Travel is evolving as air, sea and land travel resume. One of our favorite ways to travel is combining cruise liner travel with road trips. People traveling on world cruises and circumnavigating the globe love visiting port cities and viewing scenic coastlines, but sometimes it’s nice to mix it up and explore some inland destinations such as wine regions, safaris, and volunteer opportunities in inland communities. And for those with a travel lifestyle such as RV owners, it’s a great opportunity to get out on the open ocean and be pampered for a while.
Port to port road trips
Let’s take a look at an example of a port to port road trip. Daydream for a second that your world cruise docks at Rome, Italy, and the next port of call is down the coast in the port of Palermo, Sicily. How does hiring a car in Rome (classic red convertible of course) and driving the Amalfi Coast sound? Why not stay overnight in Portofino?
Next day, after diving off the rocks into the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean and finishing a fresh lunch of seafood at a cliff-top restaurant, you continue your road trip to Calabria where you stay at Tropea Beach, one of the most Instagrammed beaches in the world. From there, you take the car ferry over to Messina and indulge in some gelato while enjoying views of the gothic cathedral with its enormous clock tower before reuniting with your cruise ship in Palermo.
Wow, what a road trip! That’s just one example. Let’s look at some road trip destinations that could be in your port to port list, what kind of trip you’d like to have, and how these types of global travel experiences by both land and sea can be easily attainable when you live on a residential ship, such as Storylines MV Narrative.
What type of road trip is right for you?
Before you hit the road, make sure you know which type of road trip you’d like to take. Do you want to travel on a cross country trip from one end of the country to the other, discovering hidden gems along the way? Then there are plenty of beautiful cross country places you can put on your wish list like the west coast of Portugal discovering the charming towns from Porto to Faro. Or, perhaps you prefer the peaceful journey and rugged beauty from Auckland to Wellington on New Zealand's South Island.
If you are looking for a major adventure, you could go through some of the world’s longest trips like the Pan-American Highway, the longest road trip in the world, spanning over 19,000 miles from Prudoe Bay at the top of Alaska all the way down to Ushuaia at the bottom of Argentina. You don’t get more of an epic road trip than that!
If that’s a little too intimidating, you could choose a quick and memorable trip like the daring cliffside switchbacks along the Pacific Coast Highway seeing the Redwood National Park in California along the way!
Or perhaps you are more interested in seeing some of the top scenic roads in the world that are so beautiful that they became destinations! A special mention goes to the spectacular Garden Route from Cape Town, South Africa. Not only is this an amazingly scenic coastal road trip with dramatic mountains, cliffs and awesome surf beaches, but along the way you can take part in fantastic activities such as:
- Blourans bungy jump
- Shark diving
- Cliff jumping, zip lining, and canyoning in the Crags
- Safari at Gondwana Private Game Reserve
- Hiking the Garden Route National Park
Best places for road trips
There are too many incredible destinations in the world for road trips, each uniquely different from the other, to fit in one article. As such, we have narrowed down our top picks. Besides the ones mentioned above, be sure sure to add these to your bucket list...
Best road trips in the Americas
The diversity of the American landscape is truly unreal, and therefore earns a spot on our list of favorite road trip destinations. It really does have it all. Ocean views, Grand Canyon National Park, mountains, desert highways, wetlands and lush tropical rainforest.
While some may think of Route 66, we have selected a favorite leg of the Pan American Highway.
Storylines Pick: Seattle to San Diego
Seattle and San Diego are both busy cruise liner ports, with many voyages stopping at both. As nice as it is cruising down the west coast of the USA, driving the coast road is one of the best road trips in the world. The state of California is worth it alone; an amazingly diverse landscape including world renowned wine regions, some of the most beautiful national parks on the planet, sensational beaches and coastlines, and three iconic cities in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, where you will return to your cruise ship.
Best road trips in Europe
Europe is known for the most picturesque road trip destinations. You can see castles in most countries and some of the most exquisite architecture in the world. You might like to sample some whiskeys while passing by the Scottish Road Coast before heading through the rugged Scottish Highlands.
You could take the Highland explorer east to west route by starting at one of our favorite cruise port cities, Edinburgh, a destination in itself. Hire a car from here and drive up through the highlands to Inverness, the cultural capital of the Scottish Highlands. From Inverness you can make your way back down along the west coast to Glasgow staying at accommodations in castle hotels along the way.
Take the journey south across England being sure to adventure along The Black Mountain Pass in Wales before re-joining your cruise ship in Cardiff or Swansea. Considered by many to be one of the best road trips in the UK, the Pass dips, climbs and twists in through the western part of Brecon Beacons National Park. It’s roughly a nine hour drive from Scotland but we recommend taking your time over at least a few days, staying in some classic English country estates and sharing a drink with the locals in pubs along the way.
Like to go off the beaten path? Consider going farther inland on a road trip along the Transfagarasan mountain road in Romania. You’ll see the greenest forested valleys and characteristic gothic towns along with the rich Romanian history.
Did you know one of Europe’s best countries for road trip destinations is Iceland? The isolated Arctic Coast Way has some of the most incredible roads winding their way down through mountain ranges. Chances are you’ve seen a car commercial that was shot here.
Storylines Pick: Rome to Palermo via the Amalfi Coast
We consider driving the Amalfi Coast one of the most scenic road trips in the world. Highlights include:
- Rome
- Sorento
- Positano to Amalfi Road
- Capri Island (short ferry from Naples)
- Tropea Beach, Calabria
Note, you will need to catch the short 20 minute car ferry from Villa San Giovanni across to Mesina, Sicily. Be sure to book ahead for this so as to secure your spot and not miss your cruise rendezvous!
Lucky for you, this bucket-list worthy road trip can be done as part of the Storylines Itinerary.
Best road trips in Asia & Oceania
There are also plenty of amazingly diverse road trip destinations all over Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
One of the most popular destinations is the Leh-Manali Highway in Northern India. The journey getting there is an experience in itself with the sacred sites, statues and dramatic mountain ranges. However, depending upon the time of year, the weather can get hairy with snow, water crossings and even broken stretches of road. As such, this road trip is for the more adventurous among us.
If you prefer something safer, then you cannot look past the islands of New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand consists of two islands; North Island and South Island. Popular road trips include driving from Auckland port to Wellington Cruise terminal. The drive consists of spectacular scenery, some of which you may recognize as Middle Earth from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. You can even do a tour of The Hobbiton, the hobbit shire movie set locale.
Storylines Pick: East Coast Australia
The east coast of Australia is like a pilgrimage to backpackers around the world. Sydney is one of the major cruise ship destinations with the port located in the incredibly aesthetic Sydney Harbour, opposite the iconic Opera House. On the way up the east coast to the tropical north port of Cairns, be sure to experience:
- Bondi Beach
- Manly Ferry
- Byron Bay
- Surfers Paradise
- Noosa Heads
- Fraser Island
- Airlie Beach
- Magnetic Island
- Port Douglas
- Great Barrier Reef
- Daintree National Park (oldest rainforest in the world)
Take your time with this one as it’s roughly a 1500 mile journey!
About Storylines. Storylines is a luxury residential ship continuously traveling the world for people leading a global travel lifestyle. Our concierge helps residents plan and prepare for their road trips between ports, including:
- Car rentals that also have a drop off location at the next port
- Best routes including roads, byways and highways to take
- Must see places to visit along the way
- Accommodation options for all budgets
- Time needed for each stop to ensure you reach port on time without feeling rushed
Resident owners living aboard MV Narrative hop on and off the ship at their leisure, often catching up with the ship in future ports while they explore by land. To learn more about becoming a global citizen aboard Storylines, be sure to check what we’re about here.