Reel Adventures: Road Movies Retraced

Although Dennis Hopper’s seminal film kicks off in Mexico, we recommend following the voyage of self-discovery it depicts from the second location shown, which is to say the end of the LAX runway. It’s from here that Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (producer-star Peter Fonda) ride out of California via arguably the most famous public highway in the world, US Route 66. Though the road itself runs 2,451 miles between LA and Chicago, our anti-heroes have the great sense to head north while traversing Arizona, allowing them to savour an atmospheric night in Monument Valley. From there, Billy and Wyatt rejoin 66 before heading south when leaving Oklahoma and making for New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras.

While the boys hang out with the young Jack Nicholson on their trip, we’re sure the sun-burnt landscape will prove company enough, what with the miles and miles of chaparral not only making the road seem spectacularly open but also bringing to mind any number of movies and songs. Speaking of music, the "Easy Rider" road to self-discovery comes complete with its own classic soundtrack. Roaring into life courtesy of Steppenwolf’s "Born To Be Wild," the album takes in Jimi Hendrix ("If 6 Was 9"), The Band ("The Weight") and Roger McGuinn (delivering a blistering cover of Bob Dylan’s "It’s Alright, Ma"). And speaking of the big Byrd, it’s also he who performs the Dylan-composed "Ballad Of Easy Rider," a song which, like Hopper’s movie, has long outlived the hazy era it so vividly depicts.

Another counter-culture classic is Richard C. Sarafian’s "Vanishing Point" (1971), which stars Barry Newman as Kowalski, a car thief who stakes money on being able to drive a hot muscle car from Denver, Colorado, to San Francisco, California, in just 15 hours. Set at a time when anyone who thumbed their nose at authority was championed, Kowalski’s actions make him something of a folk hero. But while Robin Hood’s heroics were celebrated in the songs of Alan A’Dale, the hot-rodder is celebrated by Super Soul ("Blazing Saddles‘" Cleavon Little), a blind DJ whose access to a police scanner enables our (anti)hero to keep ahead of the cops. Packed to the fender with speedometer-busting car chases and nubile nude motorcyclists, Sarafian’s film might very much be a child of the 1970s, but the journey it depicts is timeless. The 870-mile stretch of Interstate 70 alone is the stuff of driving dreams, taking you all the way from the "Mile High City" and the Rockies to the western edge of the Utah Sierras. A drive so thrilling as to recall a particularly compelling "Top Gear" expedition — just be warned that the high altitude can affect your concentration and reflexes.

One other word of advice — if you like a spot of music while you drive, ditch the hit-and-miss original soundtrack and substitute it with Primal Scream’s "Vanishing Point," an album partially inspired by the movie and features both quotable dialogue samples and a real killer of a track called "Kowalski."

Two out-of-work actors spend a weekend in the country — that’s pretty much all the plot Bruce Robinson’s directorial debut, "Withnail & I" (1987) has going for it. But since the BAFTA-winning "Killing Fields" screenwriter scripted the plot, the fact it’s threadbare is neither here nor there. No, "Withnail & I" is essentially a movie about two men talking; and my, how they talk — that we’re not quoting dialogue right now is a mercy for which you should be grateful. So instead let’s concentrate on the aforementioned jaunt, the one that takes Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann in a knackered old jag from crumbling 1969 Camden to the ever stunning Lake District. In reality, it is a drive with a dream destination.

Fingers crossed, you should have a happier time of it than the protagonists whose holiday is ruined by randy bulls and over-amorous uncles. With the M6 removing most headaches en route to Cumbria, you can find the infamous Crow Crag holiday cottage by leaving the motorway at Junction 40 just outside Penrith and then taking the A6 to the village of Shap. Crow Crag itself lies a few miles beyond but can be reached if you follow the signs to the local reservoir. And speaking of the notorious bolt hole, after years of seeming on the brink of collapse, it’s now in very rude health thanks to a successfully restoration project. Should you be keen to celebrate your trip by sampling the finest wines known to humanity, beware that the tea shop in question is closer to Milton Keynes than Kendal.