10 Best Road Trip Routes (Costs & Tips, 2026)

Officially decommissioned as a numbered highway in 1985, but most of it is still drivable in pieces through eight states, past diners and neon signs that have outlived the road's official status. No toll, no entry fee — the cost is just fuel and however many nights of motels you commit to along the way.

Free to drive, and the Twelve Apostles limestone stacks near the end are the payoff most people are actually driving for, though the coastline the entire way there earns its reputation independently. Built partly by WWI veterans as a war memorial — worth knowing before you treat it as just a scenic backdrop.

A single road, 1,332km, circling the entire island — waterfalls, glaciers, black sand beaches, and volcanic landscape without ever needing to backtrack. The road itself is free; rental car and fuel are genuinely the expensive part of Iceland, not the driving.

Free to drive between Mossel Bay and Storms River, through indigenous forest, past lagoons and beaches, with detours to bungee jump the world's highest bridge jump if you're so inclined (that part costs extra). Fuel is genuinely cheap in South Africa, making this one of the more affordable multi-day road trips on this list.

Free, and genuinely stressful to drive yourself — hairpin turns cut into cliffs with tour buses coming the other way, barely wide enough for two cars. Consider taking the local SITA bus instead if driving anxiety would ruin the views; you get the same road without the white-knuckle steering.

At 2,500km, this is the longest defined coastal driving route in the world, running the entire western edge of Ireland from Donegal to Cork. Free to drive; nobody does the whole thing in one trip, so pick a section — the Cliffs of Moher and the Ring of Kerry are the two most photographed stretches for good reason.

Top Gear once called this the best driving road in the world, and the switchbacks climbing over the Făgăraș Mountains make a decent case for it. Free to drive, but only open roughly June to October — snow closes it the rest of the year, so check conditions before committing to the detour.

A 516-mile loop around the Scottish Highlands, officially named and mapped only in 2015, and it's already being compared to Route 66 for the tourism it's generated in under a decade. Free to drive; single-track roads with passing places are common, so patience matters more than speed.

A 298km loop around Cape Breton Highlands, free to drive, with whale watching stops along the coast and some of the best autumn foliage anywhere in Canada if you time it for late September or October. Less internationally famous than some entries on this list, which mostly means fewer crowds.

113 miles of road strung across more than 40 islands, including the Seven Mile Bridge, which is genuinely disorienting to drive — open ocean on both sides with no land in view for long stretches. Free to drive, tolls apply on a couple of alternate routes but not the main highway itself.