Road Trip Through History

What better way to explore history than to travel? What's a better way to travel than to take a road trip? What's a better road to travel than a road that has been around for tens, hundreds, even thousands, of years? We have 7 suggestions for road trips around the world. Whether you are a real traveler or an armchair traveler--take a trip.

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1. A trade route between China and Imperial Rome, the Silk Road was about 6,000 km (4,000 mi) long, and was used regularly between 100 BC and the 5th century AD. In the 13th century, Marco Polo took a three-year journey to China along the Silk Road.

2. The Oregon Trail ran from Independence, Missouri, to the Columbia River in Oregon, across about 3,200 km (about 2,000 mi). The main pioneer route to the northwestern United States, it took about 6 months to travel by covered wagon.

3. If you want to have a speedy trip, maybe you should travel one of Germany's autobahns. Germany has about 11,000 km (about 6,800 mi) of these superhighways, and they enforce no speed limit.

4. Built in 312 BC by the Roman censor Appius Claudius Caecus, the Appian Way was more than 560 km (more than 350 mi) long. Parts of the route are still in use today.

5. Following the Blue Ridge mountain range for 756 km (470 mi) through Virginia and North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway* averages about 910 m (about 3,000 ft) above sea level.

6. About 1,255 km (about 780 mi) long from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Santa Fe Trail splits in two along the Arkansas River. It offers travelers a choice between two obstacles: the Cimarron Desert or the rugged Raton Pass.

7. The Pan-American Highway offers a one-route journey from Alaska through South America. One section, however, remains unfinished: Between eastern Panama and northwestern Colombia lies a gap of about 160 km (about 100 mi). It is mostly jungle.

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