Drivelines
Wales · South/8 min read

The 10 best driving roads in south Wales.

The Valleys and Beacons hide some of the UK’s most expansive stretches of tarmac. From the stark ridges of the Black Mountains to the softer, flowing lines of the coast, south Wales demands a fluid driving style.

By Drivelines·Published 06 May 2026
REGION OVERVIEW

Reading the ridge lines

South Wales does not possess the endless ribbons of empty Highland single-track, but it offers something arguably better suited to a modern, capable car: width, vision, and elevation. The best roads here, frequently draped over old industrial passes, are generous dual-track affairs that trace the high moorland. They reward momentum over frantic acceleration, and a keen eye for camber over raw pace. Expect wandering sheep on the high ground and unpredictable weather even in mid-summer.

Routes mapped
10
Total distance
184km
Avg curve idx
5.5/10
Map of all 10 routes in wales-south
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Cwm Crawnon Road (B4558)
10
B4558 · Cwm Crawnon · Easy
Mixed widthVaried surface

Cwm Crawnon Road (B4558)

The B4558 shadows the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal along the south side of the Usk from Crickhowell to the A40 near Brecon, crossing the water six times and slipping between the canal embankment and the river through Llangynidr, Talybont and Pencelli. It is not a road for line-choice; the width swings from full two-lane to hedged single file and back, so the skill is in observation, particularly in Talybont where the houses stand on the carriageway edge and the canal runs above the street.

Talybont's canal drawbridge carries the B4558 and is raised by passing boaters, so in summer you can sit for a few minutes while a narrowboat clears it; the old railway bridge by the White Hart is the other pinch, and parked cars can leave the whole stretch between them at a single line of traffic.

Distance
19.1km
Drive time
0h 29m
Curve idx
3.9/10
Climb
232m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Dale Road (B4327)
09
B4327 · Dale · Easy
Mixed widthVaried surface

Dale Road (B4327)

The B4327 is the twelve-mile run from Haverfordwest out to Dale on the peninsula guarding the north side of Milford Haven, and its route has not changed since 1923. It is unhurried two-lane road across open farmland through Dreenhill, Hasguard Cross and Ratford Bridge, with a couple of dips to cross streams at Denant and Slatermill. The corners are long and well sighted, and the last miles run into the National Park with the Gann estuary opening up ahead.

Dale runs a one-way system, so leaving the village means a loop across the peninsula before you rejoin the B4327; the fort lane beyond the village is single track with very few passing places, so don't follow it on a whim.

Distance
19.4km
Drive time
0h 26m
Curve idx
4.8/10
Climb
249m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Plas-y-Fron (B4313)
08
B4313 · Pembrokeshire · Easy
Mixed widthVaried surface

Plas-y-Fron (B4313)

The B4313 is the Fishguard to Narberth B-road, and this is its Preseli section: out of Fishguard past Llanychaer, up out of the Gwaun valley and across the southern flank of the hills to the old turnpike crossroads at New Inn. The quarries at Rosebush were served by this road, and it still has the feel of a working route rather than an engineered one: moderate curvature, dips and hollows where the surface goes off, and hedges that close the sightlines in summer. It suits a car being rolled steadily through gentle direction changes, not braked into corners.

At the New Inn crossroads the B4329 arrives steeply downhill off Bwlch Gwynt across a cattle grid, so give the junction more respect than a B-road crossing usually gets. Rosebush and the zinc-clad Tafarn Sinc are a mile beyond if you want a stop.

Distance
13.7km
Drive time
0h 22m
Curve idx
5.2/10
Climb
425m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Pendine Hill (B4314)
07
B4314 · Pendine · Easy
Dual-trackVaried surface

Pendine Hill (B4314)

The B4314 runs 11 miles from Narberth south-east through Princes Gate and Tavernspite, across the old A477 at Red Roses and down to the sea at Pendine. Tavernspite is an old coaching crossroads on the line between Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire where the Irish mail changed horses from 1787. Open, flowing radii over farmland, a varied surface, and about 350 m of cumulative climbing, most of it spent on the final drop past the church down Pendine Hill.

Pendine Hill forks at a triangular junction halfway down with the Peace Garden obelisk in the middle; parking at the bottom is pay-and-display, and the sands beyond are an MOD range, so a run on the beach is never guaranteed.

Distance
18km
Drive time
0h 24m
Curve idx
4.7/10
Climb
349m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to B4310
06
B4310 · Carmarthenshire · Easy
Mixed widthVaried surface

B4310

The B4310 leaves the A40 at Nantgaredig and climbs north into Brechfa Forest, 6,500 hectares of Natural Resources Wales timber ground, drops to Brechfa, then follows the Cothi upstream to Abergorlech's Grade II*-listed Pont Cothi before climbing again towards Llansawel. The corners are mostly open and flowing; the interest is gradient and width, which shrinks to a single lane in places. Brechfa hosted a British rally special stage in 2006 to 2008, but the public road asks for neat lines and patience, not pace.

The Abergorlech car park, just past the village on the left, is the trailhead for the 20 km Gorlech mountain-bike loop: expect bikes on the road and cars turning in at weekends; the Forest Arms in Brechfa reopened in 2014 after eight years shut.

Distance
22.5km
Drive time
0h 32m
Curve idx
4.3/10
Climb
598m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to South Gower Road (A4118)
05
A4118 · Gower Peninsula · Easy
Dual-trackSmooth surface

South Gower Road (A4118)

The A4118 is the Gower's main artery, and this is the stretch that leaves Swansea behind: across Fairwood Common with the airport off to the right, down into the wooded valley bottom at Parkmill, past Penmaen under the flank of Cefn Bryn and on through Knelston to the drop into Port Eynon. It is dual-track and well surfaced with a modest curve density: gentle arcs and open sightlines across the commons rather than anything tight. The pleasure is carrying a steady, unbroken momentum between villages, not line-choice.

The commons either side are grazed, so treat the open sections around Cefn Bryn as livestock territory rather than a clear straight; and the one genuinely long, flat stretch across Fairwood Common runs right past the airport, so a parachute canopy overhead is a normal sight.

Distance
15.1km
Drive time
0h 22m
Curve idx
5.3/10
Climb
181m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Afan Valley Road (A4107)
04
A4107 · Afan Valley · Spirited
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Afan Valley Road (A4107)

The A4107 leaves Port Talbot up the Afan Valley through Pontrhydyfen and Cymmer, meandering along the steep-sided forest valley, then above Abergwynfi's cattle grid it climbs onto the ridge for the 1928 Bwlch y Clawdd extension. Up top the tarmac is generally good but follows every moorland contour, and the drop to the A4061 is a run of wide 180-degree bends cut into the hillside. It rewards smooth inputs and a settled car more than outright grip.

Between the cattle grids the sheep graze on the tarmac itself, and the camera van has a long-standing liking for this road; the ice-cream van at the A4061 junction viewpoint is the reliable stop.

Distance
24.3km
Drive time
0h 34m
Curve idx
5.6/10
Climb
656m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Blaenavon Road (B4246)
03
B4246 · Blaenavon · Spirited
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Blaenavon Road (B4246)

The B4246 climbs out of Govilon over the canal, through a pair of tight hairpins and up the flank of the Blorenge to the Tumble, 482 m at Keeper's Pond, before running down into Blaenavon's World Heritage landscape. The Abergavenny side is the technical half: a 9% average for 4 km with the Usk valley falling away, smooth tarmac, and a 7.7 curve score over six miles. It asks for early braking and a disciplined line on the descent rather than anything brave.

The summit sign says 512 m; the survey says 482. Either way the Keeper's Pond car park is the stop, and this is one of the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs and a Tour of Britain finish, so assume there is a rider around the next hairpin on the Govilon side.

Distance
10km
Drive time
0h 15m
Curve idx
7.7/10
Climb
212m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Rhigos Road (A4061)
02
A4061 · Rhigos · Spirited
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Rhigos Road (A4061)

The A4061 is two 1920s relief-works mountain roads joined by the Rhondda Fawr: Bwlch-y-Clawdd (450 m) above Treorchy and the Rhigos (421 m) between Treherbert and Hirwaun, both laid out in hairpins because the valley walls left no other way up. It is wide, well surfaced and unusually well sighted for a pass: the Rhigos climb averages five per cent over six kilometres with three hairpins, so most corners are long open arcs that take one clean input rather than a saw at the wheel. Inside the 40 mph limit on the Rhigos it is a road about flow, not brakes.

The summit lay-by on the Rhigos looks down on Llyn Fawr and the old Tower Colliery, and there has been an ice cream van at the Bwlch top since the 1930s; both fill by mid-morning on a sunny weekend. Sheep graze loose on both tops and the tarmac carries the marks of drivers who met one.

Distance
25km
Drive time
0h 34m
Curve idx
4.7/10
Climb
676m
StartEnd
Plan a drive to Heol Brynamman (A4069)
01
A4069 · Black Mountain Pass · Expert
Dual-trackSmooth surface

Heol Brynamman (A4069)

Climbing out of Brynamman over the Black Mountain to Llangadog, the A4069 tops out at around 495 metres beside the disused limekilns of Herbert's Quarry, with the Tro Gwcw hairpin tucked under the scarp near the summit. The corners are a genuine mix, hairpins into third-gear sweepers into sighted crests, on tarmac that is good by rural-Wales standards, but the whole Brynamman to Llangadog section is now a 40mph limit under average-speed cameras, so the reward is entirely in line and rhythm. It is open common: sheep and the odd pony are on the carriageway, especially beyond blind crests.

There is no fuel on the pass, and Carmarthenshire's weather camera at the quarry car park is worth checking before you leave; this is among the first roads in Wales to get low cloud, standing water and snow.

Distance
17km
Drive time
0h 25m
Curve idx
8.7/10
Climb
432m
// KEEP READING
Sibling guide · Scenic
Top 10 scenic drives in south Wales
Parent region · Wales
Top 10 driving roads in Wales
Nearby · North Wales
Top 10 driving roads in north Wales
Nearby · Mid Wales
Top 10 driving roads in mid Wales
Index · Every region
All Top 10 Field Guides

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