Is this Britain’s lowest-stress road?

A drive up the West Coast of Scotland, from Lochgilphead (87 miles north of Glasgow) to the mouth of Loch Leven on what has been voted Britain’s lowest-stress road. (At 66 miles long it is not unreasonably being called the nation's "Route 66")

Motorists who are old enough to remember leather driving gloves have clocked up some serious mileage in the years since they started driving. Something of the order of to the Moon and back.

In 2017 insurance provider LV polled these older drivers, who only want a bit of peace and quiet behind the wheel, asking them what made them nervous. Busy, speedy roads came near the top.

And what about the roads they found most relaxing and pleasant to drive? The biggest favourite turned out to be the Lochgilphead to South Ballachulish route, which begins 87 miles north of Glasgow.  

Depending on where you live, you are only a short traffic jam from away from any one of the other nine.

The company grasped that a prosaic title such as “A816 merging into A828” might not be catchy enough to lure the doubtful. So they anointed it Britain’s “Route 66”, (a reference to the legendary US long-distance recreational route). And they have the numbers on their side. By coincidence the route is exactly 66 miles long, which makes it perfect for a there-and-back excursion over two days.  

It is one of the best two-for-one offers in travel, the sensuous curves of multiple West of Scotland mountains casting mirror images onto sea lochs as still as marble.

(Don't confuse it with the new route across the north coast, the NORTH COAST 500, which I have heard can be very busy. And, more possible confusion, VisitScotland is calling that 516-mile scenic route, starting and ending at Inverness Castle, "Scotland's answer to Route 66".)

My fuller article here