Going west on the coastal 660 is UK’s answer to America’s Route 66, writes Simon Heptinstall

Your rental car sweeps around wide, smooth bends on glorious cliff tops, the waves crashing on rocky shores below.

Drive slowly over the crest of Countisbury Hill, where Exmoor National Park meets the sea, heading west into an Atlantic sunset. The road rounds a headland and suddenly drops steeply into a hidden bay.

It’s almost impossible not to be distracted as an amazing coastal panorama opens up in front of you. It’s like a Hollywood sunset at the end of a blockbusting romance. You’re driving right into one of England’s finest views.

Through the windscreen, you’ll look down into Lynmouth Bay, where pretty Victorian houses cling to the far cliff among the trees above the beach, boats and a classic thatched harbourside pub.

Perhaps you’ll stop and stay at The Rising Sun, a waterside inn that was already 400 years old when the Romantic poet Shelley had his honeymoon there in 1812.

Welcome to the South West 660, a new road trip route around England’s southwestern peninsular offering scores of roads, views and experiences like that. Route 660 is UK’s answer to Route 66 – the first British roadtrip that could become internationally famous thanks to one of the world’s great coastlines.

There are 1062km around…