The UK’s top winter road trips to try in 2025

Staycations continue to remain a popular holiday choice for Brits looking to spend time with their friends and family – and according to Visit England, 80% of people intend to take an overnight domestic trip in 2025.

For lots of people, a road trip is the ultimate way to explore the UK, giving you the chance to put on your favourite Spotify playlist and drive along scenic locations, stopping wherever you feel, to take plenty of snaps before heading off to your next destination.

While you’ve likely seen lots of films depicting road trips along the sun-soaked Route 66 overseas in America, back here in the UK there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t also enjoy travelling across the region. With plenty of sweeping scenery, dramatic coastlines and rugged landscapes to enjoy, there’s a certain charm to hitting the road on home soil, even when the weather is cold.

If you’re planning to pack your bags and enjoy a winter road trip this year, you’ll likely have a few destinations in mind – but we crunched the data to learn where the hidden gems lie.

The UK's top winter road trips.

To find out the UK’s top winter road trips, we found the routes that were searched for the most online, and cross-referenced this with hashtag data from Instagram and TikTok to create a league table.

Scotland’s NC500, or the North Coast 500, ranked first, topping the charts for Google searches and social media mentions. This isn’t surprising, with the 516-mile route featuring breathtaking moments at every stop. Jaw-dropping mountains, quaint villages to explore and dramatic coastlines are peppered along this stunning drive, which starts and finishes at Inverness and also takes you to John o’Groats, the most northern point in mainland Britain. This was followed by Snake Pass, a historic route in the Peak District – though a recent landslip could put the road’s future at risk. Ireland’s Causeway Coastal Route came third, and while it surprisingly didn’t feature top for Google searches, its impressive social media hashtags on the picturesque route ensured it did well.

Black Mountain Road, otherwise known as ‘Top Gear Road’ or more formally, the A4069, came sixth overall. Despite the sweeping green road in Carmarthenshire, Wales, featuring on the popular motoring TV show Top Gear, #topgearroad only featured 500 times on Instagram, with #blackmountainpass featuring 1,000 times.

The Northumberland Coastal Route came tenth overall, ranking lowest on our league table. But, with the region boasting more than 70 castle sites, many of which feature along this route that heads from Blyth to Berwick, this could be a hidden gem for 2025 that’s waiting to be discovered.

Most Snapped on Social Media

As well as coming first overall, the North Coast 500 also came first for social media hashtags too. Keywords related to the route gathered 677,000 hashtags on Instagram and 46,792 on TikTok, compared to the Devon to Cornwall Atlantic Highway route, which had 1,100 Instagram hashtags and just 30 on TikTok.

The second most socially snapped road trip route was Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. While it came fourth in the main league table, the trip – taking drivers through a world heritage site – features Durdle Door, one of the most photographed sites in the UK. It’s no surprise then, that more than 497,00 people had hashtagged the coast on Instagram, with more than 7,000 on TikTok too.

How to stay safe and save money when driving in the cold

If you are planning an extended road trip this winter, it’s important to make sure you take the steps needed to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

Our CEO, Daniel Briggs shares some tips that can make the drive far smoother, while saving you money in the long run:

Road trip route	Location	Google search volume score	Instagram hashtag score	TikTok hashtag score	Final score
NC500	Scotland	1	1	1	1
Snake Pass	Derbyshire, England	2	4	4	2
Causeway Coastal Route	Northern Ireland	5	3	3	3
Jurassic Coast	Southern England	11	2	2	4
Honister Pass	Cumbria, England	3	5	5	4
Kirkstone Pass	Cumbria, England	3	6	6	5
Black Mountain Road / A4069	Carmarthenshire, Wales	7	9	8	6
Buttertubs Pass	Yorkshire Dales, England	4	10	9	7
Llanberis Pass / A4086	Snowdonia, Wales	5	8	10	7
Atlantic Highway / A39	South West England	6	10	11	7
Trotternish Loop	Isle of Skye, Scotland	10	11	7	8
Road to the Isles / A830	Lochaber, Scotland	8	7	12	8
Argyll Coastal Route	Scotland	9	12	13	9
Northumberland Coastal Route	Northumberland, England	9	12	14	10

Daniel Briggs

CEO - Motorfinity

“You should be getting your car serviced every year, and there’s no better time to do this than around the winter period. This is something we often help our customers with, by setting them up with a discounted annual service plan as soon as they buy their new car. Conditions such as icy roads, snow, and freezing temperatures put extra strain on essential car components like brakes, tyres, and batteries. A service ensures these parts are in good condition, reducing the risk of accidents and improving your vehicle's overall safety.

“If you're not getting a regular service, your car may have faults that you’re unaware of. As well as being unsafe, this could be a costly mistake, as driving with a vehicle that doesn’t comply with the Highway Code’s full requirements of the Road Vehicle Regulations (1986), is breaking the law. You might find yourself fined as a result, – the Highway Code states fines of up to £2,500 are given to anyone driving with a vehicle in a dangerous condition – given penalty points on your licence, or even disqualified from driving.”

He adds:

“As well as your service, it’s important to look at your insurance before you set off too. Car insurance provider Admiral reports that a high percentage of severe accidents on the UK’s roads take place between November and February. This means that there is an influx of drivers utilising their insurance premiums during this time.

“To get the best deal on your premium, reviewing your insurance to ensure you have comprehensive cover for winter-related accidents or weather damage should be a top priority. Consider adding roadside assistance to your insurance policy too, or reviewing what you already have to check that your cover isn’t out of date.

“The cold weather can also deplete petrol and diesel car batteries at a quicker rate, which can be costly to replace. If you’re often running quick errands or taking short trips to the shops, your battery might not be able to keep up with replacing its power during these short activity bursts, so always check your battery’s health and charge before making those longer journeys.

Conclusion

At Motorfinity, we know that the vehicle you drive is more than just a car. This is why we work hard to offer our eligible customer base the best deals on their next motor, whether they’re using it to get to work, or to make memories with their family on a UK winter road trip.

The UK’s Top Winter Road trips to try in 2025