By car type
Roof down driving is about scenery and sound, not lap times. These roads score highest where the view is worth turning your head for and the pace suits an open cabin.
A convertible rewards a different kind of road. Tight technical hairpins are wasted with the roof down because you are concentrating too hard to look up. What you want is a road with a view and a rhythm.
We weight scenery heavily here, and favour coast roads, ridge roads and open valleys over enclosed forest climbs. Tunnels and heavy traffic push a road down the list because both ruin the experience entirely.
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. Rankings combine the Atlas driving and scenery scores with a fit score written specifically for convertibles. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 23 June 2026
The criteria
Pushed up the list
Pushed down, or worth avoiding
Ranked
01 · Italy
A cliffside ribbon of hairpins clinging above turquoise water and pastel towns.
50 km · 31.1 mi · Fit score 10.7 / 10
02 · Norway
Eleven hairpins claw up a sheer valley wall beneath waterfalls and the Trolltindene peaks.
20 km · 12.4 mi · Fit score 10.7 / 10
03 · United States
Swaths of switchbacks climb to 3337 metres past alpine lakes and snowfields.
109 km · 67.7 mi · Fit score 10.7 / 10
04 · Norway
Hairpins spiral down to the Geirangerfjord past waterfalls with names like the Seven Sisters.
106 km · 65.9 mi · Fit score 10.6 / 10
05 · France
Cliff hugging ledge road staring straight down into Europe's grandest limestone canyon.
24 km · 14.9 mi · Fit score 10.6 / 10
06 · Croatia
A single track climb from sea level to 1762 metres above the Makarska Riviera.
23 km · 14.3 mi · Fit score 10.6 / 10
07 · United States
The Pacific coast at its most theatrical, cliff curves above the open ocean.
145 km · 90.1 mi · Fit score 10.6 / 10
08 · Romania
Romania's highest road runs along bare alpine ridgelines with almost no barriers.
148 km · 92 mi · Fit score 10.6 / 10
09 · United States
A cliff shelf road through Glacier National Park under hanging valleys.
80 km · 49.7 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
10 · United Kingdom
A sweeping run through Rannoch Moor beneath the brooding Buachaille Etive Mor.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
11 · Spain
Hairpins climb from the Covadonga basilica into limestone peaks above two glacial lakes.
24 km · 14.9 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
12 · Norway
Twenty seven hairpins drop 900 metres to the head of the Lysefjord.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
13 · United Kingdom
A high single track skirting the surreal landslipped pinnacles of the Trotternish ridge.
13 km · 8.1 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
14 · United Kingdom
A lochside single track with views straight across to Skye and the Cuillins.
25 km · 15.5 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
15 · Norway
A low bridge skips between skerries with the open Norwegian Sea breaking either side.
8.3 km · 5.2 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
16 · Spain
Mallorca's spine road strings together sea cliffs, terraces and mountain villages.
75 km · 46.6 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
17 · New Zealand
New Zealand's highest sealed road with a hairpin stack above the Cardrona valley.
70 km · 43.5 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
18 · Germany
Sweeping alpine curves link lake resorts on the way to the Austrian border.
150 km · 93.2 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
19 · South Africa
A toll corniche blasted into a sea cliff with 114 curves above the Atlantic.
9 km · 5.6 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
20 · United Kingdom
A remote NC500 highlight of sea lochs, switchbacks and empty moorland roads.
45 km · 28 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
21 · Switzerland
Glaciers hang over the road as it threads past turquoise Lago Bianco to the Poschiavo valley.
33 km · 20.5 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
22 · France
Napoleon's high road above Monaco, immortalised on film, staring down onto the principality.
16 km · 9.9 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
23 · France
Needle like granite spires tower over this pass linking Corsica's interior to the east coast.
38 km · 23.6 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
24 · Norway
A high plateau road across bare tundra ending at a stark concrete lookout above the fjord.
47 km · 29.2 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
Before you go
An open cabin at altitude burns you faster than you expect. Sun cream, a cap and sunglasses matter more than a coat on most summer drives.
Anything on the parcel shelf or passenger seat will leave the car at speed. Bags belong in the boot, not beside you.
Practice putting the roof up quickly and safely. Alpine weather turns in minutes and you do not want to be learning in a layby in the rain.
Common questions
The Cote d'Azur corniches, the Amalfi Coast road, the Dolomite passes and the Douro valley road all combine constant scenery with a pace that suits an open car.
Often not. With the windows up and the heater on, most modern convertibles are comfortable roof down at altitude well into autumn.
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