With a starting point just three hours from London — far closer than Cornwall, or the Lake District — the northern reaches of France provide a dose of road trip exotica that can be tackled in as little as a long weekend.
For hungry, and thirsty, travellers, few Euro road trips can beat one through Spanish Basque Country: home of silky Rioja wine, smoky parrilla barbecue, moreish local tapas and more than 20 Michelin-starred restaurants.
Begin in gateway Bilbao, with its grand riverside Ribera Market, striking out to fishing village Getaria and onwards to resort town San Sebastián, where the tangle of old town streets buzzes with gourmet pintxos (tapas) bars and Michelin-starred haunts.
Snaking through some of the most divine West Country landscapes, it sews up the pastoral outskirts of Bath, the fringes of the Mendips, the pony-studded wilds of Exmoor and the dramatic granite cliffscapes of Hartland peninsula, before plunging down through west and central Cornwall to the harbour of Falmouth.
Making your way along the coast from Calais to Cherbourg, you can stop off at pretty centres like Boulogne-sur-Mer, Honfleur, Deauville and Barfleur to scoff ultra-fresh seafood towers, admire Belle-Époque architecture and dip your toes in the Atlantic surf off of golden beaches.
