British motoring events planner 2025
You’ve got your new car but where are you going to drive it? Our selection of events and road trips will provide some inspiration
With warmer weather (hopefully) around the corner, now is the perfect time to start planning your performance car fix for 2025 with our top choices of the best automotive events taking place throughout the year.
As you'll find out below, there's plenty of action on four (and occasionally two) wheels taking place in 2025 to suit all tastes, whether you want to get up close and personal with the latest supercar technology, or admire automotive royalty from the past.
Not only have we compiled a list of the best automotive places to visit at any point throughout the year, we've also composed a rundown of the biggest events occurring in the UK over the summer - get the dates in your diary and lets hope for some sun!
Brooklands Museum
Details: brooklandsmuseum.com
Weybridge, Surrey is the location for the “original home of British motorsport and aviation,” which made history as the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit in 1907. Although racing stopped there in 1939, its heritage is gloriously recognised by the Brooklands Museum, which features a compelling collection of cars and aeroplanes (the facility was used to produce military aircraft during World War II), as well as interactive tours and simulators. And with the London Bus Museum on site and Mercedes-Benz World nearby, it’s perfect for those who fancy a transport-themed weekend away.
CarFest
Details: carfest.org
If ever there was an event that does what it says on the tin, it’s CarFest. Created by DJ and former Top Gear presenter Chris Evans in 2012, it’s a no-holds barred celebration of fast cars and music held at Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire (owned by 1979 Formula One world champion, Jody Scheckter, no less). Some of the world’s rarest high-performance motors are on hand to show their potential on the CarFest track, while curated static displays allow punters to get up close. It’s all accompanied by a soundtrack of live music from a string of top acts, which for 2025 includes Travis, Madness, Squeeze and the Lightning Seeds.
Causeway Coastal Route
Details: causewaycoastalroute.com
Rather remarkably, a survey published in 2019 found that three in four Brits have never visited Northern Ireland, and nearly 40 per cent have little interest in doing so. If this applies to you, think again, because it offers drivers one of the UK’s most appealing and culturally interesting road trips, in the form of the Causeway Coastal Route. Connecting Belfast and Londonderry/Derry, the 120-mile route delivers spectacular coastal scenery, the majestic Giant’s Causeway (a Unesco World Heritage site) and filming locations for TV’s Game of Thrones.
Coventry Transport Museum
Details: transport-museum.com
Younger readers may be surprised to learn that the West Midlands city of Coventry was once known as Britain’s Detroit on account of it being a hub for UK car manufacturing, with the likes of Daimler, Jaguar, Hillman, Morris and Rootes all having facilities there. No surprise, then, that the area’s rich history is recorded in the Coventry Transport Museum. With more than 250 vehicles – including the world land speed record-breaking Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 – it’s a reminder of how England once led the way in automotive innovation.
Goodwood Revival
Details: goodwood.com
Lord March holds two major annual motoring events each year. The first is the Festival of Speed. It’s followed by the Revival, an unashamed nostalgia-fest that celebrates iconic cars and fashions of the past. Staged entirely in period theme, it offers visitors the opportunity to turn the clock back with some stylish attire and pay homage to the finest performance machines from years gone by. Among the classics set to appear this year are the Aston Martin DB3S and Jaguar C-type from the fifties, plus the sixties’ Ferrari 250 GT and Jaguar E-Type, and F1 Grand Prix cars made between 1961 and 1965. If you’ve ever said “things aren’t like they used to be”, this is the event for you.
Goodwood Festival of Speed
Details: goodwood.com
A victim of its own success? Possibly. “Motorsport’s ultimate summer garden party” has attracted some sniping in recent times, mainly on account of escalating costs and traffic problems. What’s undeniable, though, is that the Sussex spectacular remains the highlight of the British motoring calendar, with hundreds of thousands of car fans attending every year to see some of the world’s most exotic machines go up the hill on the famous estate on the South Downs.
Grampian Transport Museum
Details: gtm.org.uk
Aside from being the unlikely home of Brit-winning pop star Emeli Sandé, the pretty village of Alford in Aberdeenshire – population 2,600 – has few claims to fame, but it’s a worthwhile visit for petrolheads on account of the Grampian Transport Museum. The award-winning GTM has an interesting permanent collection of some true motoring curios, and in 2025, TV’s Guy Martin will lend it some of his prized possessions. Even better, the museum is only a short diversion from the North East 250 (northeast250.com).
Haynes Motor Museum
Details: haynesmuseum.org
While there’s a domestic focus to some of the museums featured on our lists, the Haynes Motor Museum – which takes its name from John Haynes, who founded the renowned publishing empire of workshop motoring manuals – is more worldly in its outlook. As such, it features the UK’s biggest collection of classic vehicles from some of the greatest manufacturers around the globe, including Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini – all of which can be found in the Red Room, with more than 40 red sports cars. Situated in Sparkford, Somerset, the museum is just off the A303.
Museum of Land Speed
Details: cofgar.wales
Pendine Sands, on the shore of Carmarthen Bay in south Wales, became synonymous with land speed record attempts after Sir Malcolm Campbell drove the iconic Sunbeam Bluebird into history there in 1924, by reaching a then unheard-of 146.16mph. Now visitors can relive the drama of Campbell’s record-breaking exploits courtesy of the Museum of Land Speed, which opened in May 2023. A permanent interactive exhibition details the beach’s rich history of speed attempts, and occasionally plays host to legendary vehicles such as the V12-engined Babs.
National Motor Museum
Details: nationalmotormuseum.org.uk
With more than 280 cars, motorcycles and other motoring-related items in its extensive, world-famous collection, the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire is an essential visit for those with petrol in their veins. As its size would suggest, the topics covered are eclectic, and encompass such diverse themes as luxury motoring, classic Fords and even crash tests. However, one exhibition that is enduringly popular is On Screen Cars: a showcase of some of the greatest vehicles to appear on TV and in film, which includes Del Boy’s Reliant from Only Fools and Horses, and the flying Ford Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
North Coast 500
Details: northcoast500.com
If you’ve never been to the beautiful Highlands of Scotland, what are you waiting for? The region offers some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world, and in the 516-mile North Coast 500 there’s a ready-made road trip that allows you to drink in all its imperious wonders. Taking in remote fishing villages, rugged mountains, deserted sandy beaches and historic castles, it’s a unique experience – and if you time your visit right, you may even see the Northern Lights. Inverness, Caithness, Sutherland and Wester Ross all provide options for en-route stop-offs.
Shelsley Walsh
Details: shelsleywalsh.com
This year marks 120 years of action at Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, which proudly describes itself as “the oldest motorsport venue in the world still using its original course”. Set in the beautiful, rolling hills of Worcestershire, it has presented a stiff challenge to some great names over the decades, including Stirling Moss, Hannu Mikkola and Andy Priaulx. And there’s still a regular calendar of events providing high-adrenaline thrills.
Silverstone
Details: silverstone.co.uk
The Northamptonshire circuit is known the world over as the home of the British Grand Prix, and has played host to many classic races through the ages. But there’s much more to Silverstone than Formula One, which makes it a great day out even when the GP isn’t in town. For a start, there’s the opportunity to grapple with the track yourself courtesy of a range of different driving experience packages that allow you behind the wheel of any (or all) of the McLaren 620R, Ferrari F430 Coupé, Aston Martin Vantage and
a Formula Single Seater.
The Great British Car Journey
Details: greatbritishcarjourney.com
This is another collection that pays homage to Britain’s pedigree in making cars that “changed the world for good” – but with a twist. The ‘journey’ involves following a timeline, starting in 1922 with a selection of Austin Sevens, and concluding in the 1990s, when the number of UK manufacturing plants began to dwindle. Another highlight of this attraction in Ambergate, Derbyshire, is the opportunity to get behind the wheel of some of the models on display on designated ‘Drive Dad’s Car’ days. Choose from more than 35 classics.
The Isle of Man
Details: iommotoringevents.com
For two weeks each year, this small island in the Irish Sea plays host to some of the most manic motorsport imaginable. Motorcycle riders vie for glory in the TT Races that have gained a notorious reputation for speeds in excess of 200mph. Visit the IoM then, by all means, but we’d rather wait until the TT party has packed up and left. Then you can take your car over – you can catch a ferry from Liverpool, Heysham in Lancs, or Belfast – and drive the spectacular 37.7-mile Mountain Course yourself (at a much more leisurely pace). Only then will you truly appreciate the sheer madness of a TT race lap record that clocks in at an average speed of more than 133mph. There’s plenty more to do and see in the Isle of Man, too, with an annual motoring festival in September and, this year, additional Mini and Ford-focused events.
2025 dates for your diary
May
2-4: Donington Historic Festival, Leicestershire
21-25: Concours on Savile Row, London
26 May-7 June: Isle of Man TT Races
June
3-5: London Concours
July
4-6: British Grand Prix, Silverstone, Northamptonshire
10-13: Goodwood Festival of Speed, West Sussex
20: Scottish Festival of Motoring, Edinburgh
August
15-17: British Motor Show, Farnborough, Hampshire
22-24: CarFest, Hampshire
22-24: Silverstone Festival
27-30: Salon Privé Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
September
5-7: Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace, London
12-14: Goodwood Revival
18-21: Isle of Man Festival of Motoring
November
2: London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
Have we missed any out? Let us know which car events you'll be going to in the comments below...
