Ultimate Autumn drives: revealed

As we finally bid farewell to Britain’s longest ever summer, MINI is advising Convertible drivers to keep their roofs down and experience the nation’s ten ultimate autumn drives. Hand-picked from the mainland’s 241,000-mile road network, the 15-mile stretch of the A466 through the Forest of Dean, in the Wye Valley has been voted top of the pile.

MINI polled hundreds of UK motorists to discover the top ten stretches of autumn asphalt with MINI Convertible drivers particularly in mind. The MINI Convertible has been Britain’s best selling soft-top since its 2004 summer launch.

From a shortlist produced by the Forestry Commission, the Forest of Dean road scored a narrow victory as a result of its rolling tree-covered hillsides, its winding riverside route and the mystical Tintern Abbey.

Edged into a close second, with its spectacular ‘Rigg and Dale’ landscape is the tour through the Dalby Forest within the North York Moors National Park. The network of forest roads, including a nine-mile stretch up to a northerly plateau, is a must for adventure seekers.

Scotland emerged as the No.1 destination for multiple autumn drive attractions with no less than four of the top ten routes nominated located north of the border: Dukes Pass near Stirling, Glen Affric in the Highlands, the route linking Crieff and Strathearn and the roads between Aberfeldy, Loch Tay and Glen Lyon in Perthshire were all selected for mention.

Top Ten Autumn Driving Routes

1 The A466 through the Forest of Dean, Wye Valley
2 The Dalby Forest Drive through the North Yorks Moors
3 The drive to the Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire
4 Ten miles of the A595 through the Duddon Valley, Cumbria
=5 Cwmcarn Forest Drive in Caerfilli, South Wales
=5 Aberfeldy, Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, in Perthshire taking the A827 and the B846
7 Dukes Pass, a fantastic 10 mile drive through the heart of the Trossachs
8 15 miles of unclassified roads from Cannich to Glen Affric in the Highlands
9 From Crief to Strathearn, Perthshire
10 The four mile drive through Hamsterley Forest, County Durham

With the 100,000th Convertible having rolled off the production line at MINI’s Plant Oxford in September, the MINI One, Cooper and Cooper S Convertibles now account for almost one in every four MINIs sold.