Scenic Route

Fictional road trips often involve long treks through picturesque landscapes, usually on two-lane country roads, passing by picturesque roadside attractions, when the characters would get there much faster if they just took the freeway. Taking the Scenic Route often results in An Aesop about the importance of enjoying the journey. (And sometimes the Scenic Route is the result of being lost when the driver is too proud to admit it.)

Occasionally the road will be a famous one, like Route 66 or the Pacific Coast Highway. Route 66 in particular has been the subject of many stories.

Chase Scenes can be prone to this too, passing by city landmarks in an order that defies logic to a local of the particular city.

It's a rare Road Movie that doesn't take the Scenic Route, if only because there are fewer plot hooks on the multi-lane freeways.

Advertising

 * A series of Geico ads feature this for motorcycle insurance. Employees take the week off from work to explore the world on the back of a cycle.

Film

 * The 2013 film Scenic Route is about a trip on a scenic route that goes wrong.
 * The 2012 movie Guilt Trip features this when Andy Brewster, played by Seth Rogen, takes his mother with him on a cross-country business trip to sell his science products to different companies, partly because he hopes to reunite her with the man she once loved, Anthony Margolis. He cancels one of his appointments so they can go to see the Grand Canyon.
 * In Zombieland as well as the sequel Double Tap, by virtue of the zombie apocalypse, the scenic route is the better option. No one can fly planes anymore, the main highways are crowded with abandoned cars, and there's more open space to root out zombies. Tallahassee takes the time to make a detour by Bill Murray's mansion, while Wichita and Little Rock risk their lives to get to Pacific Playland.

Live-Action TV

 * One part of the appeal of the early-1960s series Route 66 was that it was one of the few (non-Reality Show) series to be filmed entirely on the road, using for its backdrop actual locations. (Most of them weren't actually on or near the titular highway, but they were all real places, chosen for visual impact.)

Video Games

 * In Undertale, before one unlocks shortcuts between the different regions, Monster Kid takes the player character on a tour of Waterfall if you're doing the Pacifist or mostly-Neutral Route. They stop to admire the view of the Kingdom, aka New Home, while sharing an umbrella. You can take the scenic route if you like after this juncture, but it requires more backtracking.

Western Animation

 * Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner: According to Chuck Jones, the roadrunner never runs anywhere except the road (which makes sense). These roads, through gorgeous desert landscapes reminiscent of Monument Valley, seem to be narrow and winding.
 * Amphibia
 * In one of the canon shorts, this happens when Anne complains about being bored while riding with the family on Bessie the snail. After a suggestion from Hop Pop, they agree to take the "scenic route" where various natural hazards attack her and set her hair on fire. At the end of the short, after a question from Hop Pop, she cheers and asks if they can do it again. Watch it here.
 * "Night at the Inn": Subverted. The Plantars attempt to help Anne leave the mountains via the pass...but because of the early cold snap mentioned in "Snow Day," glaciers block the path. Offscreen, Sprig takes a despondent Anne on a dangerous nature hike, which ends with them running back to Bessie and shouting at Hop Pop to drive.
 * Discussed when the Plantars start their long trip out of the mountains. Sprig complains that Hop Pop won't let them have any fun, while Hop Pop wants to make it to Newtopia safely, and without wasting time. When Anne and Sprig find an ancient factory that starts up as Hop Pop comes to bust them, Hop Pop agrees that one or two stops can't hurt.
 * In season 3,
 * In the fourth episode of Gargoyles, part of a multi-episode pilot, Detective Elisa Mava and Goliath agree to meet at night to investigate a case involving Xanatos. While he cannot fly, he can glide, and he transports her around the city as Elisa indicates where he should turn. Taking a cab or the subway is a bad idea, given no one in New York knows what the gargoyles are. It's the moment where they develop an unspoken mutual attraction, as Elisa marvels at how beautiful New York looks from a bird's eye view.
 * The Owl House:
 * Normally, Eda asks Owlbert her Palisman to fly as fast as he can when she and her family make their getaway from the witch cops. Episode 2, however, has her take a detour to show her new apprentice Luz the Boiling Isles from the sky. They stop to marvel on how beautiful the isles are, built on the skeleton of a giant Titan. Eda uses it to cheer up Luz, who fell for a wizard that scammed her into thinking that she was a magical Chosen One; she says that in the Boiling Isles, you can decide who you want to be. Just as life emerged from a dead skeleton, Luz's destiny can emerge how she wants it.
 * A very heartwarming one. In "O Titan, Where Art Thou", King is suffering an identity crisis after learning.
 * Steven Universe: The Crystal Gems have warp pads that allow them to travel worldwide; the dismantled ones can help them hop planets if needed. Sometimes, however, they go for the scenic route.
 * "On the Run" features Steven and Amethyst deciding to act out an adventure from one of his stories; they make hobo bindles, hitch a ride to the outskirts of Beach City, and walk through the countryside until they can hop on a boxcar. There's a beautiful scene where they watch the sunset from atop the train and sing together. Amethyst reveals she wanted to return to a Homeworld Gem factory called the Kindergarten, based in the desert, and show it to Steven. The reason for this becomes heartbreaking when Amethyst revealed she overheard Pearl saying the now-defunct Kindergarten, where Amethyst was formed and found by Rose, was so horrible and Amethyst believes that it means Pearl hates her. Pearl catches up to them easily using the Warp Pad, asking with confusion and Anger Born of Worry about why they just vanished.
 * "Steven's Dream" has the Gems expressly forbid Steven from investigating the visions in his dreams, of seeing
 * "Now We're Falling Apart" has Pearl reveal that.
 * "Now We're Falling Apart" has Pearl reveal that.

Real Life

 * This map analyses roads by how much they wiggle so that motorcyclists can find the most fun ones to ride (if you enjoy leaning into turns anyway). Most of these would be byways and scenic routes since only the most mountainous regions would not allow for a straighter, quicker route between main destinations instead.