State Route 1, California

This one thousand kilometer long highway manages to cram in everything a good road trip should as it makes it’s way along the coastline of America's third largest and most populous state. 
The highway takes in a varied coastline which consists of isolated beaches, surf havens, popular holiday resorts, offshore islands, marine reserves, dense forests, high sided cliffs, state parks, national parks, historic sites, wide gorges, fast flowing rivers, urban sprawl, iconic bridges, awe inspiring tunnels and stunning Pacific Ocean sea views.  

State Route 1 California, also known as the Pacific Highway, is a 1,055 kilometer long highway which hugs most of the Pacific Ocean coastline in the state of California in the U.S.A. 

The highway was completed in 1934 and has for years been renowned as a popular hiking and cycling route.

Today the highway forms part of the Californian Freeway and Expressway System and has been designated as a Blue Star Memorial Highway.

The highway runs concurrently with the 1,300 kilometer long, U.S Route 101 – situated between the city of Los Angeles in California and Grant’s Pass in Oregon – and links with Interstate Highways  5,10 & 280 and California State Routes 17, 20, 34, 46 & 68. 

The highway's northern terminus begins near the town of Legget in Mendocino County of northern California, renowned for being the gateway to the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and the King Range National Conservation Area.

The highway’s southern terminus is located at the popular surfing area of Dana Point located in Orange County, whose historic harbour is home to the Californian historical landmark The Pilgrim. The town also plays host to the annual Festival of Whales every March and the Tall Ships Festival every September.  

Mugu Rock, Los Gatos.
Image courtesy of Tim Pearce, wikimedia commons

  

The highway travels through the twelve Californian counties of Mendocino County, Sonoma County, Marin County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, Los Angeles County and Orange County and the major cities of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles. 

The highway also passes through thirteen protected areas, the Aliso Wood Canyons Regional Park, the Ano Nuevo State Reserve, the Bolsa Chica Ecological Park, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Gaviota State Park, the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the Los Padres National Forest, the MacKerricher State Park, the Mendocino Headlands State Park, Point Magu State Park, Russian Gulch State Park, Salt Point State Park and the Van Damme State Park. 

The highway spans twelve rivers by way of thirty two bridges. The rivers are the Albion River, Bixby Creek, the Carmel River, the Garcia River, the Gualala River, Moro Creek, the Navarro River, the Noyo River, Rocky Creek, the Russian River, the San Carpoforo River, the San Gabriel River and the Santa Ana River.  
The more interesting bridges include the Bixby Creek Bridge and Rocky Creek Bridge located in Monterrey County and the Golden Gate Bridge which spans San Francisco Bay.

  

State Route 1

The highway also travels through five tunnels, the Gaviota Tunnel located in the Gaviota State Park, the Macarthur Tunnel, which runs through the parkland known as the Presido of San Francisco, the Tom Lantos Tunnel, which bypasses the treacherous rocks of the Devil’s Slide in San Mateo County, the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica and the Sepulveda Boulevard Tunnel which runs beneath two of Los Angeles International Airport's runways.

The highway also makes it's way along several well known beach areas including Pismo Beach, Newport Beach, Capistrano Beach, Laguna Beach, Huntingdon Beach, Seal Beach, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Muir Beach, Stinson Beach and the Emma Wood's State Beach, the Westpoint Union State Beach and the Sonoma Coast State Beach.

The highway also provides access to the protected coastal area known as the Point Reyes National Seashore. 

Well known coastal bays along the route include Bolinas Bay, Carmel Bay, Half Moon Bay, Moro Bay, Monterey Bay, Newport Bay, San Fransisco Bay which is crossed by way of the Golden Gate Bridge, Santa Monica Bay, Tomales Bay and the Gulf of Santa Catalina. 

Other attractions of note along the highway’s route include Hearst Castle, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, the Guadelupe Nipoma Dunes, Bixby Creek, the Piedras Blancas Light Station and elephant seal colony, Bolinas Lagoon and the two offshore attractions of Big Creek State Marine Reserve and the McWay Rocks, both of which are located off the coast of Big Sur.  

  

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco

  

Frequent landslides and coastal erosion have been known to close various segments of the highway especially along the one hundred mile stretch which runs through Big Sur. You can check the condition of the road before you travel by ringing 800 - 427 - 7623.

Although paved throughout the highway is made up of various segments including isolated rural roads, high sided cliffs and wide urban freeways.  
In the more isolated areas be prepared for sharp hairpin bends, steep curves, overhanging ledges, high cliffs and lack of guard rails.

The area surrounding the Californian coast is renowned for it’s heavy rains and dense fog.  

Make sure to stock up on food, drink and petrol/gas as there are several stretches of highway of over forty miles long where there are no shops, cafes or petrol/gas stations. 
   

Marin County.
Image courtesy of Constantine Kulikovsky, wikimedia commons.

   

                        To check out more coastal highways, visit my page -  
                              Some of worlds must see coastal roads.  

   


                           FIND HOTELS ALONG CALIFORNIA'S STATE ROUTE 1

 

     

Some Of The World's Must See Coastal Roads

Of course I couldn't possible mention every must see, coastal road around the world on this one page, but here are ten of which I can personally vouch for. 

Iceland's Ring Road

The BR101 is a 4,828 kilometer long highway located along Brazil’s east coast linking the city of Touros in the north with the city of Sao Jose de Norte in the south. 

The highway, which is the longest in the country and known locally as the Translitoranea also forms part of the much larger Pan American Highway.

The highway passes through the twelve Brazilian states of  Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, calling at each of the twelve state’s capital cities along the way. 

This vast highway, which passes through the UNESCO World Heritage Site and World Biosphere Reserve known as the Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserve, passes through miles of tropical, sub tropical and mangrove forests full of rare species of flora and fauna.

The highway is served with seven toll booths located at the towns of Pedro Canario, Sierra, Mimosa, St Mathew, Linhares, Guarapari and Itapemirim. 

The highway is also served by the five kilometer long, Rio Niteroi Bridge, which spans the scenic Guanabar Bay, linking the city of  Rio de Janeiro with it’s southern suburb of Niteroi.  

 

The D400 Highway is a 2,057 kilometer long highway situated along the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The highway links the small coastal town of Datca, located on the Datca Peninsula of western Turkey, with the city of Essendere in eastern Turkey near it’s border with Iran.

This very scenic and often scary mountain road makes it’s way along several narrow bends, sheer drops and tight corners as it passes through Turkey’s famous coastal resorts of Icmeler, Marmaris, Dalaman, Fethiye, Kalakan, Kas, Alanya and Finike, the cities of Antalya,  Mersin, Tarsus, Adana, Gaziantep, Shanlurfa, Mardin and Hakkari and hundreds of traditional Turkish mountain villages as it makes it's way along the high sided mountain passes of these sometimes barren, sometimes pine clad, coastal cliffs. 

 Route 1 also known as the Icelandic Ring Road, is a 1,339 kilometer long ring road which encompasses the entire coastline of the island of Iceland.

The route is renowned for it’s remote lunar like landscape, surrounding volcanoes, vast glacial plains, breath taking waterfalls, rocky peninsulas and dramatic ocean vistas.

The highway, which is part paved and part gravel surface, is served by three mountain tunnels and several types of bridges, including the country’s two longest causeway bridges, and passes through several of Iceland’s coastal towns and cities, including it’s capital, Reykjavik.

Highway 99 also known as the Sea to Sky Highway and the Whistler Highway, is a 134 kilometer long scenic highway which links the border town of Surrey with the village of Cache Creek in British Columbia, Canada. 

The road travels north along the coast of the Howe Sound, alongside Horseshoe Bay through to the city of Vancouver, which is accessed by way of the 1.8 kilometer long suspension bridge over the Burrard Narrows waterway known as the Lion’s Gate Bridge, and then on through to the town of Pemberton before terminating at the village of Cache Creek. 

MA 105 is located along the Sierra Almijara Mountains of Spain’s Mediterranean coast located between the costal town of Nerja and the mountain village of Frigiliana.

This six kilometer long mountain road, which attains an ultimate elevation of 300 meters above sea level, will take you through terraces of vineyards, olive groves and avocado fields before terminating in the picturesque cobbled streets of the white washed mountain village of Frigiliana.

The MA 105 also links with the MA111 and the MA112 roads, which reach an ultimate elevation of 638 meters above sea level, and link the white washed villages of Algorroda, Competa and La Morona, both of which are also mountain roads with stunning Mediterranean Sea views. 

N 340 Is a 1,248 kilometer long highway located along most of Spain’s Mediterranean coast linking the city of Barcelona on Spain’s north east coast with the city of Cadiz on it’s south west coast.

The road passes through the coastal cities of Tarragona, Castelion, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Almeria and Malaga, the ancient towns of Alcoy, Elche and Lorca and the renowned coastal resorts of  Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Motril, Nerja, Marbella, Puerto Banus and Estepona.

This ancient road, which follows the route of the former Roman road known as the Via Augustus, also links with Spain’s Autopista AP7 and Autovia A7 highways at certain points along it’s route.  

Strada Statale 163 is a forty kilometer long coastal road which links the Italian Riviera resorts of Sorrento and Amalfi along the Sorrentine Peninsula, an area of land which separates the Bay of Naples from the Bay of Salerno located in the Tyrrenian Sea.

This winding mountain pass, which was originally carved into the coastal cliffs of the Lattari Mountains by the Romans over a thousand years ago, also passes through the picturesque mountain towns of Salerno and Positano.  
 

 

Trans- African Highway 1 (TAH 1) is an 8,636 kilometer long coastal highway located between Africa’s largest city Cairo in Egypt and the city of Dakar in Senegal.

The road follows the Mediterranean coast of North Africa through the five nations of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and the four Atlantic Ocean coast nations of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal, passing through the major cities of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, Rabat, Nouadhibou and Nouakchott along the way.

Unfortunately the border betweeen Algeria and Morocco is now closed therefore this route can not now be travelled in it’s entirity.  

State Route A1A, this 529 kilometer long highway follows the entire east coast of the state of Florida in the U.S.A, passing through twelve counties between Key West in the south of the state and Fernandina Beach on the border with the state of Georgia in the north of the state.

The route passes through some of the state’s most famous locations, such as Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and Key West.

The road is also spanned by eleven bridges and causeways, including an unusual historic auto ferry which spans the St John’s River in Jacksonville and two large causeways which span the vast Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale.

Other points of interest along the route include the vast Port Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center at Merrit Island, the Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the Anastasia State Park, the Canaveral National Seashore and the historic town of St Augustine. 

U.S Route 36, also known as the Hana Highway,  is a 109 kilometer long, scenic coastal road which has been entered onto the United States’ National Register of Historic Places. 

Situated between the villages of Hana and Kahului along the north coast of the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii, the highway is renowned for it’s six hundred narrow bends and fifty rickety bridges as it makes it’s way precariously through lush tropical rainforests passing several waterfalls, black sand beaches and the former sugar plantations of Pa’ia and Kipahulu.  
  

The Taurus Mountains, Turkey

        For the ultimate in coastal roads, visit my page - State Route 1 California.



                        FIND HOTELS ALONG THESE SCENIC COASTAL ROADS

 

Some Of The World's Must See Mountain Roads

There are hundreds of scenic mountain roads located around the world, way too many to mention on this page without sending you all to sleep.

So I have compiled a list of twelve of my particular favourites in the hope that I have mentioned a few you may not have already heard of. 

                  For a list of the world’s highest mountain passes, visit my blog page   

                                            The worlds highest navigable roads.   

The Dades Gorge, Morocco
Image courtesy of - www.flickr.com/rosino

  

The A 376 Road is a well maintained mountain road located along the Ronda Mountains of southern Spain, linking the traditional Spanish coastal town of San Pedro de Alcantara and the ancient city of Ronda in the Andalusia Region.

This 48 kilometer long, mountain pass of high sided gorges and gently sloping terraces makes it’s way to the ancient Roman built city of Ronda, located at an elevation of 750 meters above sea level, a city famed for it’s bull fighting school and the vast, El Tajo Gorge, which was formed by the rushing waters of the Guadelevan River. 

Despite being a well maintained road it does have a reputation of being dangerous, this is due to it’s many winding bends and the high number of hikers, bikers, cyclists and coaches which will invariably be lurking around each and every one of them, making it not only a dangerous drive but a slow one too, but Ronda does make it all worth while. 

The Beklemeto Pass (aka Troyan Pass) is a 50 kilometer long mountain pass which forms part of Route 35 located between Tutrakan and Koprivshtitsa, located in the Stara Planina Mountains (Balkan Mountains) of Bulgaria.

This mountain pass, which traverses the Karlovo Plain and the flat topped peak of the Midzor Mountain, reaches an ultimate elevation of 1,565 meters above sea level. 

The well maintained carriageway takes in some stunning views of the surrounding pine forests,  neighbouring, snow capped mountain peaks and several Roman ruins as it makes it’s way between the town of Troyan and the mountain village of Karnare in central Bulgaria. 

The road, which is Bulgaria’s highest navigable road, is primarilly used as the access road to the prestigious Beklemeto Ski Resort, which forms part of the scenic Central Balkan National Park.  

The Col de I’iseran is a scenic mountain pass which forms part of the D902 Road between the two French ski resorts of Val d’Isere and Bonneval Sur Arc in Savoire in south east France. 

Measuring 48 kilometers long and with an ultimate elevation of 2,770 meters above sea level, the pass is the highest navigable road located within the European Alps.

The pass, which is renowned for being part of the route of the Tour de France, makes it’s way along the Graian Mountains passing through the world renowned Espace Killy ski area and the former Olympic ski resort of Tignes.  

The Beklemeto Pass, Bulgaria

The Dades Gorge Pass in Morocco is located between the village of Boumalne du Dades, situated along the Upper River Dades Valley of the High Atlas Mountains, and the village of Msemrir, Quarzazate Province, or as far as the town of Agoudal if you happen to be travelling in a 4x4 vehicle.

This sixty kilometer long mountain pass of winding hairpin bends, kasbahs and stunning rock formations reaches an ultimate elevation of 1,500 meters above sea level.

Try and visit between May and August to avoid the muddy conditions of the Spring months or the heavy snows of it’s upper elevations during the Winter months.  

 

The Hai Van Pass is a 21 kilometer long mountain pass located along the Hai Van Peninsula of central Vietnam. 

This winding, tarmac road, which is part of the country's National Route 1, is located between the cities of Hue and Da Nong and hugs the coast of the South China Sea coast through the Annamite Mountain Range, passing through miles of mountainous rain forests, where it reaches an ultimate elevation of 496 meters above sea level.

This well travelled pass has recently been updated by the construction of the 6.28 kilometer long, Hai Van Tunnel, which was opened in 2005, which now cuts the journey time along the pass by at least one hour.

The pass was featured on the 2008 British motoring show, Top Gear Vietnam Special.   

 Icmeler – Datca Road -  This 60 kilometer long untitled mountain pass located along the east coast of Turkey’s Datca Peninsula actually forms the western most terminus of the much larger 2,057 kilometer long D400 Highway located along the entire southern coast of Turkey. 

This once narrow and dangerous mountain pass has recently been widened, allowing much easier access to the small coastal resorts of Turunc, Bozburun and Datca, located on what is known as Turkey’s Turquoise Coast, famed for it’s gulut – traditional Turkish sail boat - cruises. 

The pass, which can be accessed from the Aegean coastal resort of Icmeler along the south western most part of the Taurus Mountain Range, makes it’s way along the Mediterranean Sea coast through miles of pine forests and several traditional Turkish mountain villages, fishing harbours and ancient historical sites, forming several deep sided, hair raising sharp bends along the way.  

The Paso de las Liberatores AKA The Los Caracoles Pass

The Paso de las Liberatores is one of forty mountain passes which link Chile and Argentina across the Andes Mountains of South America. The pass links the city of Santiago in Chile by way of the country's Ruta 60 with the city of Mendoza in Argentina, the capital of Argentina's world renowned wine growing region, which is accessed by way of the country's National Route 7. 
The asphalt surfaced pass is 9.2 kilometers long and reaches an ultimate elevation of 3,200 meters above sea level between the Chilean village of Juncal and the Argentinian village of Uspallata. 
At the summit of the pass is a 3,080 meter long tunnel, which is flanked on the Argentinian side by the huge Cristo Redentor Statue, also known as the Christ the Redeemer of the Andes statue, which gives the pass it's other well known name of the Paso de Cristo Redentor. 
Because of the statue the pass is a well travelled route during the Summer months, the pass is actually impassable in the Winter due to snow, therefore despite having several hairpin bends and no safety rails the pass is actually well maintained and not really known for it's acccidents. That could also be due to the fact that the road is so steep that the many lorries and coaches which use the pass can only travel along it very slowly, giving rise to the road's other known name of the Paso de los Caracoles or Snail Pass.  


 National Route 40 – This super highway of 5,000 kilometers runs from Punta Layola in Santa Cruz to La Quiaca in Jujuy, Argentina.

The road runs parallel with the Andes Mountain Range and passes through twenty seven national parks, crosses eighteen major rivers and links with twenty seven Andean mountain passes. 

The road begins at sea level and climbs to an ultimate elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level.

  

Route 11 – A 192 kilometer long highway between Arica and Chungara – Tambo Quermado in northern Chile. The route starts at sea level along the River Lluta Valley before climbing to an ultimate elevation of 4,500 meters above sea level through the snow capped peaks of several volcanoes and scary hair pin bends, before terminating at the Lauca National Park. 

The park, which borders the Sajamo National Park of Bolivia, contains several lakes, volcanic calderas, lava fields and archaeological sites and is surrounded by the majestic volcanoes of the Chile / Bolivia border.  
  

Tongtian Avenue as seen from the cableway

  

The Sognefjellsvegen is a 110 kilometer long National Tourist Route located in Norway. The pass, which forms part of the 248 kilometer long, National Route 55 / Riksveg 55, reaches an ultimate elevation of 1,434 meters at the point of a high plateau known as Fantesteinen, making the pass the highest naviable road in Scandinavia. 

The pass gets it’s almost unpronouncable name from one of the mountains which it crosses, the Sognefjell Mountain, although the pass actually crosses five of Norway’s mountains, the other four being the Breheimen, the Galdhopiggen, the Hurrungane and the Jotunheimen.

This well maintained scenic pass, which links the villages of Lom in Oppland with Gaupne in Sogn og Fjordane, is used as an access road to seven alpine villages and the popular tourist destinations of Jotunheimen National Park, Breheimen National Park, Lake Bovertunvatnet, Lake Hervavatnet and Lake Prestesteinsvatnet.

The pass is closed during the months of November through to May owing to snow making it impassable.  

  

The Stelvio Pass is a 75 kilometer long mountain pass which links the village of Stilfs in Southern Tyrol with the small town of Bormio in Sondrio, Italy.

This well travelled pass, famed for being part of the route of the Giro d’Italia cycle race, forms part of the 224 kilometer long, Strada Statale 38, which links the the town of Piantedo with the city of Bolzano.

The pass includes forty eight hairpin bends and reaches an ultimate elevation of 2,757 meters above sea level as it snakes it's way along the lush, green, alpine slopes of the Ortler Alps of northern Italy.  

  

Tongtian Avenue, also known as the Heaven Linking Avenue, is an eleven kilometer long mountain pass located along Tianmen Mountain located in the Tianmen Mountain National Park in China. 
The road consists of ninety nine hairpin bends and makes it's way to an ultimate elevation of 1,500 meters above sea level. 
The road, which is located eight kilmeters from the city of Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, gives visitors access to the summit of Tianmen Mountain, the unique Tianmen Cave, the Tianmen Temple, the world's largest cableway and miles of surrounding forestry. 
At the end of the avenue visitors must make their way up to the top of the mount on foot by way of a glass bottomed footpath. 

The Stelvio Pass, Italy
Image courtesy of - www.flickr.com/79653482

              For a list of the world’s highest mountain passes, visit my blog page   
                                    The worlds highest navigable roads.    

The World's Must Travel Causeways & Road Bridges

For those of you that love to couple your road trip with the wonders of modern engineering here is a list of seventeen of the world’s must travel causeways and bridges.  
To find international causeways and bridges, visit my page - international friendship bridges.

  

Image courtesy of  - www.flickr.com/42834622@N00

 

Atlantic Ocean Road - Atlanterhausvegen - (shown above) is located along part of Norway’s Rv 64 highway located between the Norwegian cities of Molde and Kristiansund in More og Romsdal, where it links an archipelago of several small islands situated in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 8.3 kilometer long road is spanned by eight bridges and a 5,727 meter long tunnel.    

Jiazhou Bay Bridge – Is a 26.7 kilometer long over sea, suspension and cable stayed bridge, supported by five thousand pillars, located between the Chinese city of Quangdao and Huangdao Island located in Shandong Province of eastern China.    

Lake Pontchatrain Causeway – Is a 38 kilometer long causeway which incorporates the world’s longest bridge which spans water.

This mega causeway, located in the American state of Louisiana, links the New Orleans suburb of Metrarie with the city of Mandeville and is part of the highway known as Causeway Boulevard.

The four lane causeway, which crosses the 1,600 square kilometer Lake Pontchatrain, located between the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf of Mexico, consists of two low level, trestle bridges with a mid section bascule. 

 

Lion’s Gate Bridge is a 1.8 kilometer long suspension bridge which spans the Burrard Narrows located in the city of Vancouver in Canada. The bridge, which is suspended sixty one meters above the water, links the city with it’s north shore suburbs and forms part of State Highway 99.  

Lion's Gate Bridge, Vancouver, Canada
Image courtesy of - en.wikipedia.org/User:Tawker

Manchac Swamp Bridge is a  36.69 kilometer wide, twin trestle bridge which links St John The Baptist Parish with Tangipahoa Parish across the waterway known as the Manchac Swamp in Louisiana, U.S.A. 

The bridge is part of the one and a half thousand kilometer long, Interstate Highway 55, located between Chicago and St Louis, of which just one hundred and five kilometers traverses through the state of Louisiana. 

Millau Viaduct -  Located at the end of the A75 Autoroute, this 2,460 meter wide cable stayed bridge spans the River Tarn Valley in Millau Creissels in southern France at a height of 270 meters above the valley floor. 

 

The Rajiv Ghandi Seaway is an eight lane highway located along a 5,600 meter long cable stayed bridge located in India’s largest city of Mumbai.

The  bridge links the city’s western suburb of Bandra with the city’s southern suburb of Worli across the scenic Mahin Bay, which is an arm of the Arabian Sea. 

The bridge has a fixed toll of 55 rupees for cars and 110 rupees for the largest of commercial lorries.   

Rio Niteroi Bridge Is a 13.27 kilometer long bridge which spans Guanabar Bay linking the city of Rio de Janeiro with the city of Niteroi in Brazil. 

The bridge is an eight lane, box girder, prestressed concrete bridge whose official title is the President Costa e Silva Bridge. 

The bridge is located near the southern most terminus of Brazil’s longest highway, the 4,800 kilometer long, Federal Highway BR 101.  

Sidu River Bridge, Hubei Province, China

 The SP160 Road also known as the Rodovia dos Imigrantes, is a 55 kilometer long highway which consists of seven bridges, eleven tunnels and forty four viaducts.

This ultra modern highway makes it’s way along Brazil’s south east coast between the city of Sao Paulo and the coastal resort of Praia Grande through the lush green rain forests of the Serra Do Mar cliffs.  

 

The Sheik Khalifa bin Salman Bridge  is an arch bridge located along part of the 2.5 kilometer long, Manama – Muharraq Causeway, located in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

The causeway is one of three Gulf causeways which link Bahrain’s capital city, Manama, with the island state’s outlying islands. 

There are three bridges which link the islands of Macau and Taipa situated on the Pearl River Delta off China’s southern coast, they are -

The 2.2 kilometer wide Sai Van Bridge.

The 2.5 kilometer wide, Ponte Governado Nobre de Caravalho. 

The 4.7 kilometer wide, Ponte de Amizada or Friendship Bridge.   

  

 The Severn Second Crossing is two bridges in one.This 3.1 mile long segmented beam bridge, with a cable stayed bridge located in the centre, is the British Isles’ longest bridge and is located between the Welsh town of Sudbrook in Monmouthshire and Severn Beach in Gloucestershire, England. 

The bridge spans the Mouth of the United Kingdom’s longest river, the River Severn, which is situated on the Bristol Channel, a vast stretch of water which divides England and Wales.  

The Vasco de Gama Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal

Seven Mile Bridge, as it names suggests, is a seven mile long (10.93 km) causeway which connects Knights Key with Little Duck Key, in the Florida Keys, across the Gulf of Mexico. 

The roadway, which is part of the much larger, Overseas Highway network, is a major tourist attraction and one of the most photographed causeways in the world. 

 The Sidu River Bridge is a 1,222 meter wide, suspension bridge which spans the Sidu Valley located in Badong County of Hubei Province in China.

The bridge, which forms part of the G50 Huyu Expressway located in north east China, crosses the lush green slopes of the Qionglai, Longmen and Daba Mountains, 496 meters above the valley floor, making it the highest suspension bridge in the world.

The Strelasund Crossing is a series of bridges and viaducts which links the city of Stralsund on the German mainland with Rugen Island in the Baltic Sea, across the 25 kilometer long, Strela Sound.

The crossing, which consists of a series of causeways, two embankments, one viaduct and five bridges, forms the northern teminus of the Bundestrasse 96 highway, which also forms part of the European Route E22.

 

The Vasco de Gama Bridge is a cable stayed bridge which spans the River Tagus estuary, situated between the centre of Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon and it’s southernmost suburb, Almada.

The 17.2 kilometer long bridge, which consists of 11.5 kilometers of viaducts, carries a six laned carriageway.

The Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai Pune Expressway is India’s first six lane expressway. The super modern highway, which was opened in 2002, is 93 kilometers long and links the city of Mumbai, at Panvel, with the industrial city of Pune.

The highway makes it’s way through the scenic Sahyadri Mountains, also known as the Western Ghats, and consists of five interchanges located at Kon, Chowk, Khalapur, Kusgaon and Talegaon and five road tunnels which go by the names of Bhatan, Madap, Adoshi, Khandala and Kamshet, the longest of which is the pair of tunnels known as the Bhatan Tunnels, both of which are just over one thousand meters long. 

The highway has a fixed toll of 165 rupees for cars and 1,750 rupees for the largest of commercial lorries.

The toll booths are located at Khalapur for traffic travelling to Pune and at Talegaon for traffic travelling to Mumbai.  

The Rodovia dos Imigrantes, Brazil

                           To find international causeways and bridges, visit my page -  
                                            international friendship bridges.


               FIND HOTELS NEAR THE WORLD'S MUST TRAVEL CAUSEWAYS
         

The World's Worst Cities For Driving

As most road trips will invariably incorporate a city location I thought it might be useful to let you know which cities around the world have the worst traffic congestion and which cities have implemented congestion penalties in order to try and alleviate the problems.

You don't want to find yourself amongst this lot!

Over the years certain cities have become notorious, not only for their traffic congestion, but for the awful layout of their road systems and the driving etiquette, or lack of it, of local road users. Several driving magazines have listed the cities below as the world's worst cities to drive in.

Athens - Greece.
Beijing - China.
Manilla - Philippines.
Mumbai - India.
Orlando - Florida - USA.
Paris - France.
Rome - Italy.
Seoul - South Korea.
Toronto - Canada
Ulan Bator - Mongolia
                                                                                   

All cities are busy, especially during rush hour, but there are certain cities which have become notorious for their unrelenting traffic congestion and legendary traffic jams. Below is a list of the twelve cities around the world which are renowned for having the world's longest, continuous traffic jams;

Bangkok - Thailand
Cairo - Egypt
Chicago - Illinois - USA
Delhi - India
Jakarta - Indonesia
Johannesburg - South Africa
London - England
Los Angeles - California - USA
Mexico City - Mexico
Moscow - Russian Federation
New York City - New York State - USA
Sao Paulo - Brazil



There are various forms of city congestion charges around the world which have been introduced in order to cut down on congestion and pollution.
Congestion zones can apply to part of or all of a city and may be in place at all times or just at certain times of the day.
Information and payment advice for these charges can be made before you travel by visiting any of the various city's tourist websites.
The various cities which run these types of schemes are;

Bergen - Norway
Delhi - India
Florence - Italy
Genoa - Italy
London - England
Milan - Italy
Oslo - Norway
Pisa - Italy
Rome - Italy
Shanghai - China
Singapore - Malaysia
Stockholm - Sweden
Trondheim - Norway
Valletta - Malta
 

Road Space Rationing also known as No Drive Days, which are based on resident license plate numbers, have been implemented in some cities around the world. To find out how these systems affect visitors please visit the relevant city's tourist website.
The cities which have implemented these types of schemes are;

Athens - Greece
Bogota - Colombia.
Countrywide - Honduras.
La Paz - Bolivia.
Mexico City - Mexico.
Quito - Ecuador.
Sao Paulo - Brazil.
San Jose - Costa Rica.
Santiago - Chile.

London's Congestion Zone Logo

There are even some places around the world where driving has been completely banned, to check out the various locations which have been made into traffic free zones visit -

                                          Traffic free locations around the world.


The best way to travel around most of the world’s cities is by way of a metro or subway system. To find information about all the world's city metro/subway systems, visit -  

                                                   Metro systems of the world.



                         
                                  FIND HOTELS IN ANY CITY  IN THE WORLD
               

The World's Longest Highways

Considering the ultimate in road trips? Check out some of the world's longest highways for inspiration.

Map of the route of the Pan American Highway

1 – The Pan American Highway – At 47,958 kilometers in length the Pan American Highway, which runs from Prudhoe Bay in northern Canada to Ushuaia on the southern most tip of Argentina, is the world’s longest inter connecting, international highway. The highway connects every counry on the American continent - Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Educdor, Peru, Chile and Argentina - with just a one hundred kilometer break located along the Darien Gap, located between the countries of Panama and Colombia, an area which links central America with South America.


 2 – Highway 1, Australia –  Is a 14,500 kilometer long ring road which circumnavigates the whole of the Australian continent, calling at all states and passing through all state capitals. The highway is the longest inter-connecting, national highway system in the world, incorporating nineteen national and state highways.


3 - The Trans Siberian Highway- Is an eleven thousand kilometer east/west highway system situated between the city of St Petersburg in north west Russia and Vladivostock on Russia’s Pacific Ocean coast. The highway system incorporates the seven Russian federal highways of the-
M10 – Between St. Petersburg and Moscow - 664 km
M5 – Between Moscow and Chelyabinsk - 1,880 km
M51 – Between Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk - 1,528 km
M53 – Between Novosibirsk and Irkutsk - 1,860 km
M55 – Between Irkutsk and Chita - 1,113 km
M58 – AKA The Amur Highway, between Chita and Khabarovsk - 2,100 km
M60 – AKA The Ussuri Highway, between Khabarovsk and Vladivostok - 760 km


4 –The Trans-African Highway 3 (TAH 3) –  Is a 10,808 kilometer north/south highway system linking Libya’s capital city, Tripoli, on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa, with Cape Town on South Africa’s Atlantic Coast in the very south of the continent.
The route takes in the nine African nations of Libya, Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Not all of the route is paved.


5 –The Trans Canada Highway – This 8,030 kilometer east/west highway is situated in southern Canada located between St John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador and Victoria in British Columbia.
The highway incorporates twenty five provincial highways and travels through all ten of Canada’s provinces (but not it’s territories) as it makes it’s way between the country’s Atlantic Ocean coast on it’s eastern seaboard and it’s Pacific Ocean to the west.
In 2012 the Trans Canada Highway became the world’s longest highway to incorporate electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, located at strategic points along it’s entire route.


6 – E30 – Also known as European Route 30, is a 5,800 kilometer east/west, international highway which runs from the city of Cork in southern Ireland to Russia’s capital city, Moscow.
The highway incorporates twenty three national highways, two ferry crossings and travels through the seven countries of the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus and the Russian Federation.
The highway is signposted as the E30 each country except Great Britain.
The highway’s ferry crossings are situated between Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland and Fishguard in Wales and Felixstowe in England and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.


7– National Highway G010, China – Also known as the Tongsan Highway, is a 5,700 kilometer  north/south highway which is the longest road in China. The highway travels through nine Chinese provinces between the city of Tongjiang located in China’s most north easterly province of Heilgjiang and the city of Sanya located in China’s most south easterly located province of Hainan.


8- US Route 20 – This 5,415 kilometers long highway which link with twelve interstate highways and travels through ten US states is the United States’s longest highway. The highway links the city of Newport in Oregon, located on America’s west coast with the city of Boston in Massachusettes located on America’s east coast.


9– U.S Route 6 – Also known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, this  5,159 kilometer long east/west highway links with ten interstate highways and travels through eleven U.S states linking the city of Bishop in California on America’s west coast with the city of Provincetown in Massachusettes on America’s east coast.


10- National Route 40, Argentina – This 5,000 kilometer long highway runs from Punta Layola in Santa Cruz to La Quiaca in Jujuy, Argentina. The road runs parallel with the Andes Mountain Range and passes through twenty seven national parks, crosses eighteen major rivers and links with twenty seven Andean mountain passes.  The road begins at sea level and climbs to an ultimate elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level.

State Highway 1, New Zealand

11– Interstate 90, USA – This 4,990 kilometer long east/west highway which links with thirteen interstate highways and travels through ten US states, links the city of Seattle in Washington on America’s west coast with the city of Boston in Massachusettes on America’s east coast.


 12 – The Rodovia Governador Mario Covas, Brazil – Also known as the BR-101, is a north/south highway measuring 4,800 kilometers in length which links the city of Touros on Brazil’s north coast with the city of Sao Jose de Norte on it’s south coast.  The highway passes through the twelve Brazilian states of  Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, linking each of the twelve state’s capital cities along with several coastal villages, port towns and beach resorts.  The highway is also served by the five kilometer long, Rio Niteroi Bridge, which spans the scenic Guanabar Bay, linking the city of  Rio de Janeiro with it’s suburb of Niteroi.


13 – Interstate 80, USA – This  4,666 kilometer long east/west highway which links with twelve interstate highways, one state highway and travels through nine US states, links the city of San Francisco in California, situated on America’s west coast, with the city of Teaneck in New Jersey, located on America’s east coast.


14 - Trans African Highway 2 (TAH2) –  Also known as the Trans Saharan Highway, this 4,500 kilometer long highway, which travels through a large swathe of sub Saharan Africa, links the Mediterranean coastal city of Algiers in Algeria with the Atlantic Ocean port city of Lagos in Nigeria. The highway, which travels through a vast area of the Sahara Desert, is classified as a good road, ninety five per cent of which is paved.


15– Interstate 10, USA – This 3,959 kilometer long east/ west highway, which links with eleven interstate highways and travels through six US states, links the city of Santa Monica in California on America’s west coast with the city of Jacksonville in Florida on America’s east coast.


 16 – The Will Rogers Highway, USA – Better known as Route 66 is a 3,945 kilometer long, historic highway system which begins life in the city of Chicago and travels in a southerly direction through the five states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, before veering in a westerly direction through the three states of New Mexico, Arizona and California, where it terminates in the coastal city of Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California.


17 – Interstate 95, USA – This 3,089 kilometer long east coast, north/south highway, which links with seven interstate highways and one state highway, travels through nine US states linking the city of Miami in Florida with the town of Houlton, located on the US/Canada border, in the state of Maine.


18 - The Grand Trunk Road – Is a 2,500 kilometer long highway system which links the city of Kabul in Afghanistan with the city of Chittagong in Bangladesh.The highway travels through the four countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, passing through the cities of Peshwar in Pakistan, Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, Kabul in Afghanistan, and Lahore, Delhi, Benares and Calcutta in India and incorpoarates six national highways.


19 - D400 Highway, Turkey – This 2,057 kilometer east/west highway is situated along southern Turkey’s Mediterranean coast located along the Taurus Mountains. The highway links the small coastal town of Datca, located on the southernmost tip of the Datca Peninsula of western Turkey, with the city of Essendere in eastern Turkey, located near it’s border with Iran.


 20 - State Highway 1, New Zealand – This 2,047 kilometer north/south highway links both the north and south islands of New Zealand, from the very northern most point of the North Island at Cape Reinga on the Aupouri Peninsula, all the way through to Stirling Point, on the southern most point of the South Island.
The highway passes through the major New Zealand cities of Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill and incorporates a ferry crossing located between the city of Wellington on the North Island and the town of Picton on the South Island.

The Trans African Highways Network

And, just in case you were wondering, the countries with the the world’s longest highway networks are the USA with 6.4 million kilometers, India with 3.3 million kilometers, China with 1.9 million kilometers,  Brazil with 1.7 million kilometers and Japan with 1.1 million kilometers.
Despite Russia being the largest country in the world, the country only has around 755,000 kilometers of paved roads.
The country with the densest national road network is the Netherlands, a country which covers an area of just 41,543 square kilometers which is served by a 135,470 kilometer long national road network.



                       FIND HOTELS ALONG THE WORLD'S LONGEST HIGHWAYS