A39 Somerset-Devon-Cornwall: Minehead to Bude
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This is my favourite drive in my area. Start and finish where you like, but the interesting bit starts at Minehead on the north coast of Somerset, keeping to the coast for about 30 miles, with spectacular views of the cliffs, the sea and the south Welsh coast opposite, as well as Exmoor on your left.
Soon after Minehead comes the king of hills, Porlock Hill, the steepest road gradient in the UK - 1 in 4. It's hard to imagine but the majority of the hill can only be done in 1st gear, it's that steep! Even with a good-performance car you can only comfortably achieve 2nd near the top of the hill. One factor in this is that there is no run-up to this hill as there is a hairpin bend right before it. When you're driving up it you wonder how on earth your car stays on the road and doesn't fall off as it seems at that moment like almost 90 degrees and you'll end up in Australia!
Then the road continues into Devon, along the coast until Lynton and Lymouth. The speed limit is 60 all the way, but rarely can that be achieved as there are regular steep bits of about 1 in 6 and it is quite bendy. There are wonderful views of both the sea to the right and of the high rolling hills of Exmoor to the left.
After Lynton the road goes inland towards Barnstaple. Here the road is quite narrow, and there are regular, extreme, hairpin bends. Between 10 and 15mph is the absolute limit at which you can get around lots of them, trust me I've scared myself when I was in a rush to get home along there once! If you misjudge a corner badly enough there's a chance you might fall a good 50 metres into the forested ravine down the side of the road.
Between Barnstaple and Bideford the road is a large, wide, straight, flat, main road, with little or nothing of interest. But it is only a short 8-mile stretch before you get to the interesting bit again.
Then comes the final stretch, the 28 miles between Bideford and Bude, going into Cornwall. For about 3 miles out of Bideford the road remains large and straight, but after the village of Fairy Cross, it again becomes fairly small, though admittedly not with the challenge of the stretch before Barnstaple. There are couple of big hills that need unexpectedly low gears, and at times it is extremely narrow and even with a standard car you have to slow down to pass larger vehicles. It passes through some pretty villages and there are regular views of the ocean and nearby Lundy Island.
If you're going to Cornwall or north Devon and fancy a change from the M5, I'd highly recommend leaving at the Minehead exit and taking a look - not only for the wonderful scenery and the fun of knowing you've been up the steepest hill in the country - but also it is a real driving challenge that will test even the more exprienced drivers and you will feel satisfied with yourself and deserve a pat on the back if you manage the whole stretch without making the tiniest of misjudgements. And if you do make a misjudgement it will only make you a better driver afterwards.
VERY approximate times: (bear in mind it's one-lane each way the whole way so if you are caught behind someone the times could vary greatly)
Minehead to Lynton = 45 mins
Lynton to Barnstaple = 40 mins
Barnstaple to Bideford = 10 mins
Bideford to Bude = 35 mins
