英文報摘：The World\'s Most Spectacular Coastal Drives

The World's Most Spectacular Coastal Drives

Even during a season of high gas prices, these remarkable roads beckon summer travelers. Grab the keys, top off the tank and be prepared to pull over at every opportunity to drink in the sights on these impossibly scenic highways.

California State Route 1 twists and turns dramatically — sometimes seeming to teeter right at cliff’s edge — especially between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Drivers have their choice of views: on one side, the sparkling Pacific and peaceful beaches; on the other, redwood forests and fantastic homes and mansions.

The Overseas Highway (U.S. 1) is aptly named: It hopscotches 150 miles from mainland Florida near Miami through the Florida Keys (a chain of 1,700 islands) until it reaches Key West. South of Marathon, drivers can cruise over historic Seven Mile Bridge, one of the world’s longest bridges, which cuts between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Driving the Seward Highway from Anchorage to Seward is 127 miles of pure Alaska. How long it takes to drive the highway depends entirely on how often you brake for the scenery. You’ll skirt the Chugach Mountains and the cold, blue waters of Turnagain Arm while cruising past glaciers, alpine meadows, mountains and fjords. Keep an eye out for waterfalls and beluga whales.

The 56-mile drive from Rockport to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas is a great choice for birders, who can spot whooping cranes and pelicans, just two of the nearly 350 bird species at the refuge. Most of Texas' Gulf Coast is treeless, but live oaks grow on the shore near Rockport; the state’s largest live oak, the Goose Island Oak, can be seen near St. Charles Bay.

Maui’s Hana Highway is blessed with 600 hairpin turns and 54 one-lane bridges that force day trippers to slow down and enjoy the unparalleled scenery. Follow the sinuous path along the coast at sunrise for awe-inspiring views. Along the way, you’ll have a chance to see waterfalls, a cavern system created by an ancient lava flow and, of course, stunning ocean views.

No matter your choice among the three parallel highways rising from the French Riviera, you will be rewarded with vibrant views. These are corniches ( a French word meaning “a road built along a coast and especially along the face of a cliff”), where forest green gives way to golden limestone, which bows to the blue of the sea and sky.

Ireland’s Ring of Kerry is an area where Gaelic is still spoken, ancient crosses and Stone Age ruins still stand and the relentless Atlantic still crashes and foams against the black rocks of the shoreline. Be sure to look inland for the small Kerry Bog ponies.

The Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station, circa 1897, in Provincetown is  but one special attraction on the Cape Cod Scenic Drive in Massachusetts. The peninsula boasts 585 miles of shoreline — 310 miles of it sandy beaches. Every drive is as different as the fleeting sculptures in the sand dunes that are formed by the wind and the ocean.

Italy’s Amalfi Coast, just south of Naples, has long been the playground of society types. Little wonder: Nothing matches the breathtaking views of the beach or around the bends of the cliff-hugging highway that snakes between ancient towns such as Praiano and Amalfi and the deep blue Mediterranean Sea.

Who could resist driving to the Cape of Good Hope, near where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet off the coast of South Africa? The drive to Cape Point, about 30 miles south of Cape Town, offers the eye-popping turmoil of crashing waves that led early explorers to call this rocky headland the “Cape of Storms.” A funicular leads to the old lighthouse, set 780 feet above sea level.

Prince Edward Island, the smallest of Canada’s provinces, is big enough for three major coastal roads and compact enough to drive all of them in a leisurely few days. You’ll wind past old sandstone cliffs, lovely sand beaches, golf courses and lighthouses, all of which will give you a grand overview of life in the Maritimes.

The scenes of life Down East await drivers on the Acadia Byway, which rambles along the coast of southeastern Maine and through Acadia National Park. You could emerge from the mist to see lobster boats coming and going and sailboats harnessing the wind, and you might spot moose. Along the way, enjoy the charm of a quintessential Maine town.

 
Tasmania’s Eastern Trundle runs from Launceston past Australian fishing towns and historic homesteads to Hobart. You’ll treasure the sights of the rugged coast and enjoy the muscle of the fishing boats and the grace of the yachts at sea. Just before reaching Hobart, visit the Richmond Gaol, built in 1825, and ponder the lives of the convicts sent here by the English.

Two hundred miles of barrier islands make up the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and a drive along Highway 12 reveals a region steeped in maritime history (Blackbeard the pirate was killed in Ocracoke Inlet). It’s also where the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk and where the English attempted to start their first colony in the New World. No trip here would be complete without a visit to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the lighthouse that stands sentry there.
 
 
 Source: http://travel.msn.com//Guides/MSNTravelSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=524644&imageindex=1