If you want an uplifting motor tour this weekend, head for the hills. That is the conclusion of a poll of favourite roads which bears out WH Auden's couplet: I like mountains too - seen from afar; I like to travel through them in a car.

The top four routes all wind through vistas of peaks and moors, from the road to the Scottish isles to the pass of Llanberis in the heart of Snowdonia. The Peak District scores with the Cat and Fiddle pass in spite of its bends and speeding bikers, and the overall winner in the Direct Line poll is the drably-named A592 in the Lake District, better known as the Highway through Heaven.

Join this grand highway at Windermere and after florid Victorian villa architecture wind away through the beautiful valley of Troutbeck. Climb the beetling bends to the dramatic watershed of the Kirkstone Pass. It is easy to park here and nip up Red Screes, maybe reciting more mountain poetry.

There was a lad as loved a lass,

Who lived at t'top of t'Kirkstone Pass.

He said: 'Ah'll love thee for ivver 'n' ivver.

But will I visit thee? Nivver, nay nivver.' They didn't have cars then.

The descent to Ullswater frames one of the world's loveliest views along the S-shaped lake to the prehistoric temples in the woods above Pooley Bridge.

The insurance firm Direct Line spoke to more than 2,000 motorists and found that certain key ingredients make a great drive. Coastal views top the league table followed closely by rural scenery. One in eight drivers said they liked cityscape driving at night - despite the potential for jams.

As well as voting for their favourite roads, motorists also said they viewed their cars as providers of more pleasure than stress.

Of the 89% of Britons who claim to enjoy driving, more than a third admit to hitting the road for between two and three hours a week just because they find it pleasurable.