Drivers AtlasThe world's best roads

City to city

Manchester to Cardiff, the way worth driving

Straight down the M6 and M5, or across mid Wales on roads that make people move house.

Direct route

174 mi

Scenic route

320 mi

Days to enjoy it

2 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 10 June 2026

The detour

Fast way against good way

The fast way

174 miles of getting it done

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

320 miles worth taking off work for

About 3 hr 9 min of that is spent on the great roads themselves, which is where the whole difference lies.