It's Top Gear's special Adventures issue!

So, what's an adventure, anyway? Well, there has to be a challenge in there, to begin with – otherwise it's just a trip.

It should be a journey into the unknown, too. Maybe not for humanity, but certainly for you. Whether that's an unknown road, an unknown country, an unknown destination or an unknown quantity in the vehicle you've chosen to undertake your adventure, knowing everything is the surest-fire way to avoid adventure, not find it. 

It also helps if it's a pretty big undertaking – crossing a desolate mountain pass in South Africa, for instance – and even better if, at some point, you find yourself completely and entirely out of your element.  

So, armed with this flimsy checklist, TG's finest writers and photographers went off into the unknown to find adventure and share it, in handy magazine form. Want an idea of what's inside Top Gear's Adventures special? Here, allow us...

You can't have a list of the greatest driving roads in the world without including... the UAE. No, really – to prove it, the intrepid Tom Ford sets off across in one of the best McLarens to date: the 570 GT. Cue much sand and incipient heatstroke.

Old vs new. Classic vs futuristic. 911R vs NSX. But how do we decide which is best? A short jaunt across Europe and over the Austrian Alps (and then back over, and then back over again for good luck) should do it.

After the Brexit vote, Britain's probably not on the best terms with the European Union. In an effort to restore faith in all things British, it's time for a goodwill tour in the new Aston DB11. Not sure of where to visit in the EU, we settled on... everywhere.

Quick – point to Montenegro on a map. Yeah, thought so. We decided that this forgotten gem on the southern Adriatic deserved a bit more international prestige. Unfortunately, some of the roads are a little... crap. So, uncork Jag's sporty SUV to soak up the punishment...

We love the new Civic Type R. Well, of course we do – the thing didn't win TG's Car of the Year by getting laughed out of contention. But we'll admit that the overt styling is not... sympatico with England's stone houses and country lanes. 

But where does the Type R make sense? Time to head to its home turf to find out.

The Land Rover Discovery sells on... well, its name, these days. But it earned that name by being an unassailable off-road weapon. So, to make sure the new 'un hasn't gone soft, it's time to take the Disco through four seasons, five countries and every conceivable surface (as well as some better left without conception) to find out.

Turns out hell does exist. And that there's a road to it.

So, is it paved with good intentions? Well, no... they chose not to pave it at all.

Ah, the MX-5... the everyday sportscar. But what if your everyday commute is across the length and breadth of Alaska? Erm. Well, it's consumer advice advocate Tom Ford's job to find out. And not get eaten by errant brown bears.

We've got from sun-up to sundown to do a lap of Iceland. Impossible, right? Not if you've got 21 hours of daylight and a Nissan GT-R...

Canada is big. Like, really big. But what if there were a smaller version, with all the beauty and none of the 'good grief, it's still going' expanse? Well, we may have found it – and it may also be... part of Canada. Time for the most compressed road trip ever...

Tom Ford goes chasing unprecedentedly beautiful meteor showers in the most luxurious car of all time. As you do. 

Fret not; karma rebalances itself when Wook is besieged by mosquitoes the size of grapefruit.

Jack Rix heads eastbound and down in the modern take on the classic Trans-Am. Does he have a snowball's chance of recreating the epic beer run from Smokey and the Bandit?

Velar? Surely that's not a proper Range Rover, right? Well, time to head to the wilds of Norway to find out. Cue the Röyksopp!

All this and more (such as jumping a Hilux off Namibian sand dunes, for instance) is in our supremely fancy and exceptionally buyable Top Gear Adventures special.

Available from all good newsagents! And some crap ones. And via the internet, here.