Fill up your tanks, stock up on snacks and start curating that perfect playlist, because rumour has it that road trips are in this summer. The website Hotels.com recently reported that it’s seen a 100 percent rise in searches for motels in the UK and a 70 percent rise in demand for B&Bs and inns. More importantly, the site has offered some travel inspo by revealing the UK’s five favourite road-trip routes based on these searches.
And from the Scottish Highlands all the way down to Land’s End, it’s got almost all corners of the country covered.
Kicking off the list is the Atlantic Highway in the south-west of England. This runs for 248 miles, with rugged hills on one side and gorgeous coastal views on the other. It begins at Barnstaple in north Devon and finishes in the village of Fraddon, not far from Newquay.
Scotland’s answer to Route 66 is next on the list. Aptly named the North Coast 500, it stretches out over 500 miles (see what they did there) and travellers start in Inverness before bobbing and weaving through cliffside scenery, fishing villages and expansive beaches.
The other most popular routes were the Norfolk Coast, which is a little shorter at 84 miles; Dragon’s Spine in Wales, which winds through two national parks; and finally the famous Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland, a 195-mile stretch that covers Belfast, Londonderry, the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge.
The only thing to do now? Switch on those engines and hit the goddamn road.
ICYMI: Scotland could be getting its third national park.
Plus: An art deco island hotel that inspired Agatha Christie has just hit the market.