BA - The Club - The world’s twistiest epic drives

Stelvio Pass, Italy

Championed by Top Gear as one of the world’s ‘Greatest Drivers’ Roads’, this automotive mecca draws thousands of drivers and bikers to its slopes each spring as soon as the winter snows have melted. Climbing through the pine forest above Prato, 48 hairpin bends weave their way to 9,045ft and the Stelvio Pass, the Alps’ third highest road. After pausing for cappuccinos at the summit café, overlooking the spectacular Ortler glacier, enjoy a further 28 switchbacks and several rock tunnels on the southerly decent to Bormio.
Motion sickness top tip: A long soak in Bormio’s famous thermal baths is a good way to unwind after this alpine rollercoaster.

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Lombard Street, San Francisco, USA

Measuring only 3.7 miles in length, and covering one city block, Lombard Street proudly claims to be the ‘world’s most crooked street’. Built in 1922, it was designed to help less-powerful pre-war automobiles ascend the 27 per cent inclines of San Francisco’s Russian Hill district by snaking its way up eight switchbacks. Today, Lombard Street is an iconic part of the San Fran cityscape, starring in everything from Steve McQueen’s Bullitt to episodes of The Simpsons, and hosting up to 350 tourist vehicles per hour at peak times.
Motion sickness top tip: Fortunately, ‘the world’s most crooked street’ is pretty short and has a strict speed limit of just 5mph.

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Irohazaka Winding Road, Japan

If you’ve ever wanted to learn Japanese, then a drive along this 25-mile mountain road offers an unusual tutorial, with each of its 48 hard-banked curves assigned a symbol from the ancient hiragana alphabet. Once revered as a Buddhist pilgrims’ route, Irohazaka Winding Road is better known today as the birthplace of the Japanese drift car scene. Spectacular views await at the Akechidaira Plateau near the summit, especially in the autumn when the forests below transform into a riotous patchwork of colour.
Motion sickness top tip: Pack ginger snaps. Generations of Japanese herbalists have prescribed ginger root in all its forms to settle the bellies of nauseous travellers.

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Los Caracoles Pass, Chile/Argentina

Linking the Chilean capital of Santiago with the Mendoza region of Argentina, Paso de Los Caracoles translates into English as ‘Snail’s Pass’ on account of the 29 savage hairpins traffic has to crawl up to reach the international border at 10,105 feet. The crossing into Argentina is marked by a huge statue of Christ the Redeemer, offering some comfort to nervous drivers about to begin the long and steep serpentine decent. Frequently appearing in top ten lists of the world’s most dangerous roads, this is not a trip for the faint of heart.
Motion sickness top tip: A good slug of Amargo Obrero (a popular Argentinian liquorice liqueur) should help to calm the jangled nerves and queasy stomachs, of drivers who have tackled one of the Andes’ most notorious mountain passes.

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Tizi n’Tichka Pass, Morocco

Connecting the historic walled city of Marrakesh to the desert town of Ouarzazate, the Tizi n’Tichka Pass (meaning ‘Difficult Path’) follows an ancient Berber caravan route through the High Atlas Mountains. After leaving the green agricultural plains, the road rises steeply on a wide asphalt road. But as the miles pass, the traffic thins, roads narrow and the landscape transforms to a sun-parched khaki, as more than 100 sweeping bends wind you ever upwards towards the highest mountain pass in North Africa.
Motion sickness top tip: Don’t look down, keep your eye on the horizon, and keep the aircon on full blast as you descend into the world’s largest desert.

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