By car type
Roads ranked for two wheels, where the narrow lanes that punish a car become an advantage and the surface matters even more than it does on four.
On a bike, width stops being a constraint and surface becomes the whole story. A patch of diesel on a damp apex or a gravel wash across a hairpin exit has consequences a car simply absorbs.
This ranking favours corner quality and scenery, and unlike the car lists it does not penalise narrow roads. It does flag the seasonal and noise restrictions that increasingly shape where bikes are welcome.
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 motorbikes. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 12 March 2026
The criteria
Pushed up the list
Pushed down, or worth avoiding
Ranked
01 · Romania
Ceausescu's mountain folly, the most photographed hairpin stack in Europe.
90 km · 55.9 mi · Fit score 10.5 / 10
02 · United Kingdom
Britain's highest road climbs via hairpins to a wild moonscape pass above Applecross.
18.5 km · 11.5 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
03 · Italy
Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
49 km · 30.4 mi · Fit score 10.4 / 10
04 · Norway
Eleven hairpins claw up a sheer valley wall beneath waterfalls and the Trolltindene peaks.
20 km · 12.4 mi · Fit score 10.3 / 10
05 · United States
Swaths of switchbacks climb to 3337 metres past alpine lakes and snowfields.
109 km · 67.7 mi · Fit score 10.2 / 10
06 · Italy
A cliffside ribbon of hairpins clinging above turquoise water and pastel towns.
50 km · 31.1 mi · Fit score 10.2 / 10
07 · Italy
Twenty nine hairpins climb to a wide open saddle ringed by the jagged Cinque Torri.
17 km · 10.6 mi · Fit score 10.2 / 10
08 · Norway
Twenty seven hairpins drop 900 metres to the head of the Lysefjord.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
09 · Turkey
Thirteen stacked hairpins on a cliff face make this one of the world's scariest roads.
106 km · 65.9 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
10 · Norway
Hairpins spiral down to the Geirangerfjord past waterfalls with names like the Seven Sisters.
106 km · 65.9 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
11 · Montenegro
Twenty five stacked hairpins climbing straight off the fjord to a mountain plateau.
20 km · 12.4 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
12 · Italy
The road from the Italian Job, hairpins to a lake plateau at 2600 metres.
20 km · 12.4 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
13 · Switzerland
A cobbled historic switchback climb that predates the modern Gotthard highway entirely.
13 km · 8.1 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
14 · Slovenia
Fifty numbered hairpins, twenty four of them cobbled, over the highest pass in Slovenia.
47 km · 29.2 mi · Fit score 10.1 / 10
15 · United Kingdom
A ribbon of hairpins climbing a bare Welsh moorland made famous by Top Gear.
19 km · 11.8 mi · Fit score 10.0 / 10
16 · Morocco
A stack of orange hairpins climbs out of a red rock gorge into empty highland.
63 km · 39.1 mi · Fit score 10.0 / 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 10.0 / 10
18 · Italy
Twenty eight numbered hairpins climb to the highest paved point of the Dolomites road network.
13 km · 8.1 mi · Fit score 10.0 / 10
19 · Switzerland
Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
16 km · 9.9 mi · Fit score 10.0 / 10
20 · Brazil
A wall of stacked hairpins climbing 1400 metres in a dozen kilometres.
12 km · 7.5 mi · Fit score 10.0 / 10
21 · Taiwan
The highest road in Taiwan, 3275 metres of cold air and cedar covered switchbacks.
41 km · 25.5 mi · Fit score 9.9 / 10
22 · France
Cliff cut hairpins and cirque views link two valleys via the dramatic Litor shelf.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Fit score 9.9 / 10
23 · Spain
Hairpins climb from the Covadonga basilica into limestone peaks above two glacial lakes.
24 km · 14.9 mi · Fit score 9.9 / 10
24 · Japan
Forty eight lettered hairpins climb to Lake Chuzenji, one way in each direction.
16 km · 9.9 mi · Fit score 9.9 / 10
Before you go
Parts of Tyrol and several Swiss and Italian valleys restrict loud motorcycles or ban them on specific days. Fines are high and bikes are impounded.
A two thousand metre pass can be fifteen degrees colder than the valley you left forty minutes ago. Pack for the summit, not the start.
Filling stations are rare above the tree line. Fill in the valley before every pass rather than assuming there is something at the top.
Common questions
The Dolomite pass loop, the Col de Turini, the Furka Susten Grimsel triangle and the Transfagarasan all rank at the top for corner quality on two wheels.
Yes. Several Tyrolean valleys and some Swiss roads restrict motorcycles above set noise limits, and a few close to bikes on specific days. Check locally before you ride.
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