Lonely Planet's 'Epic Drives of the World'

The Editors say it so well, “The most important role of these tales from the road is to inspire you to pack a bag and hop behind the wheel to explore something new”.
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After listing the ‘Top 10 Best European Drives’ in our earlier blog we’re undecided about whether to head East and drive through all the Stans of Central Asia (like our intrepid overlanding friends John & Suzanne of www.Tiggers-Travels.com) or RORO ship our reliable 4x4 Sprinter ‘Mr Benz’ to Canada and start the long drive up to Prudhoe Bay Alaska before turning south all the way down the Pan America Highway to Ushuaia Patagonia.

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey” – Babs Hoffman

This excellent book about epic drives on several continents has helped inspire us to look again at our ‘wish list’ and maybe go slower - stay for longer - see more along the way!

​Unlike other Lonely Planet books this is a big & heavy hardback so not something you’d want to carry around in your backpack - but that’s not the point as it’s full of stunning photos - enough travel images to encourage you to quit your day job and head off on a distant road to somewhere.

“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries” – Aldous Huxley

The book is divided into 5 chapters and 50 drives are described in detail together with photographs covering all parts of the globe from Africa and the Middle East; across both the Americas; through historic Europe, exotic Asia and far flung Oceania.

Countries like the USA have long had a culture of great road trips many immortalised in Hollywood movies and these better known routes (think Route 66) get the most coverage - but the journeys traversing Asia are for us more inspirational as these routes definitely will be more challenging especially those that cross high mountain ranges like the famous Karakoram Highway winding its way over the Western Himalayas for 1,300 km from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan where it crosses into China. 

“No place is ever as bad as others tell you it’s going to be” – Chuck Thompson

​And there are others in Africa like crossing the Kalahari desert and the famously windy Marrakesh to Taroudant pass in Morocco snaking across the Atlas Mountains. A great deal of research has gone into this book and anyone who has the urge to explore will enjoy the maps at the start of each section. Each drive featured has a starting point, an end point, total distance covered, how best to get there and also lots of everyday lifestyle advice like what to take, when best to go, places to eat along the way and just as important these days extra websites proving further information to help plan your trip.

African and Middle East drives include:

• The self-drive Safari (Zambia)
• Crossing the Kalahari (Botswana)
• Passing over the Panorama Route (South Africa)
• Marrakesh to Taroudant (Morocco)
• Cruising Clarence Drive (South Africa)

The Americas drives include:

• The Highway to Hana in Hawaii (USA)
• The Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)
• The Pacific Coast Highway (USA)
• Crossing the Carretera Austral (Chile)
• Icefields Parkway (Canada)

Asia drives include:

• On the trail of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
• Crossing the Kathmandu Loop (Nepal)
• Hightailing from Thimphu to Gangtey (Bhutan)
• From top to toe (South Korea)
• The road from Srinagar to Manali (India)

Europe drives include:

• Black Forest High Road (Germany)
• The Wilds of Abruzzo (Italy)
• Historic Adriatic coast (Croatia)
• West coast Fjords (Norway)
• The Magic Circle (Iceland)

Oceania drives include:

• Southern Alps explorer (New Zealand)
• The Great Ocean Road (Australia)
• Northland & the Bay of Islands (New Zealand)
• Following the Captain Cook Highway (Australia)
• Alice Springs to Darwin (Australia)

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