DRIVING • October 2022

Five epic autumn drives

The cinematic golds and scarlets of autumn are made for road trips. To see the best of the changing seasons, settle down behind the wheel and follow these colourful routes that take in valleys, villages and even volcanoes

Sperrin Mountains, Northern Ireland

An hour’s drive from Belfast, the Sperrins are Northern Ireland’s largest and least congested mountain range. Four routes – north, central, east and south – offer wild, off-the-grid scenery featuring ice-carved valleys, heather-dappled moors and mysterious megalithic sites such as the Beaghmore Stone Circles. The five-mile driving trail at Gortin Glen Forest has ‘vista parks’ for vehicles to pull over for snaps. Look out for the autumn-ripe red berries of the rowan tree – in Celtic mythology, the fiery colour is said to protect from witches.

Pit stop at…
OM Dark Sky Park & Observatory. The bonus of darkening autumn nights is the phenomenal stargazing here at the world’s 78th Dark Sky Park (the 77th is in the Grand Canyon, no less).

The Catalan Pyrenees, Spain

In the autumn, when the sky is still Mediterranean blue and leaves glow like embers, head north from Barcelona towards the Catalan Pyrenees and have lunch in the ancient town of Vic. Afterwards, visit Ripoll’s Benedictine monastery before exploring the natural park of La Garrotxa with its 40 extinct volcanoes. Then loop back to Barcelona via Montseny Natural Park and its mediaeval villages. It’s a lot for one day (around six hours’ driving), but a perfect low-season weekender.

Pit stop at…
Turó de l’Home, Montseny’s highest point. The road (which is paved, but steep and narrow) almost reaches the peak. Walk the final stretch: on a clear autumn day, you’ll spot Mallorca.

Kancamagus Scenic Byway, New Hampshire, USA

Two hours from Boston airport, The Kanc, as it’s known, is New Hampshire’s best route for admiring autumn foliage. Thank maple trees, which provide colours as moreish as the syrup, and the wilderness backdrop of the White Mountains. To prolong your colour exposure (The Kanc is only 34.5 miles long), continue on to Vermont’s Route 100 – all picturesque villages, barns and bridges – back down towards Boston. Leaves usually start changing colour in mid-September until the end of October – Vermont Vacation’s Foliage Forecaster offers email updates on where the best colour is.

Pit stop at…
Loon Mountain’s Gondola Skyride. New Hampshire’s longest gondola is a slight detour, but worth it to admire the gilded blanket of foliage below.

Grand Tour, Switzerland

There are many reasons why Switzerland is a joy to drive through in autumn. Fields turn golden, bushes glow red, larch trees beam bright yellow and an icing-sugar sprinkle of snow dusts mountain peaks. Plus, Swiss roads are really, really good fun. The Grand Tour features the best of them – a whopping 1,000-mile circuit, accessed via Zürich or Geneva airports, that’s blessed with beauty at every bend. With the Swiss being the Swiss, logistics are effortless, too, with crystal-clear signposting and charging points for electric cars.

Pit stop at…
Hotel Belvédère Rhonegletscher on the Furka Pass, one of the route’s megastar hairpin stretches – made famous by Sean Connery’s Aston Martin in Goldfinger. The hotel closed in 2016, but its Wes Anderson-esque exterior makes for an enviable photo op.

Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Few places do autumn drama like Arizona, where sheer-edged canyons sit beside deserts and highlighter-yellow trees. From Phoenix Sky Harbour airport, head north to Oak Creek Canyon. The tree colours go wild from mid-October – for the boldest, take route 89A between Flagstaff and Sedona, where velvet ash, sycamore and cottonwood work their magic. Travelling later? No problem. By the end of November, colours are still found in the state’s lower-lying and more southerly areas such as the Sonoran Desert. It’s catnip for nature photographers.

Pit stop at…
Arizona’s largest botanical garden, Boyce Thompson Arboretum. The 135 acres(!) of plants span everything from flowering cacti to a desert rose garden.

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