PJ O’Rourke wrote that the fastest car in the world is a hire car. Should you happen to holiday in Crete and take the road from Anopolis to Hora Sfakion, you’ll soon see what he meant.

You don’t have to leave Europe for a tortuous, undulating desert drive. Southern Spain’s barren beauty is the setting of the Puerto de Velefique, a sensational mountain road with a bewildering array of corners, climbing through the parched landscape.

Billed as “America’s Favorite (sic) Drive” the Blue Ridge Parkway stretches over 400 miles from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

La belle France is rich in racing history and marvellous mountainous topography. Here are five fantastic road trips that every petrolhead should take for a taste of both.

The fast and flowing roads of Salisbury Plain come with an added frisson of danger. Stray off them and you may find yourself in the middle of a war game with all-too-real consequences.

In August 2020 6,000 tonnes of “car sized” rocks fell and blocked the A83 between Inverary and Crianlarich. Yet, amazingly, by the standards of The Rest and Be Thankful road, this was a relatively small disruption.

Norway, land of fabulous fjords and majestic mountains, is a driver’s delight thanks to a road network that zigs and zags along its coast and sends switchbacks up its peaks.

“Hang on lads, I’ve got an idea.” Take a drive up the stunning Colle de Nivolet and you’ll be following in the wheeltracks of Michael Caine.

From horrifying hitch-hikers to phantom horsemen, America’s roads are rife with haunting stories. Here are five drives for wannabe Ghostbusters to seek out and the rest of us to avoid.

Atlantic Highway is something of an exaggeration. The A39 from Porlock to Barnstaple is a winding single carriageway, but it most definitely delivers on the Atlantic part of its name, with stunning views across the ocean.

First a word of caution. Not about the trolls that give this incredible road its name, but about the tourists who flock to drive it. The Trollstigen (Troll’s tongue) road is the most popular tourist drive in Norway with more than half a million visitors each summer.

Reims hasn’t hosted a Grand Prix since 1966, but the faded glory of its photogenic pit lane is still a draw for drivers.

Densely packed as it is with mountains and lakes, Cumbria’s road are seldom straight. The passes of the Lake District may not reach the dizzying heights of those in Europe, but they’re so close together that within a day you could tick off a bucket list of amazing drives.

Ah, Italy. Home of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo and Pagani. And some of the very best mountain roads to drive them on. Actually it doesn’t matter if you’re behind the wheel of a 500hp supercar or a Fiat 500 these five drives will make you fall in love.

Known as the Road to Heaven, the insane drive up Tianmen Mountain can trace its roots back 1,400 years to the Tang dynasty. More recently it’s found fame on YouTube thanks to stunts by Land Rover and Ken Block.

The mountains of Italy, Switzerland, France and Austria are home to the most legendary roads in Europe, but it’s high time another country was added to the list: Slovenia.

Any time you decide to drive across the border between Italy and Switzerland you’re in for a treat.

Australia’s Grand Pacific Drive is one of the most Instagram-friendly routes in the world. Honestly, just spend a few minutes on the planet’s most popular photo-sharing platform and you’ll find thousands of shots of this scenic Sydney adventure.

From cross-country Cannonball runs to back-country drives, from drive-ins and diners to motels there is nothing quite as American as a road trip. Except maybe apple pie.

Jeremy Clarkson is a Yorkshire lad, so you can trust that he knows the local roads. He’s also pretty well travelled so when he describes the Buttertubs Pass in the Yorkshire Dales as “England’s only truly spectacular road” he’s probably not wrong.