(Daily Mail) These roads make for a road trip like no other.
Some are so dangerous they’ll leave your nerves shredded, while others are beautifully tranquil and guide you through some of the world’s most mesmerising landscapes.
But they all share one thing in common – they’re highly photogenic, as the wander-lust-inducing gallery of images below shows.
This round-up details 24 of the most amazing driving routes on planet Earth, from an ‘ice’ highway in Canada to Bolivia’s ‘Death Road’ and an ultra-steep street in Wales…
Katy Freeway, Texas, USA
The Katy Freeway in Texas started out as a three-lane freeway in the 1960s and now spans 26 lanes in parts
This toll road in Houston, Texas, is the widest freeway in the world.
What started out as a three-lane freeway in the 1960s now spans 26 lanes in parts, if you include the freeway’s ‘frontage roads’, or side roads.
A 12-mile (19km) section of the road was extended in a $2.8billion (£2.2billion) project in 2008 after traffic levels tripled, causing up to 11 hours of traffic per day, the US Department of Transportation reveals.
The highway now surpasses other notably colossal U.S routes in terms of width, such as Atlanta’s I-75, which has 16 lanes in parts, AARoads reveals, and the I-405 in Los Angeles, which has up to 14 lanes.
A82 from Loch Lomond to Glencoe, Scotland
Drive along this section of the A82 to experience what’s deemed as the UK’s most beautiful car route. Image courtesy of Instagram user ‘munroart‘
Offering drivers a front-row view of stunning Scottish landscapes, the section of the A82 from Loch Lomond to Glencoe was recently voted the UK’s most beautiful car route in a poll.
It garnered 24 per cent of the vote ahead of the A591 from Kendal to Keswick in the Lake District (23 per cent) and Cheddar Gorge in Somerset (21 per cent).
Tongtian Avenue – the ’99-Bend Road’, China
Above is Tongtian Avenue, which cuts through China’s Zhangjiajie Tianmenshan National Forest Park
These extraordinary images show part of Tongtian Avenue which winds its way through the famous Zhangjiajie Tianmenshan National Forest Park in China.
The mountain road has an incredible 99 bends ‘surrounded by mountains’ that lead you ‘straight into the clouds,’ according to one reviewer on Trip.com.
Built between 1998 and 2006, it is both a gateway to the national park’s peaks and a tourist attraction in its own right.
Tourists can enjoy a bird’s eye view of the road from the region’s famous glass-bottomed ‘skywalk’ platform, which runs 300 metres (984ft) above it.
Atlantic Road, Norway
Drivers on Norway’s Atlantic Road can spot seals and whales in the waters nearby in the summer
These spectacular pictures show the Atlantic Road, in the western fjords of Norway, which comprises eight low bridges linking the islands that lie between Molde and Kristiansund.
Drivers can spot seals and whales in the waters nearby in the summer while autumn ‘brings its own appeal with dramatic rainstorms that pound the road’, Rough Guides reveals.
‘The route may be short – a mere 8.3km (5.1 miles) – but it’s incredibly impressive,’ the publication adds.
‘The most beautiful is Storseisundet [the bridge in image three], curving scenically above the water.’
The Outback Way, Australia
Australia’s Outback Way is made up of seven interconnecting roads, including the Lasseter Highway and the Plenty Highway
Often referred to as ‘Australia’s longest shortcut’, the Outback Way driving route spans 2,700km (1,677 miles) between Winton in Queensland and Laverton in Western Australia, according to Boulia Shire Council.
It’s made up of seven interconnecting roads, including the Lasseter Highway and the Plenty Highway, and the Australian tourist board recommends tackling the route with a four-by-four, as large sections are made up of untarmacked roads.
Expect to take in quite the landscape as you drive. ‘There’s nowhere quite like the Australian outback – the mainland interior – with its big skies, starry nights and sense of limitless space,’ says Australia.com.
The A8 at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
The A8 in Zimbabwe runs from the city of Bulawayo to Victoria Falls, which is on the border with Zambia
Extraordinary pictures show Zimbabwe’s A8 road running alongside Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
The motorway runs from the city of Bulawayo to the famously breathtaking waterfall, which forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The Tibbitt to Contwoyto ‘Ice’ Road, Canada
This road in Canada, of which 85 per cent is over frozen lakes, must be rebuilt every year
The majority (around 85 per cent) of the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road runs over frozen lakes, according to its official website.
Stretching almost 250 miles (400km) from Tibbitt Lake to Contwoyto Lake, it was originally built to supply the Lupin Gold Mine.
The route must reach a minimum depth of 29 inches (74cm) of ice before vehicles can drive on it, and it is only open for a few months each year, between January and March.
Speed limits can vary from 6mph (10 kmph) to 37mph (60 kmph), the site explains.
‘There are three maintenance camps located along the 400kms (248 miles) of the Winter Road,’ it adds.
‘With the majority of the Winter Road constructed over ice, the road must be rebuilt each year. Construction normally starts in mid-December with an expected opening date of February 1.’
Fford Pen Llech, Harlech, UK
This Welsh street, named Fford Pen Llech, was temporarily recognised as the world’s steepest by the Guinness Book of Records – but later had the title taken away
This seemingly sleepy street in Wales became embroiled in a battle against New Zealand for the title of ‘the world’s steepest’.
The street in the town of Harlech, named Fford Pen Llech, was awarded the title by the Guinness Book of Records in 2019 when new measurements showed it had a gradient of 37 per cent.
This was two per cent steeper than the previous title holder – Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand – which had proudly held the title for 32 years up to that point.
But just months later, the title was reclaimed by Baldwin Street following the ‘extensive review of an appeal’ brought by representatives of the New Zealand address, Guinness World Records reveals.
It concluded that the best practice for determining the steepest street should measure from the centre-line of the street, and not the steepest section over a 10 metre (33ft) distance – which is how Wales had earned the title.
Panlong Ancient Road, West China
This recently built road in China contains a baffling series of hairpin bends
