Spain, Community of Madrid
The Sierra de Guadarrama passes sit forty minutes north and stay quiet midweek.
First instinct from Madrid: head north into the Sierra.
Scored roads in range
12
Nearest great road
193 mi
Best rated nearby
9.1 / 10
Shortest full loop
11 hr 3 min
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. Every road in the library carries a driving and scenery score set by the same method. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 27 April 2026
150 to 400 km from the centre
Leave early, take the long way back and make a day of it.
Roughly 15 hr 18 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
208 mi away · Asturias, Spain
Hairpins climb from the Covadonga basilica into limestone peaks above two glacial lakes.
24 km · 14.9 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
248 mi away · Pyrenees-Atlantiques, France
Cliff cut hairpins and cirque views link two valleys via the dramatic Litor shelf.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
215 mi away · Douro, Portugal
Voted among the world's best roads, it snakes above terraced vineyards along the Douro.
27 km · 16.8 mi · Atlas rating 9.3 / 10
206 mi away · Serra da Estrela, Portugal
Mainland Portugal's highest road crosses granite boulder fields to the Torre summit.
50 km · 31.1 mi · Atlas rating 9.2 / 10
193 mi away · Castilla y Leon, Spain
A ribbon of tarmac threading beech forests beneath the jagged western Picos de Europa.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Atlas rating 9.1 / 10
222 mi away · Asturias, Spain
Tight switchbacks climb past bear country lookouts to a windswept pass over 1400 metres.
25 km · 15.5 mi · Atlas rating 9.0 / 10
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