Scotland gets all the love. The NC500 has been hashtagged to death, the Bealach na Bà has its own fan club, and every automotive YouTube channel has done the Glencoe run at least twice. Fair enough, those roads are genuinely spectacular. But here’s the thing: some of the best driving roads in England and Wales are sitting right there, largely ignored, with better surfaces, lighter traffic and scenery that’ll stop you mid-gear-change. I’ve spent the better part of two years hunting these down, and I’m done keeping them quiet.
Why England and Wales deserve more credit from driving enthusiasts
The bias towards Scotland is partly cultural, partly geography. But England and Wales have something Scotland’s famous routes often don’t: variety. You can go from a moorland blast through the Peak District to a tight, hedge-lined Devon lane to a sweeping Welsh mountain pass within a few hours of each other. The southern half of the island has its own rhythm, its own character. And crucially, the best bits aren’t all clogged with caravans and campervans doing 40mph.
Surface quality is where England quietly wins, too. The A-class roads through Derbyshire and the B-roads threading across the Brecon Beacons have had recent resurfacing work done in patches that Scottish single-track roads simply haven’t. If pothole damage is already hammering your car, you’ll appreciate tarmac that doesn’t feel like it’s been through a war.
The Snake Pass (A57): Peak District’s unsung superstar
Let’s start obvious, then get weird. The Snake Pass connecting Sheffield to Glossop is technically well known, but most people drive it like they’re afraid of it. Done properly, on a dry Tuesday morning in late October when the mist sits in the valleys and you’ve got the road to yourself, it is genuinely one of the best driving roads in England. Full stop.
The surface is patchy in a few spots near Ladybower Reservoir but the fast, flowing crests and the long sightlines on the eastern descent reward smooth driving over aggression. Traffic patterns matter here: avoid weekend afternoons and any bank holiday. Midweek mornings before 9am are a different planet. The Snake Pass Inn at the top is long gone as a functioning pub, but there’s a petrol station in Glossop about 8 miles west that’ll sort you out before or after a run.
The B4391 across the Berwyn Mountains, Wales
This is the one I genuinely keep to myself at parties, but I’ll share it here. The B4391 between Bala and Llangollen cuts across some of the most dramatic and underrated hill country in Wales. The road climbs sharply out of Llangynog, narrows through the upper moorland section and then opens up into a series of fast sweepers with visibility stretching for miles. The surface is good. The traffic is virtually non-existent outside of summer weekends.
What makes it special is the texture of the drive. It demands full concentration but never feels dangerous if you respect the pace notes the road gives you. It’s the kind of route that makes you understand why certain car journalists keep coming back to Wales with test cars when they need an honest assessment. I’d pair this with a run back along the A494 Bala to Dolgellau stretch, which is a different kind of brilliant, smoother, faster, more open.
The B3212 across Dartmoor: slow it down to speed it up
Dartmoor splits opinions. The B3212 between Moretonhampstead and Princetown is genuinely wild and genuinely narrow in places, and if you meet a tractor you’re going to have a bad time. But get it right and you’re rewarded with some of the most atmospheric driving in England, granite tors on the horizon, wild ponies doing their best to step in front of you, and corners that require actual thought. I’ve driven it in a hot hatch and a sports car and both experiences were completely different. The car matters less than the approach.
Fuel is the practical concern here. Yelverton has a petrol station on the western side, Moretonhampstead has one on the eastern approach. Fill up before you go because the moor itself has nothing. The road can also close in genuinely bad weather, so check the Met Office forecast before you commit to a January blast. Snowfall on Dartmoor hits harder than it looks from the M5.
The A44 over Plynlimon: Wales’s quiet answer to everything
The A44 from Rhayader to Aberystwyth via the Plynlimon plateau is what I’d call a thinking driver’s road. It’s not a sequence of hairpins. It’s long, flowing, exposed, and slightly savage in a way that builds on you. The road climbs above 400 metres and then sweeps back down towards the coast with a view that’ll genuinely make you say something out loud. On a clear day in summer, you can see into four directions simultaneously and feel like you’ve found something the rest of the car community hasn’t catalogued yet.
Traffic is minimal outside of late July and August. The surface is predominantly good, with a few rougher sections on the upper plateau that ease off once you descend towards Ponterwyd. There’s a petrol station in Rhayader on the eastern end and another as you approach Aberystwyth from the west. Fill up in Rhayader, the plateau section is long enough to matter if you’re in something thirsty.
Kirkby Stephen to Brough via the B6276: the north’s secret weapon
The B6276 between Brough and Middleton-in-Teesdale through the North Pennines doesn’t get talked about enough. This is wild, exposed moorland driving with long straights interrupted by sudden compression corners that catch you out if you’re not paying attention. The landscape is bleaker than Dartmoor, more industrial in its history, but no less dramatic for it. In a rear-wheel-drive car on a cool autumn morning, it’s a joy. In anything with decent chassis balance, honestly one of the best driving roads in England that fewer than a hundred people are actively seeking out.
Nearby, the A686 between Penrith and Haydon Bridge is in the same tier. These Pennine roads are often overlooked because they don’t carry the romantic branding of Snowdonia or the Lakes, but the driving quality is real. They’re also well-served by small towns: Alston is worth a stop, and there are several independent garages in the area if something goes wrong on your run. If your car is freshly modified, make sure your insurance is up to scratch before heading to roads this remote, the sort of Japanese performance cars that suit this kind of driving sometimes carry modifications that need specific disclosure.
How to actually plan a driving road trip in England or Wales
The practical stuff matters as much as the romance. The National Highways website carries live road condition updates for major routes, and most county councils publish their own resurfacing schedules if you dig around. Fuel stops in rural Wales and the northern Pennines are further apart than Google Maps suggests, the pin exists but the petrol station it marks sometimes closed three years ago.
I plan every road trip run with a fuel reserve margin: never drop below a quarter tank before I know exactly where the next stop is. On moorland and mountain routes, that’s not over-caution, it’s just sense. And if you’re running anything modified, keep your documentation in the car. These roads draw attention, some of it warranted, and being able to demonstrate your car is road-legal matters.
Scotland will always have its mythology. But the best driving roads in England and Wales are here, they’re real, and they’re available most Tuesday mornings without a queue of Instagram cars ruining the shot. Get out there before everyone else figures it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best driving roads in England for car enthusiasts?
The Snake Pass (A57) in Derbyshire, the B3212 across Dartmoor and the B6276 through the North Pennines are consistently rated among the best by enthusiasts. They offer a mix of surface quality, flowing corners and light traffic when driven at the right time of day and week.
Are Welsh driving roads better than Scottish ones for enthusiasts?
It depends what you’re after. Welsh roads like the B4391 and the A44 over Plynlimon offer dramatic scenery with better tarmac than many Scottish single-track routes. They also tend to have lighter tourist traffic outside of school holidays, which makes for a more rewarding drive.
When is the best time to drive the Snake Pass to avoid traffic?
Midweek mornings before 9am are ideal, particularly in spring and autumn. Avoid bank holidays and weekend afternoons when leisure traffic, cyclists and motorbikes all share the road. Winter can bring closures due to ice and snow, so always check the Met Office forecast first.
Leave a Reply