Originally Posted by John E

I concur with the comments about choosing routes based on traffic safety and road design, including speed limits, bike lanes, and intersection hazards, such as right side merges and free right turns (in countries in which we drive on the right -- Machcka and Rowan need to reverse this for Tasmania ).

Hills are not a particular concern for me, because I lived in west Los Angeles when I took up serious cycling as a UCLA student, and most of my favorite rides were in the hills of Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Malibu.