They paved paradise and put up a parking lot . . . ” That’s the song the porters and guides who used to work on Nepal’s Annapurna circuit will be humming this trekking season. Because the Nepali government has flattened their great Himalayan hiking route beneath a road.

Two roads, in fact. One, finished last year, rendered the west side of the circuit ; the other, due for completion this year, almost makes a high-altitude ring road. It’ll do wonders for Nepal’s trading links, but one of the world’s great treks is suddenly covered in gravel and tar.

That’s progress, folks — the inaccessible becoming accessible, and an adventure becoming a doddle. But don’t hang up your hiking boots yet. From Turkey to Tanzania, the Highlands to other parts of the Himalayas, the world is full of spectacular places you still can’t reach by road. We’ve scoured the globe to bring you the best car-free corners, where you’ll still relish the achievement of arrival as much as the eye-popping view. So tip your driver, wave him off and strike out alone.

Unless stated, prices are per person, based on two sharing. Flights, where included, are from London; contact the operator for regional departure options

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SOURCE OF THE GANGES
India

It’s not every glacial stream that has pilgrims bathing naked in it, but then Gaumukh — the Cow’s Mouth — is no ordinary glacial stream. Springing from the snout of the Gangotri glacier, 12,600ft up in the Himalayan region of Garhwal, 150 miles northeast of Delhi, this is the main source of the Ganges, hence the 100,000-odd Hindus who make the trek here every year.

With ash-covered sadhus meditating in caves along the route, and the rich and elderly often carried in palanquins, you may be miles from the nearest road, but you’re in the thick of life as only India knows it.

Get me there: a 17-day Source of the Ganges trek starts at £1,995, including a 10-day trek (camping), all meals outside Delhi, transfers and British Airways flights to Delhi, through Mountain Kingdoms (01453 844400, mountainkingdoms.com ).

CALA ERBAJU
Corsica

Tucked away on the southwest coast of Corsica, 45 minutes by foot from the nearest road at Roccapina, Cala Erbaju is a one-mile strip of bone-white beach that’s way off the tourist map.

Forget it if you have small kids with you: the path, which heads west up over the obvious ridge behind the car park at Rocca- pina Bay (nearly two miles off the N196, along a rutted piste that dips downhill from Auberge Coralli), is lovely if you like lavender and myrtle, but hideous with beach balls and Lilos.

Erbaju can be windy, too, and with little natural shade. Be here as the afternoon sun is dipping towards the warm, cobalt horizon, however, and there’s little to remind you that this is Corsica, not the Cook Islands.

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