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UK votes Scottish Highlands as top road trip route


By Tom Ramage

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The traditional road trip is back in vogue as more than half of Britons swap planes, trains for automobiles and hit Britain’s open roads in 2020

The lockdown has reminded Britons of the priceless nostalgia of their childhood family road trips

The traditional family road trip is having a reboot in popularity this year as the public swaps planes and trains for automobiles. A new travel report out today by Travelodge has revealed that 60 per cent of Britons are taking at least two road trips across Britain this year.

And it is the Highlands which tops Britain’s 2020 road trip route this year.

The other road trip routes to make the top 10 list include: The Peak District, The Lake District, Cornwall Coast, the Yorkshire Dales, the Coastal Way Wales, Glasgow to Isle of Skye, Causeway Coastal Route, Snowdonia National Park and Atlantic Highway.

The average journey is 4.5 hours, during the drive travellers play I-Spy, have two arguments, listen to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and munch their way through bags of cheese & onion crisps and wine gums and make a picnic stop.

'We'll take the High Road' motorists tell Travel Lodge
'We'll take the High Road' motorists tell Travel Lodge

For company, Sir David Attenborough is the "ideal car companion" and top scenic drive is through the Scottish Highlands in top dream car, the Range Rover.

This year, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain celebrates 35 years of "making travel affordable for everyone".

The budget hotel chain opened its first hotel on the A38, Burton (Northbound) in 1985 and the company now operates 573.

To mark their milestone anniversary, the chain surveyed 2,000 British adults to seek their views on the traditional road trip which inspired the company to open its first hotel over three decades ago.

Further research revealed that, with safety against Covid-19 at the forefront of the nation’s minds, 44 per cent of adults reported feeling safer travelling in their own car to their holiday destination this year. Over half of Britons reported that they did not currently feel safe travelling by plane and 42 per cent felt unsafe travelling by train.

Music remained key, with 40 per cent opting to listen to the radio during their car journey. On top road trip tunes, Britons prefer the classics with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen being the ultimate track, followed by Dancing Queen by Abba in second place, Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams in third place, Hotel California by Eagles in fourth position and Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac in fifth position.

The ideal road trip companion emerged as Sir David Attenborough "who tells stories like no other and manages to bring life and enthusiasm to the most unlikely tales."

In second place is comedian, actor, writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry and in third place is our favourite 44th US President, Barrack Obama. Ant and Dec take fourth place and Dr Who star, David Tennant takes fifth position.

As for those people did not want to travel with, top of the list were: Kanye West, Donald Trump and Chris Harris.

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