FORGET the iconic Route 66 in the US or the famous Great Ocean Road in Australia because the Causeway Coastal Route has come out on top of road trips to be taking this summer.
The Antrim coast route has trumped famous American, French and alpine routes in a survey of the most underrated road trips across the world.
With scenic locations in the Glens of Antrim or a visit to the world famous Dark Hedges, which featured in the hit TV series Game of Thrones, the area has been rated among the best road trips that visitors are not aware of.
The study by Confused.com analysed the top 50 best-rated drives that have had the fewest Google searches over the last 12 months.
The most underrated was the Causeway Coastal Route with the researchers praising it as "one of the UK’s most rugged and raw beauty spots".
"One of the best ways to experience the coast is on this scenic drive from Belfast to Derry," they said.
"Despite 98.1 per cent of the journey’s Tripadvisor reviews being positive, the road trip had just 23,700 searches in the last 12 months.
"To put that into perspective, the famous Route 66 trip had over 6.5 million searches in the same period. This is surprising considering the Causeway Coastal Route’s fame."
Taking second place in the survey is France’s Route des Crêtes, which despite the stunning and highly reviewed views that this road trip has to offer, it was searched just 131,200 times in the last year.
In third place are two US-based road trips - Foothills Parkway in Tennessee, with its spectacular views of the Great Smoky Mountains. Lamar Valley - often called America’s Serengeti - took fourth spot and was highlighted for providing visitors with the opportunity to spot wolves, bison, badgers and bears.
