As anyone who lives in the area will know already, the roads and scenery in this part of the world are great. You don’t really need a route map, such as the one we have created above. Take your car, explore and be amazed.

Our suggested route is a full day of driving that can be incorporated into a tour or just driven for its own sake. From south to north, we start at one of our favourite AstonOwners watering holes in Cumbria and end at one of our favourite ‘Visit’ venues in the Borders Region.

It’s 135 miles of sweeping bends, stunning hills, reservoirs and overtaking possibilities… plus a few cattle grids and no doubt some mobile homes and pedallists to be mindful of.

After a restful night and a fulsome breakfast at the Fat Lamb at Ravenstonedale in east Cumbria, we set off driving north on the A683 and then A685 through Kirkby Stephen. At the village of Brough, ignore the A66 main road (unless you’re in a hurry) and join the B6276 to continue north. The road soon opens out on to the rolling moorlands of Teesdale with picturesque reservoirs nestled into the scenery to our right.

Joining the B6277 at Middleton-in-Teesdale is another deliciously open road towards Langdon Beck, shortly after which look for a right turn, across a cattle grid, signposted St. John’s Chapel. After 5 miles, join the A698 (right turn) towards Stanhope.

Shortly after passing the Derwent Reservoir on our left (cafe and loo stop) the road joins the A68 and crosses the main A69 at the Styford Roundabout. We stay on the A68 for our scenic enjoyment.

This road takes us through the Northumberland National Park (on our right) and the Kielderhead National Nature Reserve (on our left) to the Scottish Border and parking area. This is probably a photographic must stop for travellers not living in the UK.

The road continues to rise and gives terrific views out across the Borders Region.

We’re now only an hour’s drive from Duns, the home of the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum… a must for classic motorsport fans.

Stopping here for an hour is the absolute minimum. Better still, find somewhere to stay nearby and make your visit a much more relaxed one. When we visited here in 2020, we stayed at Doxford Hall, about 45 minutes south towards the Northumberland Coast.

Now go and explore… and enjoy!

Our tour of Derbyshire’s Peak District is a day out of about 55 miles driving.

Naturally, we’ll take in the famous Cat & Fiddle Road and the Snake Pass, so hold on for a great ride!

We’re starting from the south at Macclesfield and ending in Glossop, 15 miles due east of Manchester.

You can easily spend much longer enjoying the local scenery and visitor attractions, or simply by driving it in both directions.

We start in the market town of Macclesfield and pick up the A537 towards Buxton. This is the famous ‘Cat & Fiddle Road’ that has for many years been popular with bikers, sports car drivers and TV car reviewers. No doubt there are now also plenty of cyclists to watch out for. Sadly, it also has the reputation of being Britain’s most dangerous road for which it has earned the name the ‘Widow Maker’. You have been warned!

The spa town of Buxton is an ideal coffee stop and opportunity to take in its Georgian and Victorian architecture. You can also top up your in-car supply with a bottle of the town’s famous drinking water, but perhaps too good for the washer bottle!

From here we veer northward on the A6 and turn right at a roundabout before Chapel-en-le-Frith on to the A623 signposted Chesterfield. Look out for the brown sign at a sharp right hand bend saying ‘Blue John Cavern’ and ‘Edale’. Turn left here and follow the road round to the right where it opens into lovely moorland countryside. You’re now well and truly in the beautiful Peak District. 

An alternative (and an extra 30 miles round trip) is to turn south on the A6 and head for Chatsworth House. Chatsworth has been the home of the Dukes of Devonshire since the mid-16th Century and is another day out in itself… and a popular one all year round. It can be found off the A6020 between Bakewell and Baslow.

After about 4 miles, this winding road becomes the A6187.

At this point you can divert north to visit the county’s famous limestone caves of Blue John fame. Stalactites, stalagmites, colour and history. Well worth a detour, albeit it can be popular in the tourist season and with parties of school children, resulting in limited parking.

After another 4 miles along the A6187, look for a left turn with traffic lights signposted Bamford and Ladybower. This is the A6013 which, after passing Ladybower Reservoir, leads to the Snake Pass (A57). Turn left at the T-junction signposted Glossop. The reservoir has plenty of parking spaces alongside on both the A6013 and A57 sections.

The Snake Pass is one of the UK’s most famous road. It’s famous for being a spectacular twisting ribbon of tarmac with some great views. It’s infamous if you’re a merchant who needs to use the road in winter as it’s one of the first to be closed by the onset of winter weather.

After skirting alongside the reservoir, the tree-lined road rises to emerge on the moorland that makes this road so popular. Enjoy!

After about a dozen miles you descend into the town of Glossop and the end of this terrific drive.

If you’ve visited this part of the world and want to add some comments below, please feel free. We love to hear the views of our fellow Aston Owners!

You can find out more about the area at the Visit Peak District website.

Apart from a few hire cars on resort islands, this was my first proper drive in Spain. I had been told that the roads are great and so I was expecting a pleasant experience. I wasn’t disappointed.

Smooth roads, great vistas, relatively traffic-free and mainly great weather. What’s not to like?

This trip took us from our port of entry, Santander (from Plymouth), to Donostia-San Sebastian and then to Arties and Alcaniz before returning via Burgos and Fuente-De. Alcaniz will be familiar to anyone who’s visited the Motorland Aragon racing circuit. We were there for the MotoGP race (and what a race it was… if you’re that way inclined).

We like to alternate our driving days between motorway routes when we need to get somewhere fairly quickly and longer, more scenic routes when we have the luxury of time on our side. Of course, the novelty of empty smooth roads makes up for some of the monotony of motorway driving.

After disembarking the huge ferry, the first section was simply to get us from the port of Santander to our overnight stop in Donostia-San Sebastian. Having docked in the afternoon we took the fastest 2.5hr route along the main roads to allow us time to enjoy our first hotel, the Mercure San Sebastian, with good parking and great views of the bay below us.

Day 2 of our trip was to the mountain resort of Arties close to the border with France.

In normal times we would probably have taken the shorter route, driving north over the border to France and finding our way back into Spain via Andorra. However, these were not normal times (these were covid times) so we decided to minimise our paperwork and drive solely in Spain.  This meant a six hour drive so we set off early in the cooler weather and chose to avoid the most direct route by picking up the GL-3410 and onwards to the NA-4150. These are two twisty roads that hug the valley walls and criss cross the river below.  Both roads are popular with cyclists who all seemed polite and would rather have us ahead of them than behind them. That suited us!

We then jumped back onto the main roads for a spell to avoid the main city of Pamplona before joining the N-260, another scenic road along the river through mountain tunnels and then the CL-28 to our overnight stop of Parador de Arties. It was good to see a trio of Sunbeams (Alpines and a Tiger) there when we arrived and later to have a good chat with their owners… in the car park, naturally.

If you continue on along the CL-28 you will eventually arrive in Andorra. However, our next location was Alcaniz so we got to enjoy the road back along the N-260 all over again en-route to the Parador de Alcaniz, a spectacular former castle that overlooks the town.

This is where we made our only navigational error in assuming that our phone would guide us through the narrow approach roads to our destination. It Didn’t! Instead, we ended up on a very steep and narrow road that we found was closed after about 1/4 mile. That meant reversing all the way back down again, much to the amusement of some locals.  I considered switching off the engine and freewheeling but decided the lack of brake servo would be disadvantageous! Our tip, based on that experience, is to look out for and follow the Parador signs. There is only one parador in the town and the signs will take you directly there, avoiding some of the narrower roads.  It reminds me that there was a time when we managed pretty well when we only had maps and road signs to guide us!

The Parador has plenty of flat level parking in front of the building or around the side if you are wanting somewhere more private.  All the spaces are covered by CCTV and we left the car there safely for the next 6 nights whilst we enjoyed the delights of Motorland Aragon about 20 minutes down the road.

Our homeward journey took us to the Hotel Landa in Burgos for one night. We picked this as a convenient break in our journey back to Santander via the Picos National Park.  However, we were pleasantly surprised to find such a luxurious hotel beside a major road junction.  Even better when having parked up in the main car park the receptionist advised us they had a free underground garage for hotel guests and provided us with a bucket to clean the miles of dust and dead insects we had collected on the journey so far.

There are around 12 spaces in the underground car park and whilst the entrance ramp is a little steep we think all but the lowest sports cars would make it down and up again. If yours is that lowest sports car, then the main car park has shading and we would have been happy to leave our car there.

We drove from Burgos turning north stopping in Guardo for coffee then on to the LE-215. It’s sweeping bends and switchbacks through the mountains gives you a taste of what’s to come on the N-621. Tip – watch out for lay-bys for photo opportunities… we missed them!

We then took the N621 at Boca de Huergano. It’s a stunning twisting road climbing up to highest point where there is a picnic area and parking to admire the view (we didn’t miss that one… as you can see on our little video).

This 30 miles stretch ended in Potes: an attractive medieval centre that straddles a bubbling river and, with it’s free car parks, a good place to stop for a coffee or lunch.

Turning left at the crossroads in Potes and following the road through the centre takes you onto the CA-185. It’s a slightly less challenging road but non-the-less picturesque. This will lead you to the end of the road in the Picos National Park where you will find the Parador de Fuente De and you can take the cable car to the top for great views of where you have driven… unless it’s foggy as it was for us!

The main road through Potes leads to the motorway for Santander that is signposted all the way. However, it remains scenic for a good stretch, just in case you’re not yet quite done with those lovely Spanish roads.

As you can surmise, our 1,500 miles round trip covered only a tiny portion of the country. Compared to the UK, it’s a vast and attractive driver’s landscape with more than twice the space and about 15 million less human inhabitants.

We look forward to returning and to adding more routes and recommendations. Watch this space!

All the places we stayed are now listed in Aston-Friendly places.

We were introduced to this spectacular road by friends we visited in Austria en-route from Italy.  We arrived at our friends tired after a long 6-hour drive and just a little too early in the year to visit the famous Grossglockner pass. With this in mind our hosts suggested a shorter journey the next day to drive the Maltatal High Alpine Pass and what a treat it turned out to be.

Starting in Gmund eventually the road enters the National Park where you will need to pay a toll to access the more adventurous part of the route.  We also discovered that Gmund is the birthplace of the Porsche Motor Company and houses a private collection which is open to the public between May & October.  To top it off, the road finishes at the Kolbrein dam and hotel, should you wish to extend your stay for the evening or simply enjoy an excellent coffee and cake.

Open in daylight between the first week of May and the last week in October, the road climbs 4,750 feet in 18 miles and has spectacular bends and views (perhaps better left to the passenger to enjoy). The road is dominated by six tunnels blasted through the natural stone.  The narrowest tunnels are one-way and controlled by traffic lights so you may have a wait depending upon when you reach the entrance.  However, there are signs counting down the amount of time to the light changes and visitors are allowed to leave their car and walk to admire the scenery whilst waiting.  Or, like us you may just wait with your car and enjoy some of the interesting cars and motorbikes coming in the opposite direction.  Apparently, we were there at the best time of year as the snow melt was adding to the numerous waterfalls cascading down the mountain side.  The road is very popular with motorcyclists, so much so that in July a ceremony is held at the top of the damn to bless the bikes and ensure a safe riding year ahead. So, perhaps this is a time to avoid if you are not on two wheels.

Once at the top we parked in the public car park which, whilst busy, had plenty of spaces to choose from.  We were then rewarded with spectacular views over the damn and for the less cowardly a walk on the glass ‘airwalk’.   After that we were ready for a coffee and apple strudel on the decking of the hotel/visitor centre.  The Berghotel Malta has a private car park a little further around from the public site but we were just visiting for the day so, after looking around the visitor centre, we set off to enjoy the whole thing again in the opposite direction.

The route:

Take the A10 exit Gmünd (130) direction Gmünd/Maltatal. Follow the road along Maltatal Landstrasse via Fischertratten and Brandstatt to the tollbooth of Malta Hochalmstraße. Then continue on the Malta Hochalmstraße to the Kölnbreinspeicher and Berghotel Malta

 

NB: If travelling at the start or end of the season it would be wise to check on-line or on the following numbers to check the road is open.

 

Maltatal High Alpine Road

Toll: Brandstatt 35, 9854 Malta

Office: Rottau 12, 9815 Kolbnitz

Telephone: +43 (0) 50 313 39363

Telephone toll: +43 (0) 47 33 2

Route and contact details thanks to https://www.visitcarinthia.at/

A plan to drive the North Coast 500 (NC500) was hatched in 2019, albeit without expectation of the 2-years hiatus in between. Was it worth the wait?

We were part of an Aston Martin group (7 cars 14 people) all based in mid to southwest England (and so a boring stretch of 200 miles on Motorways before we got to the first enjoyable scenery in the Lake District). Organising the trip was made easier with the help of our friends at Scenic Car Tours.

The NC500 has become almost legendary and attracts many thousands of travellers, from walkers and cyclists to bikers, campers and classic and sports car drivers. As their website says “Embark on one of the world’s most iconic coastal touring routes, and discover the breath-taking beauty of the North Highlands; a place where you’ll find white sand beaches, rugged mountains, hidden gems and a wealth of unforgettable experiences.’”

Hear, hear and here are a few of ours…

Big sky, big sea, big land

Yes indeed, this is the place to come. But what about the roads and the traffic?

You may have heard horror stories of long queues behind camper vans and cyclists. Whilst we saw both, none were a problem. Not only were all of the drivers/riders courteous in pulling over and waiving us past when necessary – and let’s face it, we didn’t need much encouragement – they often stopped for the views so were never in the way for very long.

One of the ‘problems’ for the sports car driver is balancing the sheer joy of pressing on when the roads are so inviting, with stopping to soak up the views and the occasional tourist gems.

That said, some of the roads require great care. They are either single track for fairly long stretches (albeit with lots of passing places and so having to reverse is quite rare) or the surface is pot-holed with some sharp edges and deep drops off the carriageway. An observant driver will have no problems here. We didn’t explore the apparently  ‘infamous’ Applecross Road, but some of our party did and reported no concerns.

Tourist stops

There are many, many views to behold and many, many parking places to do so. There are also some specific attractions such as the Smoo Caves at Durness. These are impressive caverns, 15m high, accessed from the roadside parking area, down some uneven steps to the beach. Tours are run by boat for £10/£5 per head to the otherwise inaccessible interior.

Another popular detour is the viaduct used in the Harry Potter films (apparently) near Fort William towards the end of the route.

Before that, the Scottish National Trust garden at Inverewe is also a popular cafe stop.

The little museum that presents the story of the Arctic Convoys to/from Russia during World War II provides a quiet moment of reflection about our ability to enjoy the freedom of the open road some 80 years later.

Out of the Ordinary

When bowling along at reasonable speed down steep slopes, around sweeping bends and challenging climbs, one doesn’t expect to give way to a convoy of classic tractors. A line of colourful machines driven by colourful characters… some of whom looked as if they’d owned their 1940s Fordson from new! They were indeed doing the NC500 – for charity – and received a warm wave from everyone they passed. The last tractor was running on paraffin and leaving behind it a lovely aroma!

At a coffee stop on the Isle of Skye (a slight detour from the NC500 route but well worth it) took us to the An Crubh cafe for a well earned coffee and cake. There we witnessed a ‘sunbow’.

Then there’s the so-called Skyfall Road. It’s not easily spotted and not easy to do so on a day that offers enough cloud cover to maximise an attempt at recreating Bond’s and M’s famous breather stop en-route to the fictional house. Sorry to be a plot spoiler if you thought it worth a trip to see the ruined building; it was entirely a film set. However, the valley is very real and not changed much since the famous film (and publicity stills) were shot.

The exact lay-by (actually a passing place) isn’t easy to spot when dodging the potholes and oncoming traffic. Google maps helps a lot as some kind soul has pinned their effort there. If you drive past it, there is room to turn around about 1/4 mile further on. The road is a dead end that’s popular with campers. You may have to disguise or crop-out the passing place signpost that didn’t appear in the movie!

Where we stayed

We mustered at the Crown Hotel in Wetherall near Carlisle. From there it’s a short hop to Scotland with both scenic and direct route options.

• Night 1 – Inverness (the starts/finish of the NC500) – 312 miles
• Night 2 – Bettyhill (via John o’Groats) – 262 miles
• Night 3 – Lochinver – 107 miles
• Night 4 – Gairloch – 104 miles
• Night 5 – Fort William (including the ‘Skyfall Road’) – 278 miles
• Night 6 – Wetherall – 309 miles

Total mileage – 1,372 (including 500+ around the North Coast using the anti-clockwise route)

With thanks to A. & B. King and northcoast500.com for some of the above photos.

True to his word @BournemouthBoy arranged the weather (though it was blooming cold) and we finally met up.  However, I didn't get a photo. But here are a few general ones.

We took the DB6 to Spain last year to watch the Moto GP in Aragon.  Here are my suggestions for some good driving roads in that area.

The N-230 from Arties towards Alcaniz. About 85 miles of sweeping bends through some glorious scenery and a few tunnels as well!


Probably a better known road the N-261 towards Potes (we joined at Boca de Huergano ).  A twisting road that climbs to the top for some spectacular views then twists all the way down again to Potes.