No road trip is epic unless it has the ultimate road trip playlist. If you are planning a road trip, it is never too early to start looking up your favorite songs to enjoy during the drive!
With so many genres of music, it can be difficult to make everyone happy at all times but I’ve got you covered, with my top picks from across the last four decades of music!
Awesome Anthems
Every generation has that one song that becomes their song. A song that revives the soul and gets the juices following. Here are 10 of them!
- Steppenwolf - Born to be wild
- Bryan Adams - Summer of 69
- The Proclaimers - I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)
- Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
- Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
- Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
- Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar on Me
- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love rock ‘n’ roll
- Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
- Ed Sheeran - Castle on a Hill
Best Sing Along Songs
How can you have a road trip playlist without having sing along songs? Windows down, volume on loud and singing off-tune is a rite of passage for any roadtripper!
- George Ezra - Shotgun
- Blanco Brown - The Git Up
- Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
- Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Much
- Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack
- Tegan and Sara - I’ll Be Back Someday
- Trolls Soundtrack - Get Back Up Again
- The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin’
- Creedence Clearwater Revival- Bad Moon Rising
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
- Toy Story Soundtrack - You’ve Got a Friend in Me
- Moana Soundtrack - How Far I’ll Go
- Mother Goose Club - Driving in my car
Songs Everyone Knows
No matter who is traveling these are 10 songs everyone is guaranteed to know and enjoy!
- Maroon 5 - Memories
- Frozen Soundtrack - Let it Go
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
- Pinkfong - Baby Shark
- Super Simple Songs - The Wheels on the Bus
- The Jungle Book Soundtrack - The Bare Necessities
- Justin Timberlake - Can’t Stop the Feeling
- The Lion King Soundtrack - Hakuna Matata
- Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing
- The Jackson 5 - ABC
Songs that Make You Dance
Who said you can’t dance sitting down? These 15 songs say other wise! From Kenny Loggins to Ed Sheeran, from Elvis to Ava Max, I’ve got all genres covered!
- Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care
- Walk The Moon - Shut Up and Dance
- Tones & I - Dance Monkey
- The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
- Kenny Loggins - Footloose
- Katrina & The Waves - Walking on Sunshine
- Elvis Vs. JXL - A Little Less Conversation
- Pharrell Williams - Happy
- David Guetta - Memories
- Rhianna - Pon de Replay
- P!nk - So What
- Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
- Glee Cast - Greased Lightning
- Outkast - Hey Ya
- Ava Max - Sweet but Psycho
Printable Kid's Travel Journal
It’s time for your next family adventure―and kids will remember every second of fun-filled adventure. You went WHERE? is packed with journaling prompts and activities so that no memory goes unwritten. Young adventurers can write down everything they see, taste, hear, and more with prompts to guide observations.
Keep this travel journal at the ready to let kids create their very own souvenir for multiple family adventures
When you’re back home and bags are unpacked, your little adventurer can always open You Went Where? and relive every minute of every adventure.
Backseat Blastin'
Gone crazy in the backseat with these dance numbers. Let the bass vibrate through you and get you pumped towards the final leg of your trip!
- Armin van Buuren vs Vini Vici feat. Hilight Tribe - Great Spirit
- Jonas Brothers - Sucker
- Jonas Blue feat. Jack & Jack - Rise
- Armin Van Buren - Blah Blah Blah
- Smash Mouth - I’m a Believer
- Katy Perry - Roar
- Sia - Cheap Thrills
- Imagine Dragons - Thunder
- Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
- Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
- The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
- Gorillaz - Feel Good, Inc.
- The Cardigans - My Favorite Game
- Panic! At The Disco - High Hopes
Keep Calm & Enjoy the Ride
On every road trip, there is a section where every’s battery is down and you sit quietly, looking out the window and taking the scenic beauty. Let these 12 songs play in the background to enhance that experience.
- Kygo & Whitney Houston - Higher Love
- Blake Shelton - God’s Country
- Joan Osborne - One of Us
- Del Amitri - Roll to Me
- Dido - Sand in my Shoes
- Daddy Yankee + Katy Perry feat. Snow - Con Calma
- George Ezra - Budapest
- Don Mclean - American Pie
- Maroon 5 - Girls Like you
- Dua Lipa - Don’t Start Now
- Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road
- Lady Gaga - Poker Face
TC'S Locker
Keep Calm & Enjoy the Ride
Traveling should be enjoyable, safe and comfortable and why not look good while doing it? And, that’s why I’ve have created my own online Travel Store.
Road Trip Tips for Families
A quality road trip sound track is great for the heart and soul. You’ll have a blast with this ultimate road trip playlist that you can sing, dance, and relax to. So load up your music player and hit the road.
If you are wondering where your next road trip should be read this and this.
Don’t forget to add your favorite road trip songs in the comments!
Playing my favorite music makes me feel on top of the world each time am on a trip. I so much like good music.Music is the food for my soul and I wonder how life would have been without music. I love to play gospel songs but not all gospel songs each time I wanner be on a lighter mood.
Nice song collection in your article…. singing is the “go to” thing to do whenever i wanna distract my kids from all the whining in the car. As soon as they start, are we there yet? You gotta pull out your favorite songs 🙂
Hi Candida,
I know the feeling! I tend to the driving in my family and wife sits with the kids at the back and makes them sing and laugh. I guess thats why the like her more than me! lol
I wholeheartedly second the sentiment that a good playlist is absolutely essential for any road trip no matter the distance. In fact, I can’t even imagine driving more than a few miles without putting on some good tunes. I have several different playlists that I listen to depending on the mood, people I’m with, location and even the weather. I’m kind of a playlist nerd.
Out of all your suggestions, my favorite is the awesome anthems list. Pretty much all of those songs are on one of my playlists or another!
Hi mariah!
those anthems songs will be anthems for any generation even if the current one’s taste of music is bit crap at the moment lol
Emotions! Been away from family for a long while, the post brought sweet memories.
Thanks for putting this together, I guess these are your favorites, we had a special liking for the Lion King soundtrack and even till today, it remains so.
Hopefully, we’ll get make a family trip very soon.
I had a great read, hope to come around some other time
Hi Festus
Yes some of them are my favourite and some of them are my kids - Frozen and Baby Shark! If I had a choice I never play them again for the rest of time! lol
What are your favourite songs?
Music is the food to the soul, so play it on. Imagine traveling on a long journey in a car loaded with music
The greatest way to get rid of stress and boredom is to listen to nice music both at home and while on a journey. It changes your mood and it give you better inspiration’
Thank you for this music collections.
These are some great tunes for when you are traveling. I especially like Shotgun, has a catchy beat. My family is constantly in need of some good music for the road. I love the idea you have presented here! We’ve often brought CD’s with us, and one of our favorites was a giant megamix of music. I think it is time for some new music like this. Thanks for putting this together, this is awesome!
Hi Jacob,
Glad you liked the list. Yes, Shotgun is a very catchy tune. My 6-year-old sings it non stop.
I’m curious, what songs were on your megamix giant CD?
A family trip should ideally carry everyone along, with no one left out. A good way to do this is certainly through a good collection of music. Just like most families, mine is extremely diverse when it comes to the choice of music.While I’m a die-hard rock fan, the others seem to love a mix of R&B, Country, Jazz, and Pop. So, my family collection will have some selections from Green Day, Three Doors Down, Bryan Adams, Nickel Back, Dave Koz, Kenny Rogers, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Boyz 2 Men, Celine Dion and some soundtracks from favorite children cartoons like The Lion King and The Jungle Book.
Our favorite sing-along song for everyone is the Lion King Sound Track, “We Are One.”
Hi Phreanell,
That is a great list! Im gonna borrow it and call it The Ultimate Road Trip Playlist for Families 2!! 🙂
What a fun playlist ideas for a family road trip!
Yes to all of these! I love a good road trip playlist!
What a fun post. When I was going back and forth from college, road snacks and the best music playlist was a must!
Awesome info for my next road trip. Thanks for sharing this post.
Born to be Wild and driving the plane in the movie “Sahara” my favorite!
Born to be wild is such an epic song I’m surprised the millennials haven’t taken it for themselves!
I love this collection of songs. Some of my favorites are on here. I’m going to bookmark this so I can reference it for our next road trip.
glad you liked it!
These are some great tunes. Music makes a road trip more pleasant, entertaining, and fun. Time flies so fast with it. I always play my favorite playlist when driving as it also keeps stress at bay.
Great list!! We are big on listening to great music on our road trips!
Music and roadtrip goes hand in hand and thanks for compiling this list. I will always play Indian Hindi music
as soon as lockdown is over, I will hit the road, and some of these songs will be on there!
Hi Reece, the pandemic has given an excuse for more road trips and the chance to discover your own country. Which many people take for granted when they look at going on holiday!
You know, I gotta admit that I didn’t really know many of the songs listed here, until the second half of the backseat blast ones. My Favourite Game has actually been one of my favourite songs since it was released over 20 years ago! That decade is where most of my favourite songs come from.
Her voice is just so mesmerizing! I’m a big fan of The Cardigans! Wish they released some new songs!
Nice lists! Love the Best Sing Along Songs one. Adding this list to my Spotify!
Awesome!