City to city
The A1 is six hours of nothing. Through Tuscany and Umbria it becomes two days of ridge roads and hill towns.
Direct route
360.4 mi
Scenic route
630.7 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 25 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 4 hr 53 min of that is spent on the great roads themselves, which is where the whole difference lies.
On the way
01 · Italy
A narrow, unguarded ribbon past Lago Nero that feels wilder than its famous neighbour.
19.3 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
02 · France
Impossibly narrow ledge road through blood red granite pinnacles above the Gulf of Porto.
7.5 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
03 · France
A narrow gorge road blasted into red granite walls, the gateway to Corsica's high interior.
15.5 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
04 · Switzerland
Glaciers hang over the road as it threads past turquoise Lago Bianco to the Poschiavo valley.
20.5 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
05 · France
Needle like granite spires tower over this pass linking Corsica's interior to the east coast.
23.6 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
06 · Italy
A tunnel like gorge road carved into rock above Lake Garda, once called the world's best road.
4.3 mi · Rating 9.2 / 10
07 · Switzerland
Tight zigzags drop dramatically off the Engadine plateau toward the Italian border.
18.6 mi · Rating 9.1 / 10
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