The World's Greatest Road Trips
Following up our series on Europe's best road trips, we extend our search to the rest of the planet.
The Ultimate Outback Adventure
Australia - Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway is one of the longest continuous roads in the world. It runs about 2760 km from Port Augustus on the south coast to Darwin on the north coast of Australia. If you want impressive landscapes, this is the trip for you. The northern half of the journey crosses the Tropic of Capricorn and passes by the Mars-like landscape of the outback.
From there you'll pass through the iconic Uluru National Park - home to the stunning Ayers Rock - and continue out of the parched outback, watching as gum trees make way for lush tropical forests. This truly is the ultimate driving adventure.
The Perfect Way
UAE - Jebel Hafeet
United Arab Emirates seems like a long way to go for just shy of 12 km of asphalt. But when it’s the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road, it's worth it. This superb piece of engineering is located on the border between Abu Dhabi and Oman, and it looks like a Gran Turismo track brought to life.
With three perfectly paved lanes (two up and one down) all beautifully illuminated at night, this incredible road winds and turns through 21 bends up to the 1219 metre high summit, where a luxury hotel and royal palace are located. It is this mix of the surreal and magnificent that make Jebel Hafeet one of our top drives in the world.
Angels and Speed-Freaks
USA – Los Angeles to Bonneville Salt Flats
The 1290 km long ride from the ‘City of Angels’ in California to the ‘Fastest Place on Earth’ in Utah is a journey of two extremes. The first section links the buzz of Los Angeles to the noise of Las Vegas through the last remnants of civilisation in Death Valley. Then suddenly everything goes quiet as we roll through the expansive vistas of the Great Basin in Nevada to the miraculous salt flats of Bonneville.
The salt flats cover more than 120 km2? and it is one of the natural wonders of the world. Since the thirties, speed-freaks have been skimming over the salt flats of Bonneville in attempts to establish world land speed records. You can even have a go yourself if you’re so inclined.
Paradise Found
South Africa - Garden Route
The Garden Route is considered one of the most beautiful coastal routes in the world. Strictly speaking, the route itself starts approximately 190 km south of Cape Town, but if you drive from the capital, you pass through the famous wine region of South Africa. The route passes a further 200 km from Mossel Bay to where the Storms River flows. This trip will take you through a wilderness filled with pristine white beaches, majestic mountains, peaceful, wooded areas, secluded rivers and spectacular views over the Indian Ocean.
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