I did both of them this weekend (in the car), and I can clearly say that the BRP is much better by far than the skyline drive in Northern VA. The BRP leads right into Skyline, but at the start of the skyline there is a $15 per car fee to use the park (lame). The speed limit is also 35 and it really isnt a warranted drop in the speed limit either, there is nothing tighter on 90% of the road than on almost the entirety of the BRP, the road except for a few turns in quick succession in the northern end is all long fast sweepers. the skyline also has a much higher police/sheriff/ranger presence than the BRP, They mostly stuck to construction areas and the intersections, but there were as many cops as other people on the entire road.
I will say that the pavement on almost the entirety of the skyline is better, and the crappy pavement is in the process of being re-paved (quite a few sections). There was almost no traffic on the skyline either, I passes 4 cars in total over the entire 105 mile trip, and saw maybe 2 dozen coming in the opposite direction. The skyline seemed to also have much more wildlife, probably attributed to the lack of traffic, which resulted in a few near deer misses and 3 bear sightings.
Recommendation is to skip the skyline completely avoiding a $15 toll and just have fun on the BRP which is a great road in unto itself. good pavement and lack of traffic dont make up for the massive amounts of animals, lower speeds, larger police presence, and slightly lackluster overall experience
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Drive
