Self-Drive & Fly-Drive
Three Roads Worth Flying For
Three fly-drive journeys where the road is the point: a Pacific coast drive paired with an Alaska cruise, the length of New Zealand’s South Island in five-star comfort, and Europe’s most beautiful short drive on Norway’s Atlantic Road.
There is a particular kind of freedom that only arrives once you have the keys in your hand and the map open on the passenger seat. A fly-drive holiday gives you the reach of a long-haul flight and the intimacy of a road trip in the same breath: you land somewhere far from home, collect a car, and from that moment the itinerary is yours. Where you stop for lunch, how long you linger at a viewpoint, which side road you follow because the light looked good down there, all of it belongs to you.
This week’s stream is built around that feeling, across three very different landscapes. One pairs the Pacific coast of Canada with a week at sea in Alaska. One threads the length of New Zealand’s South Island, from the whale grounds off Kaikoura to the still water of Milford Sound. And one traces a short, spectacular stretch of the Norwegian coast, where the road itself becomes the reason to go. Each is a self-drive at heart, and each is designed so the driving is the pleasure rather than the chore.
What ties them together is the way they are put together. These are curated journeys, with the flights, the cars, the ferries and the nights all arranged in advance, so the only thing left for you to do is drive. Below, each route in full: the experience, exactly what is included, and the price to travel. Prices are the operator’s own and are shown as we quote them, with no markup from us.
Driving the Pacific Coast and Cruising Alaska
This is two holidays folded into one. You begin behind the wheel on Canada’s west coast, following the Sea-to-Sky Highway out of Vancouver, one of the great coastal drives, climbing from the water’s edge toward Whistler with the fjord opening up beside you. From there you cross to Vancouver Island by ferry and give yourself over to the Pacific Rim, where old-growth rainforest runs down to long, wild surf beaches. Then the pace changes entirely: you hand back the keys and board a ship for seven nights along the Alaskan coast, trading the road for glaciers, inlets and the slow theatre of the Inside Passage. Self-drive freedom first, a cruise finale second.
What’s included
- Return international flights from the UK (economy)
- Eight nights’ hotel accommodation
- Five days’ intermediate car hire with fully inclusive insurance
- BC Ferries, Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay
- Seven nights aboard a Holland America Line ship (inside cabin), full board
Pricing. From £2,508pp. Price correct at time of writing and confirmed at the point of quotation. Please note the Alaska cruise leg enters United States waters, so an approved ESTA is required before you travel; we will flag this with you at the quote stage.
Fifteen Days of South Island Indulgence
New Zealand’s South Island rewards the driver more than almost anywhere on earth, and this is the unhurried, five-star way to see it. Over a fortnight you loop out from Christchurch and back, and the route reads like a highlight reel of the island: the thermal pools at Hanmer Springs, a whale-watch cruise off Kaikoura, a full day on the water in Abel Tasman among the seals and the golden coves, and an overnight cruise on Milford Sound where the cliffs rise straight out of the fjord. There is a wilderness jet-boat safari up the Dart River, a glacier boat trip, and evenings in hand-picked properties chosen to be the best in each place you stop. The car is yours for all fifteen days, so the island unfolds at your own pace.
What’s included
- Return international flights (departures from London Heathrow, Edinburgh or Manchester)
- Fifteen days’ car hire (Toyota Corolla Hybrid or similar), insurance included
- Fourteen nights’ hand-picked five-star accommodation
- Hanmer Springs entry and a Kaikoura whale-watch cruise
- Full-day Cruise, Walk, Seals and Sail in Abel Tasman
- Milford Sound overnight cruise
- Dart River wilderness safari, Olveston House experience and a Glacier Explorer boat trip
Pricing. From £7,567pp for departures between 1 and 31 October 2026, and from £8,108pp for departures between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027. Both prices include international flights. Prices correct at time of writing and confirmed at the point of quotation; exact departure dates are confirmed with us at the time of booking.
Norway’s Atlantic Road and the Fjords
Some roads are a means to an end. The Atlantic Road is the end in itself. This short break is built around one of the most extraordinary drives in Europe, a ribbon of asphalt that hops from islet to islet on a series of low bridges, curling out over open water so that on a rough day the sea breaks across the tarmac. You begin in Bergen, the handsome timber city on the west coast, with two nights to wander the wharf and ride the funicular up Fløyen for the view back over the rooftops and the fjord. Then you fly north to Molde, collect the car, and spend three nights within reach of the coast road, the fjords and the mountains behind them. It is a compact trip with an outsized payoff: little driving, enormous scenery.
What’s included
- Flights from London to Bergen, Bergen to Molde, and the return to London (luggage included)
- Two nights at a boutique hotel in Bergen, bed and breakfast
- Three days’ car hire (Citroen C3 or similar), unlimited mileage, airport taxes and collision damage waiver included
- Three nights at a fjord-side hotel in Molde, bed and breakfast
- One return ride on the Fløyen funicular
Pricing. From £2,075pp including flights, based on high-season travel (June to August). Price correct at time of writing and confirmed at the point of quotation.
Ready to talk it through? Tell us which road is calling and we will build the quote around you.
Operated by Canadian Affair, ANZCRO and Best Served Scandinavia. ABTA and ATOL protected. Prices correct at time of writing and confirmed at the point of quotation.
A bespoke tour by Road Trip Club
