New Zealand

New Zealand's South Island is built for driving, and the Milford Road is the country's finest single stretch of it, running from the tussock flats of Te Anau through beech forest and a single lane tunnel to the fjord at Milford Sound. Leave early, before the tour coaches, and it feels almost entirely empty.

The Crown Range Road near Queenstown climbs to the highest sealed pass in the country with sweeping views over the Wakatipu basin, while the Haast Pass links the west coast rainforest to the drier Otago high country in a single dramatic crossing. Arthur's Pass, further north, offers a similar transition through the Southern Alps with its own particular scale.

Roads are well surfaced but often narrow and winding, and weather in Fiordland can close the Milford Road with little notice, so a flexible schedule is worth building in.