City to city
Everyone does this on the M1 and A1. Through the Peak District, the Dales and the Borders it becomes a proper trip.
Direct route
403.9 mi
Scenic route
633.8 mi
Days to enjoy it
3 days
Great roads on route
7
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. Distances are planning estimates. The road list is drawn from the scored Atlas library inside this corridor. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 21 June 2026
The detour
The fast way
Motorway and trunk road for most of it, one fuel stop, nothing you will remember. Useful when the drive is a means to an end.
The good way
About 2 hr 25 min of that is spent on the great roads themselves, which is where the whole difference lies.
On the way
01 · United Kingdom
England's steepest road gradient, a brutal one in three climb over Roman ruins.
3.1 mi · Rating 9.5 / 10
02 · United Kingdom
A ribbon of hairpins climbing a bare Welsh moorland made famous by Top Gear.
11.8 mi · Rating 9.4 / 10
03 · United Kingdom
A steep slate quarry pass squeezed between towering fells above Buttermere.
4 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
04 · United Kingdom
A dramatic pass beneath Snowdon's crags linking two of Wales's most storied villages.
9.9 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
05 · United Kingdom
A biker's classic with wide open views across the Eden Valley to the Lakeland fells.
8.1 mi · Rating 9.1 / 10
06 · United Kingdom
Tour de France famous climb past limestone potholes between two classic dale villages.
6.8 mi · Rating 9.1 / 10
07 · United Kingdom
Narrow single track linking Langdale to Duddon Valley over the ancient Three Shire Stone.
4 mi · Rating 9.1 / 10
Either end
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