The best scenic driving routes in the Forza Horizon games

What’s better than the idea of a road trip? It’s one of the most romantic and liberating forms of travel — combining go-anywhere freedom with the ability to quickly cover large distances and drink in the landscape as you travel. In the real world, though, clogged roads and energy efficiency concerns can dent your enjoyment; motor touring isn’t quite what it was in its mid-20th-century heyday.

Fortunately, we have a great virtual alternative. The Forza Horizon series of racing games is set in huge open-world maps based on stunning, real-world tourist destinations: Colorado, the Mediterranean coast, Australia, the British mainland, and Mexico. Each game compresses some of its chosen area’s most iconic scenery into one artfully rearranged map, studded with towns, sweeping freeways, and winding mountain roads. The artists and technicians at Playground Games have made sure it all looks absolutely gorgeous, too. The result is some of the best virtual tourism you’ll find.

This week on Polygon, we’re looking at games that feel like vacations for your brain in a package we’re calling Retreat Week.

Below, I’ve mapped out some of my favorite sightseeing tours from across all five Forza Horizon games. Sadly, due to the car and music licensing issues that beset so many racing games, all but Forza Horizon 5 have been delisted from sale. But they’re all backward compatible on Xbox Series X, so if you already own them, or can pick up physical copies, they’re still eminently playable, and all recommended. To make things easy, the routes all use the in-game GPS.

Some driving tips for your scenic tours: Remember, it’s not a race! You don’t need to use your fastest car — in fact, something from a slower class is probably preferable, so you have time to take in the scenery and won’t need to be so focused on not crashing. Choose a car with an engine that sounds good to you, go easy on the accelerator, and consider using manual transmission and shifting up early to keep the revs low and chill. Camera is a matter of personal preference, but if you use a third-person rather than in-car view, you can use the right stick to smoothly pan around and check out the view as you cruise. Tune in your favorite radio station — or turn it off entirely — and enjoy.

Forza Horizon: Out West 

The first Forza Horizon game, from 2012, is set on a relatively compact map, inspired by the U.S. state of Colorado, yet it still has a real sense of scale as it sweeps from the red-rock canyons of the Southwest through open plains and autumnal woodlands to the drama of the Rockies. Whether you play it on Xbox 360 or in 4K on Xbox Series X, this is a beautiful-looking game with scenery worth drinking in.

Route 1: Downtown Carson to Red Rock Observatory

Start at the North Carson Horizon Outpost, then set a route to the Horizon Outpost in Red Rock Heights in the southwest corner of the map. This quintessentially American road trip takes you through a modern downtown then out onto the plains, with a view of the main Horizon Festival site to the east. Then you make a spectacular, winding climb up past russet-hued spires and cliffs of rock, and are rewarded at the end with a breathtaking view over the whole map toward the Rockies.

Route 2: Gladstone Creek to Finley Dam

Start at the Gladstone Creek Horizon Outpost, then set a route to the Rockstar Cliff Run race on the far eastern edge of the map. This mountain route cuts through a dramatically deep gorge, through a tall pine forest, and past a stunning waterfall, with an impressive, snow-capped peak towering over you all the way. It finishes by cutting down to a dam clearly inspired by the real-life Hoover Dam — a monumental slab of curved concrete backed by a glassy reservoir.

Recommended rides: I used my 1957 Ferrari 250 California for these drives, but if you want to honor the American auto industry, how about the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429?

Forza Horizon 2: Cruising the Med

While it still takes some pretty big geographical liberties, the second game’s map — which takes in a small corner of southeastern France and northwestern Italy — is designed with a little more specificity and realism than the others. As a consequence, it’s not the most varied or spectacular location in the series, but it makes up for that with a gorgeously evocative rendition of the area’s glamorous Mediterranean coastline and rustic landscape, dotted with historic medieval towns.

Route 1: Nice to Castelletto

Start at the Nice Masséna festival hub and set a route for the Il Tricolore Aereo event in the southeastern corner of the map. This is the classic Mediterranean coast drive, starting in the chic metropolis of Nice and then winding under vertiginous cliffs, with a romantic sea view to the right, all the way to the charming port town Castelletto. Continue a little way past the event start point for a stunning view over the bay.

Route 2: San Giovanni to Tenuta Montellino

Fast travel to the San Giovanni festival hub and set a route to the lakeside castle of Tenuta Montellino, not far to the northeast. Take a minute to explore the cobbled streets of the medieval walled town of San Giovanni before you set off for the castle. On the way, you’ll take in a sweeping view over vineyards and rows of cypress trees, with the rugged Maritime Alps spread out in a petrol-blue haze on the horizon.

Recommended rides: For opening-of-The Italian Job vibes, it’s got to be the 1967 Lamborghini Miura. But if you want something a little less slippery in the bends on the winding coast road, a 1992 Lancia Delta HF Integrale won’t go wrong.

Forza Horizon 3: Outback adventure

This is perhaps Playground Games’ most fanciful map, cramming in every conceivable biome from Australia’s vast landmass: Outback wilderness, subtropical rainforest, winemaking valleys, and surfing coastline. It’s pretty spectacular, and it’s also very off-road-friendly, so feel free to wander off the beaten track as you explore. Handily for our purposes, Forza Horizon 3 also introduces Beauty Spots that highlight some of the game’s best views.

Route 1: Surfers Paradise to the Twelve Apostles

Start from the Surfers Paradise festival hub and set a route to the Ocean View Trail race starting line in the southeast. This is a straightforward bomb down the east coast with some dramatic off-road beach driving. It starts in a glassy, Melbourne-inspired cityscape, cuts through the rusting hulks of the Silver Sands Shipwrecks, takes in a stretch of the Great Ocean Road, and ends with a drive through the towering coastal rock formations of the Twelve Apostles. Carry on to the end of the beach and turn up to the Apostles Cliff Danger Sign for a great view back along the coast.

Route 2: Glass House Mountain to Ormiston Gorge

Start at the Glass House Mountain Beauty Spot, south of the center of the map, and set a route for the Ormiston Gorge Beauty Spot in the far north. You set off into the heart of the Maroondah rainforest, with its towering trees; as you emerge from the forest, be sure to check over your right shoulder for a great view of the blunt mass of the Glass House peak. Then you swoop down through farmland into the parched, rust-hued Outback, splashing through shallow riverbeds on your way to the deep gorge.

Recommended rides: An off-road vehicle is a good idea, and captures the rugged spirit of the map. The humble 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor, America’s workhorse, is a great pick. Alternatively, for local color, you can’t beat the 1974 Holden Sandman HQ Panel Van (with surfboard roof rack, of course).

Forza Horizon 4: Highland fling

Playground Games is on its home turf with this U.K. map, and it might be the studio’s greatest achievement. Balancing the spectacle of 3 with the authenticity of 2, it’s a gorgeously romantic evocation of the British mainland. In its surprisingly accurate rendition of Edinburgh, it also has the best cityscape in the series by far.

Route 1: Glenfinnan Viaduct to Arthur’s Seat

Start from the Glen Rannoch Trail event in the northwest and set a route to the Holyrood Park Drift Zone over in the northeast part of the map. This stunning Scottish tour takes you under the Glenfinnan Viaduct, through stark Highland scenery, and down into Edinburgh, where you’ll blast past Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Monument before heading down the Royal Mile and up onto the rocky hillsides of Arthur’s Seat. If your car is up to it, go off-road at the end and climb up for a beautiful view over the city and the Firth of Forth.

Route 2: Broadway to Bamburgh Castle

Fast travel to the starting line for The Colossus on the map’s southern edge, and set a route for the Bamburgh Castle player house on the eastern coast. (The GPS will try to take you up the motorway — ignore this and turn right at the roundabout to head up the coast road instead.) This drive somehow takes you from a quaint Cotswold village watched over by an old windmill, through typical English countryside, to an impressive castle on the windswept coast of Northumberland.

Recommended rides: Choose a classic British sports car — this game has loads of them. Perhaps the 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 or 1964 Aston Martin DB5, or, if you really want to ride in aristocratic British style, the gigantic 1931 supercharged Bentley.

Forza Horizon 5: Dunes and ruins

Forza Horizon 5’s huge Mexico map, dominated by the high-altitude Gran Caldera volcano, matches 3’s Australia for sheer variety and spectacle. There are plenty of astonishing vistas to be found across its landscape of rainforest, sand dunes, scrubland, and verdant hills. And, like 4 before it, it benefits from the atmospheric seasons that change weekly, bringing monsoons and blazing heat.

Route 1: Gran Telescopio to Dunas Blancas

Fast travel to the starting line for Las Dunas Cross Country, on the summit of La Gran Caldera volcano, and set a route for the Buenas Vistas player house on the map’s western edge. The GPS will send you down the switchbacks, but ignore this and drive over the Event Horizon Danger Sign and down the side of the mountain on a vertiginous but straight track. You can then either follow the new GPS route or, if your car is up to it, just head for the destination marker and power over the dunes. This route takes you through an otherworldly landscape — starting from a stratospheric altitude, with view to match, and through the towering white dunes of Dunas Blancas, ending with a great view of the El Arco de Cabo San Lucas rock formations.

Route 2: Guanajuato to Ek’ Balam

Fast travel to the starting point for the Panorámica Sprint, and set a route for anywhere in Ek’ Balam in the southeast. This tour takes you from the popping pastel colors of the map’s main city, Guanajuato, through a fertile, humid farming region and into the southern rainforests, ending at the ancient ruins of Ek’ Balam, where you can freely explore.

Recommended rides: For the first route, a buggy or rally raid car like the 1969 Volkswagen Baja Bug would be perfect. For the second, why not chill out (and look great against the colors of Guanajuato) behind the wheel of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air?