Our Favourite Detours of 2025

It’s the end of the road for 2025 and a chance to reflect on the best road trips of the year. 

Having added more than 50 new road trip guides, plus plenty of Pit Stops and other stories from the road, the Detour Databank now comprises more than 300 driving adventures.

Here are our favourites from 2025.

The year began with #vanlifer Jamie Hearne driving amongst the Giants of the Redwood Highway. “The dense tree canopies and foliage seem to muffle the sound of crashing waves, suddenly in another world. Towering trees carpeted with moss rise above, their branches draped in lichen. The temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest are uniquely atmospheric, and nowhere is this more true than in California,” he wrote.

Simon Heptinstall sought solitude on Britain’s Emptiest A-Road, found on the Isle of Bute, and observed: “As the road rises out of Ettrick, a beam of sunshine illuminates a classic windjammer’s white sails against dark distant mountains. Seabirds dart across sparkling waves while a herd of shaggy highland cattle seem mesmerised, staring out to sea.”

Photo Genesis

 In February we followed elusive mountain goats in India, and sought out the Dark Skies of Exmoor. “Just 10,000 locals inhabit its 430 square miles. You want the silent contemplation a vast sky of stars can bring? This might just be The British Isles’ prime spot for it,” noted Ben Barry.

Photo Universal

March saw Mike Breslin head off in hot pursuit of James Bond on the roads of Jamaica, taking in famous movie locations and Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye home. “Of course, no Bond adventure is complete without some dramatic car action,” wrote Breslin. “And while you get plenty of that in Jamaica – usually courtesy of taxi drivers in the ubiquitous Toyota Probox – the most exciting drive on this route is over the Blue Mountains on the A3, a route that’s described by Fleming in the Dr No novel. It’s a thrilling and beautiful road, if narrow and bumpy in parts, and there’s no better way to enter Kingston, where much of Dr No was filmed.”

Photo Noah Glynn / Unsplash

 We’re no fools when it comes to finding fantastic road trips and April was no exception. Colorado native Ross Robbins provided his guide to the legendary hill climb at Pikes Peak. “About halfway between the official start line and the top, you’ll find yourself above the timberline,” explained Robbins. “When there are no trees, the road edges become very real, and you must focus on the task at hand. Trust me on this…use the ascent for the fun of the road and a slower descent to gawk at the incredible vistas around every hairpin turn. Frost heaves and gravel can catch you out, and remember, there are no guard rails in places.”

Photo Baffle Haus

 May gifted us access to the Morgan Supersport and the chance to explore the car culture along the England-Wales border from the legendary hill climb at Shelsley Walsh to the cars and coffee hotspot Baffle Haus.

Photo Nik Berg

As summer beckoned June provided a game of Rental Car Roulette when we tackled the Route des Crêtes in France. “Originally carved into the Vosges massif during World War I to supply logistics to the Vosges front, today it provides access for the winter sports crowd in the colder months and excellent entertainment for those on two or four wheels the rest of the time,” said Nik Berg. We also took in the route of Greece’s Rally of the Gods, hairing through hairpins, dusty olive groves and scorched hillsides.

Photo Nik Berg

 July delivered an American classic on California’s famous Highway 101 as well as rather more unusual desert drive in Morocco, where in lieu of a rugged 4x4 we took a ragtop Mazda MX-5. “Much of this 140-mile desert drive really is deserted, with large distances between settlements, but the stark beauty of the landscape is enough to keep you enthralled,” recalled Nik Berg.

Photo Aston Martin

August saw Rory FH Smith recount a drive to Le Mans, following the route taken by Aston Martin’s 1950 race winners. “It’s a little-known detail that before Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby’s legendary victory at Le Mans in 1959, the pair drove themselves out to the race in an Aston Martin DB MKIII. Humble, you might think, but this was long before racing drivers were global celebrities, confined to private jets and chauffeured cars,” he wrote.

In September we sampled some sensational classic Porsches on the country roads around Stuttgart, fulfilling Nik Berg’s childhood dreams in the process. “To finally get behind the wheel (of a 959) is an experience I have looked forward to for 40 years. And it doesn’t disappoint,” he expounded. Others might dream of being Steve McQueen and recreating the classic car chase in Bullitt and our action-filled guide is a must if you’re visiting San Francisco.

October was all about epic drives, from the Stuart Highway that scythes across the centre of Australia to the Pan American Highway and a tour of the contiguous Continental United States in a little Lotus.

 In November we discovered Europe’s only desert, the heavenly Highway of Stars in Chile and sought out art and engineering on a route between London and Bristol.

Photo Jamie Hearne

We ended the year on a high – literally. The Laguna Route in Bolivia is “Considered one of South America’s most adventurous drives, the Ruta de las Lagunas in south-west Bolivia passes through some of the most remarkable high-altitude terrain on the American continent reaching altitudes up to as much as 5,000 meters,” wrote Jamie Hearne.

Join us in 2026 for even more amazing automotive adventures and check out our full archive here.

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