Grimsby, on the coast of Lake Ontario, inland through gnarled forests in St. Catharines, then along craggy inclines to Niagara-on-the-Lake and southeast to Niagara Falls. The muscular 225-hp engine and Dynamic Stability Control technology in your BMW 330Ci convertible delivers a heart-pounding experience on this 124-mile journey. Picnic at Ball’s Falls, a 200-acre conservation area along the Bruce Trail that’s particularly popular during a local four-day Thanksgiving festival. Visit winery restaurants and antiques shops in Twenty Valley (www.20valley.ca/index.php). Log on to www.ontariotravel.net/GreatDrives to preview 19 other scenic drives.
TOURING TOOLS
Today’s luxury vehicles have useful features that will enhance your distance-driving experience. Mercedes-Benz installed its optional Cockpit Management and Data system in one out of three of the 5,500 CLK-class cars purchased in the U.S. last year, and one out of four SLK-class vehicles. This state-of-the-art driver’s aid offers audio cues, an integrated phone system, and GPS satellite navigation technology that requires only one DVD to map any U.S. route. The car’s seven-speed adaptive automatic transmission with touch shift feature (standard in CLK 350 and CLK 500) adapts to changes in the road (delaying upshifts on ascents and hastening downshifts) and to an individual’s driving style. Other thoughtful details: Mercedes’ one-touch SmartKey door-unlock device also retracts the vehicle’s hardtop; and AIRSCARF, a neck-level, in-seat heating system, wards off the chill from top-down driving.
The sparse countryside of the Scottish Borders, a region just west of England, offers an exhilarating romp across hilly greenery inhabited by flocks of big-horned sheep. The B709, a secondary road, offers a more intricate drive than the M6 motorway and A7 tourist route that it parallels. As the precision steering of your sleek Porsche Carrera GT clutches this route from Carlisle to Edinburgh in the north, you weave through woodlands and sweep along a stream. This drive to Edinburgh’s charming New Town, a World Heritage site, puts roughly 100 miles (one-way) on your odometer. Visit Eskdalemuir to see Kagyu Samye Ling, the Western world’s first Tibetan monastery, which was founded in 1967. Visit Carlisle Castle (www.english-heritage.org.uk) and learn about the Scottish Borders’ legacy. Climb Witta Hill to enjoy gorgeous views. For more information, contact Scottish Borders Tourist Board (www.scot-borders.co.uk) and Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board (www.edinburgh.org).
Soaring along the Kailua-Kona Coast will bring you to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where you’ll find Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes. Arrive near dusk to witness Kilauea, the island’s most accessible and active volcano, ignite the evening sky. From Kailua-Kona, allot two hours for this fairly straight drive; add an hour if you start from Waikoloa and Waimea. Before you go, call Volcanoes National Park (808-985-6000) for closings due to weather or unpredictable lava flow and tips on what to take with you. There are also scenic lookouts in Ocean View set between white and black sand beaches. Make sure you get to the end of Chain of Craters Road — the best location for lava viewing. Consider touring the Jaggar Museum’s displays on the geology and physics of volcanic activity (www.hawaii.com).
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