The best driving roads in Europe: a top 10 for a car
A driving road is one you would take the long way round for. These ten are the ones drivers cross borders for, with what the road is really like behind the wheel.
Plan this trip1 Stelvio Pass
Photo by kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Stelvio Pass is a mountain pass in northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of 2,757 m (9,045 ft) above sea level. It is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, 7 m (23 Wikipedia
Famous for a reason, but narrow and crowded. Drive it early.
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2 Transfăgărășan
Photo by Horia Varlan from Bucharest, Romania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Transfăgărășan (trans + Făgăraș), or DN7C, is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has national-road ranking and is the second-highest paved road in the country after the Transalpina. Wikipedia
The most dramatic road in Eastern Europe. Two hours of bends with almost no traffic on a weekday.
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3 Furka Pass
Photo by Cooper.ch 10:27, 27 October 2006 (UTC), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. Furka Pass is a 2,429 m (7,969 ft) high mountain pass in the southern Swiss Alps connecting Gletsch, Valais with Realp, Uri via the seasonal Furkapassroute. Wikipedia
The loop with the Grimsel and Susten is the best day's driving in Switzerland.
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4 B500 Black Forest High Road
Photo by Rainer Lück http://1RL.de, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Schwarzwaldhochstraße or Black Forest High Road is the oldest and one of the best known themed drives in Germany. It is a part of the B 500 federal highway and leads over 60 km from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt. Wikipedia
Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt: smooth, fast and sweeping. Germany's most pleasant main road.
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5 Atlantic Ocean Road
Photo by Stefan V. Baumgartner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Atlantic Ocean Road or the Atlantic Road is an 8.3-kilometer (5.2 mi) long section of County Road 64 that runs through an archipelago that crosses Hustadvika Municipality and Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Wikipedia
Eight kilometres that are worth a 1,000 km detour.
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6 The Nürburgring Nordschleife
Photo by Herranderssvensson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Nürburgring is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Wikipedia
Not a road, but you can drive it on public days. Twenty kilometres and 73 corners; take a lap, then drive the Eifel around it.
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7 Col de Turini
Photo by Jérémie Forget, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The Col de Turini (el. 1607 m) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-Maritimes in France. Wikipedia
The Monte Carlo rally stage. Narrow and wooded; a small car is better than a big one.
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8 Grossglockner High Alpine Road
Photo by Sander Hoogendoorn from Gouda, Holland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Grossglockner High Alpine Road (in German Großglockner Hochalpenstraße) is the highest surfaced mountain pass road in Austria. Wikipedia
The toll buys a perfect surface and a glacier at the top. The easiest great Alpine road for a family.
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9 Sa Calobra (Mallorca)
Photo by Olaf Tausch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Sa Calobra is a small village in the Escorca municipality on the northwest coast of the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca. The port village is a popular destination for coach trips and road cyclists. Wikipedia
Twelve kilometres down to a cove with a loop that passes under itself. Hire a small car on the island and drive it early.
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10 Splügen Pass
Photo by Roland Zumbühl (Picswiss), Arlesheim (Commons:Picswiss project), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Splügen Pass is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects Splügen in the Swiss canton of Graubünden 5 kilometres (3. Wikipedia
Switzerland to Italy over a quiet pass with a gorge of hairpins on the Italian side. The alternative to the Stelvio an hour away.
Written about in 29 languagesStart a trip here
Riding or driving it
Add any of these as a stop and Roadlegs shows the road character of each day: Straight, Gentle curves, Winding or Very twisty, from the shape of the route.
Open the plan in Roadlegs How the planner handles this vehicle.
About the facts and photos
The descriptions in italics are the opening sentences of the Wikipedia article for each place, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, fetched on 6 October 2026. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under the licence named beside each one. "Written about in N languages" counts the Wikipedia editions that have an article, from Wikidata; it is a measure of how well known a place is, not a rating. Everything else is the author's own opinion. Roads close with the seasons: check before you go.
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