The 20 Best Coastal Drives

The Viking Trail stretches over 489 km from Deer Lake to St Anthony in Newfoundland, covering most of the west coast of the Great Northern Peninsula. Attractions along the way include whales, icebergs, Gros Morne National Park and the L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site.

The West Coast (Sooke) Highway, British Columbia Highway 14, stretches over 103 km from Langford just outside Victoria to Port Renfrew. It winds along Vancouver Island’s southern coast, offering stunning views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

New Brunswick Route 114 covers just over 137 km from Moncton, along the west bank of the Petitcodiac River and the Bay of Fundy to Alma, where it heads inland through Fundy National Park to Sussex Corner. A popular attraction along the way is the Hopewell Rocks.

Covering the 435 km between Shediac to Campbellton, New Brunswick Route 11 follows the province’s coastline and passes through seaside villages with the country’s warmest saltwater beaches for most of the way. At Bathurst, you can get onto Route 134 for the stretch to Campbellton if you want to stay right on the coastline.

The 298 km Cabot Trail loops around most of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. It follows the rugged coastline to the east and west and passes through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park to the north.

Quebec’s Whale Route takes you about 800 km from Tadoussac to Blanc-Sablon, following the coastline of the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s named for the 13 species of whale that you can see in these waters.

The 227 km stretch of Ontario Highway 17 between Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa makes up about half of the loop known as the Grand Algoma Drive. It’s especially popular with motorcyclists and follows the coastline of Lake Superior, passing through Lake Superior Provincial Park.

Prince Edward Island’s Central Coastal Drive forms a loop of 253 km, starting in Charlottetown. The southern portion takes you past the province’s red sand beaches and the Confederation Bridge to Summerside, while the northern portion includes several attractions related to Anne of Green Gables.

The Oregon Coast Highway, U.S. Route 101, stretches over 585 km from the California state line to the Washington state line. Along the way, you’ll find quaint beach towns, surf spots, bridges, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and Astoria, home of The Goonies.

Stretching from Orange County to Mendocino County, California State Route 1 covers 1,055 km of California’s coastline. It’s a major thoroughfare through Los Angeles and San Francisco, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and includes places like Malibu, Santa Barbara and Big Sur along the way.

Pro tip: Be sure to check current conditions and updates on any road closures before heading out.

The Michigan section of U.S. Highway 31 follows the western shore of Michigan’s mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula for just under 574 km from Bertrand Township to Mackinaw City. For much of the way, you have views of Lake Michigan and the farmland that has made Michigan a foodie paradise.

The Old King’s Highway, Massachusetts Route 6A, takes you about 100 km from Bourne to Provincetown. For some sections it joins the Mid-Cape Highway or U.S. Route 6 along the centre of Cape Cod but it also passes historical towns, beaches and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The 44 km stretch from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Ocean City, Maryland runs along the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula. It takes you through Delaware’s beach towns and across narrow strips of land such as Fenwick Island.

The Outer Banks National Scenic Byway forms part of North Carolina Highway 12 and covers the 230 km from Whalebone Junction to Beaufort. It joins the Outer Banks barrier islands and peninsulas, includes two ferry rides and passes wildlife refuges, lighthouses and Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright Brothers made their historic flight.

The Overseas Highway is the 182 km stretch of U.S. Route 1 that connects the Florida Keys. Much of the highway is made up of a series of bridges that, as the highway’s name suggests, take you across nothing more than open ocean.

The 78 km from Anchorage to Portage in Alaska is the part of the Seward Highway that follows the northern shore of the Turnagain Arm. It takes you past the Chugach National Forest and the snow-capped Kenai Mountains.

Named for the balsam trees growing here, El Salvador’s Costa del Bálsamo stretches over about 90 km from the gritty port city of La Libertad westwards to the fishing village of Los Cóbanos. The main road, known as the Carretera del Litoral, takes you past popular surf towns such as El Tunco and El Zonte.

The 31 km between Sorrento and Amalfi and passing through Positano is a curvy road that begs to be driven in a sports car with the top down. Originally built by the Romans, the Strada Statale 163 or Amalfi Drive gives you dramatic cliffs with the blue Tyrrhenian Sea below you.

The Atlantic Ocean Road is only 8.3 km long but is by far one of the world’s most spectacular and heart-stopping drives. It connects the island of Averøy with Eide on the Norwegian mainland and includes eight bridges, among them the very scary Storseisundet Bridge.

Australia’s Great Ocean Road is the perfect excuse to splurge on a ticket to Oz. Covering the 244 km between Torquay and Allansford in Victoria, it was built after World War I by returned soldiers, dedicated to their comrades killed in the War and is the largest war memorial in the world.