Europe's Most Bizarre Roundabout Is A Nerve-Racking Road Tourists Should Try To Avoid

Swindon in the U.K. doesn't get much love, even from Swindonians — in 2024, the Wiltshire town was named as one of the most depressing places to live in the country by readers of ILiveHere (via Swindon Advertiser). Its claims to fame are few and far between, but there are some notable connections with glamor and glitz. It was the birthplace of Diana Dors, Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, and two James Bond movies ("A View to a Kill" and "The World is Not Enough") both had scenes shot in the town. But Swindon's most famous feature by far is an eccentric-looking piece of urban planning: The nerve-racking Magic Roundabout, one of the strangest junctions in Europe.

The humble roundabout is a relatively new addition to Britain's roads, with the oldest dating back to 1909 in Letchworth in Hertfordshire. Gyratory traffic flow systems were taken to the next level in 1972 when Swindon's bog-standard Drove Road Roundabout was replaced by Frank Blackmore's innovative answer to road congestion. Originally called County Islands due to its five mini-roundabouts and islets arranged around a larger central hub, a legend was born when it took its nickname from the popular children's TV show, "The Magic Roundabout." In the 1980s, Swindon Council acknowledged the colloquial name and now road signs warn you that you are approaching the dreaded junction, renowned as one of the scariest in the United Kingdom. But how does the Magic Roundabout work, and is it as terrifying as its reputation suggests?

To fully appreciate why Swindon's Magic Roundabout is regarded as one of Europe's strangest junctions, it is worth taking a look of how it works from the air. It looks mind-bogglingly complex at first, with traffic entering the complex of mini-roundabouts and choosing a route seemingly at random, spinning around a bit, then leaving at the desired exit. There is a method behind the madness, however. 

As British roads faced increasing congestion in the '60s, traffic engineers at the Road Research Laboratory began experimenting with new concepts that might alleviate bottlenecks and reduce the need for destructive flyovers. With Swindon's Magic Roundabout, Frank Blackmore's' radical design kept vehicles moving on the intersection by introducing five mini-roundabouts that could be circumnavigated clockwise towards the quickest route off. Each mini-roundabout orbits a central hub where traffic travels in a counter-clockwise direction.

Sounds complicated? It can seem daunting for motorists, especially visitors from abroad still getting their heads around driving on the other side of the road, earning the Magic Roundabout its reputation as one of the scariest junctions in the country. In reality, it works rather well – Blackmore's original layout still serves motorists today, and it rarely encounters traffic jams even during rush hour. Despite the apparent free-for-all nature, it is also remarkably safe compared to similarly busy junctions across the U.K., registering only 14 serious accidents in 25 years (per The Swindon Post).

While Frank Blackmore's legendary design in Swindon is the official Magic Roundabout, there are also a few similar junctions in the U.K. to add to a quirky European road trip. Less than two hours away is Hemel Hempstead, once voted the ugliest town in Britain (via The Guardian). Located an hour's drive outside the capital, the town's Plough Roundabout makes for an alternative destination for road enthusiasts when visiting London. Locals also call it the Magic Roundabout, but the layout isn't quite so complex — without the addition of concrete traffic islands, it looks relatively serene from the air with six mini-roundabouts arranged around one large solid roundabout in the middle. Opened a year after Swindon's groundbreaking design, Hemel Hempstead's magic roundabout has variously been ranked as the second-worst roundabout (after Swindon) in 2005, via Easier.com, and Britain's best roundabout by motorists in 2011, via The Guardian.

Other magic roundabouts around Britain include Colchester's Greenstead Roundabout in Essex, which is also considered one of Britain's scariest roundabouts, and the Abbey Way Gyratory in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Lastly, you have the Denham Roundabout in Denham (also Buckinghamshire), although whether it is a magic roundabout or a magic gyratory is a topic of lively debate among motorists who care about that sort of thing. Returning to Swindon's Magic Roundabout, the best advice if you are nervous about tackling it is simply this: Trust the 50-year-old design and go with the flow!