Road collection
A good run of hairpins rewards rhythm more than speed. These roads stack their corners up a mountainside or down into a gorge, and every one of them is better driven slowly and well than quickly and badly.
30 roads, ranked
1. United Kingdom, Applecross, Scottish Highlands
Britain's highest road climbs via hairpins to a wild moonscape pass above Applecross.
Tornapress to Applecross, 18.5 km (11.5 miles). Driving 9.8/10, scenery 9.9/10.
2. Italy, Lombardy and South Tyrol, Italy
Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
Bormio to Prato allo Stelvio, 49 km (30.4 miles). Driving 9.8/10, scenery 9.9/10.
3. Romania, Fagaras Mountains
Ceausescu's mountain folly, the most photographed hairpin stack in Europe.
Bascov to Cartisoara, 90 km (55.9 miles). Driving 9.9/10, scenery 9.9/10.
4. Italy, Campania, Italy
A cliffside ribbon of hairpins clinging above turquoise water and pastel towns.
Sorrento to Vietri sul Mare, 50 km (31.1 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 10/10.
5. Norway, More og Romsdal, Norway
Eleven hairpins claw up a sheer valley wall beneath waterfalls and the Trolltindene peaks.
Andalsnes to Valldal, 20 km (12.4 miles). Driving 9.5/10, scenery 9.9/10.
6. United States, Montana and Wyoming
Swaths of switchbacks climb to 3337 metres past alpine lakes and snowfields.
Red Lodge to Cooke City, 109 km (67.7 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.9/10.
7. Italy, Veneto, Italy
Twenty nine hairpins climb to a wide open saddle ringed by the jagged Cinque Torri.
Cortina d'Ampezzo to Colle Santa Lucia, 17 km (10.6 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.8/10.
8. Spain, Mallorca, Spain
A driver's icon that loops through a knotted 270 degree hairpin down to the cove.
Coll dels Reis to Sa Calobra, 12 km (7.5 miles). Driving 9.5/10, scenery 9.7/10.
9. Norway, More og Romsdal, Norway
Hairpins spiral down to the Geirangerfjord past waterfalls with names like the Seven Sisters.
Grotli to Geiranger, 106 km (65.9 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.9/10.
10. Norway, Rogaland
Twenty seven hairpins drop 900 metres to the head of the Lysefjord.
Sirdal to Lysebotn, 30 km (18.6 miles). Driving 9.5/10, scenery 9.6/10.
11. Turkey, Bayburt to Trabzon
Thirteen stacked hairpins on a cliff face make this one of the world's scariest roads.
Of to Bayburt, 106 km (65.9 miles). Driving 9.5/10, scenery 9.6/10.
12. Montenegro, Bay of Kotor
Twenty five stacked hairpins climbing straight off the fjord to a mountain plateau.
Kotor to Njegusi, 20 km (12.4 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.8/10.
13. Italy, Gran Paradiso
The road from the Italian Job, hairpins to a lake plateau at 2600 metres.
Ceresole Reale to Nivolet, 20 km (12.4 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.8/10.
14. Italy, Trentino and South Tyrol, Italy
Twenty eight numbered hairpins climb to the highest paved point of the Dolomites road network.
Canazei to Arabba, 13 km (8.1 miles). Driving 9.2/10, scenery 9.7/10.
15. Switzerland, Ticino, Switzerland
A cobbled historic switchback climb that predates the modern Gotthard highway entirely.
Airolo to Gotthard Pass, 13 km (8.1 miles). Driving 9.6/10, scenery 9.3/10.
16. France, Hautes-Alpes, France
Hairpins through larch forest give way to the lunar Casse Deserte, a surreal high altitude finale.
Briancon to Guillestre, 33 km (20.5 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.6/10.
17. Morocco, High Atlas
A colonial era mountain road with hundreds of unguarded bends over the High Atlas.
Marrakech to Taroudant, 180 km (111.8 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.6/10.
18. Morocco, Dades Valley
A stack of orange hairpins climbs out of a red rock gorge into empty highland.
Boumalne Dades to Msemrir, 63 km (39.1 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.6/10.
19. New Zealand, Otago
New Zealand's highest sealed road with a hairpin stack above the Cardrona valley.
Queenstown to Wanaka, 70 km (43.5 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.6/10.
20. Argentina, Mendoza
A stack of Andean snail bends beneath Aconcagua on the road to Chile.
Uspallata to Paso Los Libertadores, 100 km (62.1 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.6/10.
21. Slovenia, Julian Alps
Fifty numbered hairpins, twenty four of them cobbled, over the highest pass in Slovenia.
Kranjska Gora to Bovec, 47 km (29.2 miles). Driving 9.4/10, scenery 9.6/10.
22. United Kingdom, Brecon Beacons, Wales
A ribbon of hairpins climbing a bare Welsh moorland made famous by Top Gear.
Brynamman to Llangadog, 19 km (11.8 miles). Driving 9.5/10, scenery 9.3/10.
23. Switzerland, Valais and Uri, Switzerland
Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
Gletsch to Realp, 16 km (9.9 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.5/10.
24. France, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, France
Cliff cut hairpins and cirque views link two valleys via the dramatic Litor shelf.
Laruns to Col du Soulor, 30 km (18.6 miles). Driving 9.2/10, scenery 9.5/10.
25. Spain, Asturias, Spain
Hairpins climb from the Covadonga basilica into limestone peaks above two glacial lakes.
Cangas de Onis to Lago Enol, 24 km (14.9 miles). Driving 9/10, scenery 9.8/10.
26. Taiwan, Nantou and Hualien
The highest road in Taiwan, 3275 metres of cold air and cedar covered switchbacks.
Cingjing to Dayuling, 41 km (25.5 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.4/10.
27. Brazil, Santa Catarina
A wall of stacked hairpins climbing 1400 metres in a dozen kilometres.
Lauro Muller to Bom Jardim da Serra, 12 km (7.5 miles). Driving 9.3/10, scenery 9.5/10.
28. United Kingdom, Sutherland, Scotland
A remote NC500 highlight of sea lochs, switchbacks and empty moorland roads.
Kylesku to Durness, 45 km (28 miles). Driving 8.9/10, scenery 9.7/10.
29. Italy, South Tyrol, Italy
Limestone spires of the Sella group frame every one of this pass's flowing bends.
Corvara to Selva di Val Gardena, 12 km (7.5 miles). Driving 9/10, scenery 9.6/10.
30. Austria, Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Austria
Thirty four hairpins climb past the turquoise Silvretta reservoir to a glacier ringed summit.
Partenen to Galtur, 22 km (13.7 miles). Driving 9.1/10, scenery 9.5/10.
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