Hairpin bends and bears: readers' favourite European road trips

Readers shared road trips across Europe, from Romania’s mountain highways to island loops and coastal fjords. Contributions ranged from wild northern coasts to themed routes through Bavaria and lonely stretches of Iceland’s ring road. One reader recalled driving Romania’s Transfăgărășan, a route of hairpin bends and climbs over the mountains.

Bear sightings were possible; a bear was even spotted on the roadside, hanging over a stone wall and posing for photographs taken through the car window. The section to Bâlea Lake is open only for a few summer months because of harsh winters in the southern Carpathian Mountains and proved particularly beautiful.

A 1,000-mile circuit of Ireland began with the overnight ferry from Liverpool to Belfast and included Dublin, Kilkenny, the Ring of Kerry and the karst of the Burren, with wild beaches such as Glassilaun on the Atlantic coast.

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