Forgotten Stretch Of Road Could Be Europe's Greatest; Driving Nirvana Found In The Portuguese Mountains

July 17, 2019 by Ford

WARLEY, Essex, 17 July, 2019 – Heading across mountains in the north of Portugal and cutting into the Parque Natural do Alvão, the winding N304 may just be Europe's greatest driving road. It's wide, has a perfect road surface, offers rhythmic bends and incredible views. Best of all, other drivers rarely use it.

'In three days of filming, we barely saw twenty other cars on it,' said Steve Sutcliffe, the journalist who took the Ford Focus ST there for the latest video in the Europe's Greatest Driving Roads series. 'There are other roads that head north and south, so I guess the mad and somewhat twisty N304 is not everybody's cup of tea… but for keen drivers it's an unforgettable route.'

Good quality and inexpensive hotels coupled with great little cafes make this scenic part of Portugal a great getaway for sightseers as well as petrolheads, with waterfalls and the river Olo all nearby to explore.

The video is the tenth in the series that aims to find Europe's Greatest Driving Roads, and scores 57/60 across six categories, with maximum scores for Thrill Factor, Hospitality, Scenery and Food and Drink. That makes this Portuguese road the highest scoring so far, which is even more reason to make the trip.