly patriotic pit-stop – some of our nation’s foods are considered so special they’ve been granted protected status by the British government to prevent copycats cooking up fakes. On the list, you’ll find Cumberland sausage, Arbroath smokies, Stilton and Kentish ale, as well as Welsh heather honey, Scotch whisky, Dundee cake, Cornish clotted cream and Wiltshire cured ham. You’ll certainly go home on a full tank.
Drive Through the Night
Flipping your day on its head and driving between dusk and dawn gives you access to what feels like a secret time of the day, when nocturnal creatures fly, prowl and play. One of the most exquisite moments I’ve experienced in my MGA occurred in the early hours of a freezing November morning, when a snow-white owl drifted into the roadster’s main beam. En route from London to the Highlands, the tarmac was icy beneath the wheels, so I considered my dazzling chaperone a good omen. Less traffic and good reason for a midnight feast are also benefits to going overlanding when others dream, but a sleep before setting off is essential and pull over somewhere sensible if struggle to stay awake. Get to where you’re going safely and you can really savour that first coffee of the day. You’ll have achieved something epic before most people are out of their pyjamas.
Find an Extreme and Go For It!
Take this as literally as you like. My dad and I once drove 2,000 miles in 47 hours, navigating our way between the four furthest points of mainland Britain, but not all extreme-themed road trips need be as extreme as that. The parameters are yours to set. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could attempt to conquer Hardknott, Kirkstone, Black Mountain or Bealach na Bà pass. If you admire extreme engineering, then take flight on The Queensferry Crossing. Sweeping across the Firth of Forth at a height of 207 metres, it’s the tallest bridge in the UK. Nerdier still, it’s the longest 3-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world. For a short-lived thrill, set sail on the Corran to Loch Linnhe ferry. With a four minute journey time, it’s the country’s shortest crossing for vehicle-carrying vessels. Titchy or gigantic, high, low, new or old, find your extreme and drive it.
What’s your favourite road-tripping memory? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.
