Favourite road trips revealed

The birthplace of the road trip, the United States, is the ultimate driving destination for British motorists.

Five of the world's top ten iconic drives are in America, according to a survey by car hire holiday specialist Holiday Autos.

Topping the list is the East Coast highway from Boston to New York. The route takes road trippers from Boston Common down the New England coast to Cape Cod, passing the Hamptons and Coney Island before crossing Brooklyn Bridge onto Manhattan Island.

The next most popular drive is from the world's casino capital Las Vegas through the Nevada desert, via the Hoover Dam, to the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon.

Other top US drives are the route from Miami to Key West, Florida, in fourth place; along the Pacific Coast Highway, which was sixth; and the iconic Route 66, which crosses the US from Chicago on the east coast to Los Angeles on the west coast, in eighth place.

Outside of America, the top drive was along the Great Ocean Road, Australia, in third place, while Italy's Amalfi Coast was in fifth, and the route along the French Riviera from Monaco to Nice was in seventh.

"The US is the backdrop for many great road trip movies from classics like Smokey and the Bandit and Easy Rider and more up-to-date choices like Thelma and Louise, so it stands to reason that the States will be front of mind when it comes to picking the ultimate drives," said Holiday Autos managing director Stuart Nassos.

"However, even taking this into consideration we weren't expecting the US to scoop half of the top ten places."

Driving along the Thames in central London was in ninth place on the list, while negotiating The Rockies in Canada completed the top ten.