Hey Culture Trippers,
The romantic nostalgia of the open roads has captivated travellers all over the world for the last century. Road trips bring with them a freedom that’s difficult to replicate in other forms of travel. With a full tank, an exciting route and no fixed agenda, anything is possible. The world is your oyster and the adventures reach beyond the horizon with these five drives you’ll never forget.
The Trollstigen, Norway
Eleven hairpin bends climbing a sheer mountainside, with waterfalls trickling roadside and a valley floor that gets further away with every turn. Trollstigen, or the Troll's Path, is only open between May and October, such is the unforgiving nature of those tight bends on an icy morning. The viewpoint at the top, looking back down at the switchbacks, is one of those sights that makes you pull over and forget you have somewhere to be. Pair it with the Geiranger fjord nearby and you have one of the most concentrated stretches of dramatic scenery in Europe.
The Panorama Route, South Africa
Just a few hours east of Johannesburg, the Panorama Route winds along the Drakensberg escarpment past forests, waterfalls and viewpoints that most visitors to South Africa never reach. The highlight is Blyde River Canyon – the third largest in the world and unusually lush, carved through red sandstone rather than the desert emptiness most canyons offer. At around 80km from start to finish, it's doable in a day. The Three Rondavels viewpoint alone is worth a stop that might just quietly derail your schedule.
The Furka Pass, Switzerland
One of the highest paved roads in the Alps connects the cantons of Valais and Uri through a landscape that doesn't look entirely real: glaciers, alpine meadows, and the kind of silence you only find at altitude. James Bond drove an Aston Martin across it in Goldfinger (1964), which tells you something about how it photographs. Open only in summer, the road closes entirely once the first snow arrives, which gives it a seasonal urgency worth paying attention to.
The Ha Giang Loop, Vietnam
This epic 400km circuit carves through the mountains of northern Vietnam, past terraced rice fields, remote villages and limestone karst formations that rise dramatically from the valley floor. Most people do it by motorbike, which is the most honest way to experience the scale of it, though a car works for those who'd rather keep the windows up. The Nho Que River, a vivid emerald green running between canyon walls, is the image most people leave with. You’ll need at least four days to do this one properly.
Route 66, USA
It’s the original American road trip, and this year you have a particularly good reason to drive it. Route 66 celebrates its 100th birthday in 2026, so when better to make the journey from Chicago to Santa Monica, across eight states and nearly 4,000km of nostalgic open road in the heartlands of America. Neon-signed diners still serve the same delicious food they have for decades, ghost towns quietly document the road's decline, while thriving cities like St Louis tell a different story. Roadside curiosities exist for no reason other than that someone thought they should, or simply could. It's the kind of drive that works best slowly, with no fixed schedule and a vehicle with enough space to make it a home on the road.
Two drivers. Eight states. One RV. Join us on a journey along America's most iconic highway, shared one state at a time – through historic towns, legendary diners and otherworldly landscapes that stretch further than the eye can see. Follow along as the story of America unfolds beyond the windshield.
