It is difficult to plan a road trip or long car ride, and it always seems like there are a million things to consider. With tons of things to prepare, a road trip playlist is something that is easily forgotten!
Whether you are in a Porsche, 4×4, camper, or on your bicycle, this list of the 100+ best road trip songs will make the journey your best experience ever!
Tunes for girly summer car trips, rock music, alternative, a little bit of country, and some contemporary 2020 hits. These songs, when put together make up an ideal playlist for your road trips.
And with more than 100 tunes included, there’s bound to be something for everyone to sing along to while driving.
Why Is It Important To Have The Perfect Road Trip Playlist(s)
Your road trip playlist will serve as the theme song for your journey. Is there really anything greater than singing aloud your favorite songs while driving down the open road? We don’t think so!
Moreover, being able to enjoy a seemingly endless playlist of cool tunes on the road together with your friends is an amazing way to explore new music and music styles you might not generally listen to when at home or even when you are out with your pals.
Music has an effect on us and most of us are people whose mood can be easily affected by a song.
So, maybe you’d like to sing that song to keep yourself active while traveling, or maybe you would like to listen to some calmer, rather low-key music to relax and gaze at the picturesque landscape around you.
Yet, like we said, while we all have our own special song selections that we want to listen to on the car radio, getting a playlist of songs that everybody enjoys and can sing along to will make any road trip an unforgettable experience for the entire collective.
Make A Great Road Trip Playlist With Sing-Along Songs
The window was rolled down, the stereo was turned up, and there were some great songs to sing along to. That sounds like a scene from a road trip film, doesn’t it?
Well, this is one of those cases where art imitates life, as this can easily happen to you when you have the right songs to sing along to.
This is why a road trip track list is essential: you shouldn’t have to wonder if the next song is going to be good; you should take that for granted and start singing from the very first note!
Some pieces of advice on how to create the perfect playlist:
- Check that the songs have been downloaded to your smartphone or iPod or else you’ll waste a lot of data trying to download them when you’re already on the road. Even worse, you can be in areas with bad or even no signal and end up with no music at all!
- Do you enjoy listening to anything and everything while driving? Check out Audible for podcasts, audiobooks, and more— it’s a great way to make the time fly when you are driving for a long time!
To be frank, when it comes to stuff like this, there is always a bit of debate about which road trip songs are the best, and this was indeed the case with this article.
There are many people who will disagree with the choice of some of these songs, as they might feel like some genres are way better than others for road trips.
If you, for example, feel like country music is the only thing you should listen to when driving across states, then that’s totally fine.
However, we believe that songs that you can sing along to in the car as well as songs that make you want to drive fast (but always safe and at the designated speed) are a big yes.
However, we wanted to present you with a playlist that will be everyone’s cup of tea, so rest assured that you will not be left unsatisfied. Keep on reading below to check out the songs we’ve picked for your next road trip playlist.
While all the songs in this article can be added to the same playlist, perhaps you’ll want to keep them separate and split the time spent on the road to different music themes and eras.
Are There Any Songs Everyone Appreciates?
Even with a song list of the greatest hits, no one will ever please every single passenger on a road trip, but we can at least do our best to search and find music that all of the people in our group can enjoy.
List No. 1: Summer Songs For Road Trips
The sun is out, you can feel that warm breeze as you walk to your friend’s home to make a list of all the things you need to pack for your road trip. Of course, you need to create that perfect playlist to match the weather and the summer mood in the air!
The US roads and highways seem never-ending, which means that your summer playlist can include plenty of songs.
And, if the time does not suffice to listen to all of them, it’s more than okay for you to drive a little bit further to enjoy all the songs and sing along.
What if you succumbed to the lure of the frontier and traveled to the coast? That’s what we are talking about: a fantastic road trip, regardless of whether you are joined by your friends or are heading somewhere alone.
The legend of the U.S. road trip is an undisputable influence in contemporary culture, with books like On the Road, films like Little Miss Sunshine, and series like American Gods.
The story goes that the further you get away from home, the more opportunities for redefinition and potential there are.
Summer is the ideal time to discover whether Route 66 truly offers an epic journey. Once you take the decision to jump on that front seat and get going, these tunes will get you in the mood for adventure.
From some classics to party songs that will make you want to jump off your seat, this playlist has it all.
So, have a look at what we’ve got for you below.
- Counting Crows- Mr. Jones
- Vodka Juniors – Whiskey And The Rain
- The Kooks- Melody Maker
- Allah Las- Don’t You Forget It
- Tom Waits- Ice Cream Man
- Damien Jurado- Sheets
- Oasis- Don’t Look Back In Anger
- Ryan Adams- Gimme Something Good
- Arctic Monkeys- Arabella
- Midlake- Roscoe
- John Butler Trio- Zebra
- The Seeds- Can’t Seem To Make You Mine
- Pitbull Ft. Kesha- Timber
- Dirty Fuse- Sunset Beach
- Firewater- Six Fourty Five
- Sixto Rodriguez- Hate Street Dialogue
- Vodka Juniors- King Of The Street
- Laura Veirs- America
- Antar Blue Band (Bob Dylan) – “Like A Rolling Stone” Cover
- Perkele- What Have I Done
- Allah Las- Tell Me
- Milky Chance- Down By The River
- Nancy Sinatra- Summer Wine
- The Doors- L.A. Woman
- The Kinks- Sunny Afternoon
- Loner- Show A Little Love
- Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matinée
- Placebo- The Bitter End
- Puresence- Casting Lazy Shadows
- The Coral- Dreaming Of You
- Lynyrd Skynyrd- Sweet Home Alabama
- The Black Ghosts- Full Moon
- Death In Vegas- Scorpio Rising
- Ben Howard- The Wolves
- James- Lose Control
- Travelling Alone- Woods Of Ypres
- Allah-Las- Katalina
- Angus And Julia Stone – Big Jet Plane
- Misun- Eli Eli
- Roo Planes- Open Road
- Detachments- The Flowers That Fell
- Fear Of Men- ‘America’
- Archive- Get Out
- David Bowie- The Man Who Sold The World
- The Last Shadow Puppets – Sequels
- The Devil Makes Three – Stranger
- Multigovernors – The Road
- The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
- Incubus- Drive
- Milky Chance Official- Stolen Dance
List No. 2: 2010s Hits For Road Trips
Regardless of your age, we all know that each decade had some unique music coming out. The 2010s were, of course, no exception, and the tunes on this playlist have made us all dance and sing along for years now.
Even if you are not a fan of pop music, songs like Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” have undeniably made us all dance to the beat of the song and even move like Jagger ourselves.
When we have been let down by our lover or just joined our friends for a karaoke night, then Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” must have been your go-to song.
We do, however, know that the mainstream songs of the 2010s are probably not everyone’s cup of tea and, while we can all listen to a couple of them, spending hours on a road trip dancing along to those tunes might not sound so enjoyable to everyone.
Since we want to make your road trip a memorable experience and for good reason, we picked 25 great songs for the 2010s that are just enough for you to feel the hype but not get bored by them.
So, for those wanting to go back to the past decade and sing along to some hits from the 2010s, here are some great songs to add to your road trip playlist:
- Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger
- Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
- Pharrell Williams – Happy
- Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
- Major Lazer – Lean On (Feat. Mø & Dj Snake)
- Kesha – Tik Tok
- Magic! – Rude
- Jonas Brothers – Sucker
- Shawn Mendes – Treat You Better
- 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood
- The Chainsmokers – Closer
- Jonas Blue – Perfect Strangers
- R. City – Locked Away (Feat. Adam Levine)
- Lauv – I Like Me Better
- Hailee Steinfeld – Starving
- The Chainsmokers – I Love U
- Sia – Chandelier
- Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
- Zara Larsson – Lush Life
- Camila Cabello – Havana (Feat. Young Thug)
- Sia – Elastic Heart
- Fifth Harmony – That’s My Girl
- John Legend – All Of Me
- Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
- P!Nk – Just Give Me A Reason (Feat. Nate Ruess)
List No. 3: 90s And 2000s Hits For Road Trips
Okay, we’re going, to be honest with you. If you are a woman going on a road trip with your girlfriends, this is the ultimate playlist for you. This does not mean that men will not enjoy it equally as much, but songs like Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” are going to bring out the best in women and their singing skills.
Yes, we know that songs like that or Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” have made teenage girls feel all the feels and get them from lows to highs. But again, don’t take this like a girls-only playlist.
We’re pretty sure that songs like Eminem’s “My name is” and Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” that are included here will make everyone sing, and even rap along.
Especially if you are a 90s kid that grew up listening to these songs (even though an earlier or later birth date won’t have an impact on your excitement when listening to these songs, trust us) you will absolutely love this playlist.
For those interested in a trip down memory lane to the 90s and 2000s, we’ve got some road trip songs just for you. So, if the 90s and 2000s are your go-to hit music, save the following songs to download later!
- Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
- Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi Ft. Vanessa Carlton
- Nickelback- How You Remind Me
- Cascada- Everytime We Touch
- Weezer- Beverly Hills
- 3 Doors Down- Kryptonite
- Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie Ft. Wyclef Jean
- The Pussycat Dolls- Buttons
- Chris Brown- Run It! Ft. Juelz Santana
- Green Day- American Idiot
- Outkast- Hey Ya!
- Hoobastank- The Reason
- Gwen Stefani- Hollaback Girl
- Jennifer Lopez- Jenny From The Block
- Sheryl Crow- Soak Up The Sun
- Santana- Smooth Ft. Rob Thomas
- Avril Lavigne- Complicated
- The Calling- Wherever You Will Go
- The Pussycat Dolls- Don’t Cha Ft. Busta Rhymes
- Dmx- Party Up (Up In Here)
- The Killers- Mr. Brightside
- Greenday- Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
- Eiffel 65 – Blue (Da Ba Dee) [Gabry Ponte Ice Pop Mix]
- Kelly Clarkson- Since U Been Gone
- Panic! At The Disco- I Write Sins Not Tragedies
- The Black Eyed Peas- Let’s Get It Started
- 50 Cent- In Da Club
- The Black Eyed Peas- My Humps
- Eminem- My Name Is (The Dirty Version, Of Course)
- Akon- Smack That Ft. Eminem
- Maroon 5- She Will Be Loved
- Good Charlotte- The Anthem
- Kanye West- Gold Digger Ft. Jamie Foxx
- Bowling For Soup- 1985
- Evanescence- Bring Me To Life
- Daniel Powter- Bad Day
- Daft Punk- One More Time
- Jimmy Eat World- The Middle
- Eminem- Just Lose It
- The Click Five- Just The Girl
- Nelly- Dilemma Ft. Kelly Rowland
- Kelly Clarkson- Walk Away
- The All-American Rejects- Dirty Little Secret
- Fall Out Boy- Thanks For The Memories
- Lou Bega- Mambo No.5 (A Little Bit Of…)
- Destiny’s Child- Survivor
- Christina Aguilera- Ain’t No Other Man
- Nickelback- Far Away
- Train- Drops Of Jupiter
- Wheatus- Teenage Dirtbag
- Nelly Furtado- Turn Off The Light
- J-Kwon- Tipsy
- Simple Plan- When I’m Gone
- Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Avril Lavigne- Sk8er Boi
- Vanessa Carlton- A Thousand Miles
- Eminem- When I’m Gone
- Britney Spears- Babv One More Time
- Rihanna- Don’t Stop The Music
- Fountains Of Wayne- Stacy’s Mom
- Nelly- Hot In Here
- Shaggy- Angel Ft. Rayvon
- Dillon Francis, Dj Snake – Get Low
- Simple Plan- Your Love Is A Lie
- Vanessa Carlton- White Houses
- Blink-182- All The Small Things
- Justin Timberlake – Lovestoned / I Think She Knows Interlude
- Smash Mouth- All Star
- Mika- Grace Kelly
- Nelly Furtado- I’m Like A Bird
- Justin Timberlake – Sexyback Ft. Timbaland
- Britney Spears – Oops!…I Did It Again
- Enrique Iglesias- Hero
- N’sync- Bye Bye Bye
- Beyoncé – Crazy In Love Ft. Jay Z
- Rihanna- Sos
- Nelly Furtado – Promiscuous Ft. Timbaland
- Alicia Keys- Fallin’
- P!Nk – Get The Party Started
- Mariah Carey – We Belong Together
- Beyoncé – Irreplaceable
- Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
- Mary J. Blige- Family Affair
- Timbaland- Apologize Ft. One Republic
- Calabria 2007- Enur Ft. Natasja
- Uncle Cracker- Drift Away
- Maroon 5- This Love
- Natasha Bedingfield- Unwritten
- Rob Thomas- Lonely No More
- John Mayer- Your Body Is A Wonderland
- Christina Aguilera- Beautiful
- My Chemical Romance- Teenagers
- Bon Jovi- It’s My Life
- Evanescence- Call Me When You’re Sober
- Ciara- 1.2. Step
- Beyoncé – Naughty Girl
- Tal Bachman- She’s So High
- Jesse Mccartney- Beautiful Soul
- Chamillionaire- Ridin’ Ft. Krayzie Bone
- Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, Pink – Lady Marmalade
- Ciara- Oh. Ft. Ludacris
- Secondhand Serenade- All For You
- Lenny Kravitz- Fly Away
- Sean Paul- We Be Burnin’ (Recognize It)
- Shaggy – Hey Sexy Lady Ft. Brian & Tony Gold
- Gwen Stefani – The Sweet Escape (Closed Captioned) Ft. Akon
- Will Smith- Switch
- Hinder- Lips Of An Angel
- P!Nk – Don’t Let Me Get Me
- Shania Twain – Man! I Feel Like A Woman
- Destiny’s Child- Lose My Breath
- Matt Nathanson- Come On Get Higher
- Backstreet Boys- Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
- 2pac Feat Dr.Dre – California Love
- Fly- Sugar Ray
- Blink-182- I Miss You
- Beck- Loser
- TLC- Waterfalls
- TLC- No Scrubs
- Justin Timberlake- Cry Me A River
- Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication
- Gnarls Barkley- Crazy
- No Doubt- It’s My Life
- No Doubt- Spiderwebs
- The White Stripes- Seven Nation Army
List No. 4: Rock On Playlist For Road Trips
Last but certainly not least, this article would simply be incomplete without a great rock playlist for your road trip. Whether you enjoy listening to rock music daily or can only listen to a couple of songs before changing to your own music style, this is a playlist you need for your road trips.
Rock music has something to it that makes you feel like you are living in your own movie. It doesn’t matter if it’s wintertime or if this is another summer road trip for you, getting on the highway and hitting that play button to get Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild” on the car’s speakers is the total vibe.
We could say that rock music is actually the safest bet; even if you do not enjoy it at all when you are driving or sharing a ride with your friends, it is definitely amongst the best genres you can listen to. And, let’s admit it, we all know way more rock songs than we think we do.
So, here is a list of songs that will get you to rock as you drive down the long highways:
- Steppenwolf- Born to be Wild
- Queens of the Stone Age- Go with the Flow
- Lynyrd Skynyrd- Sweet Home Alabama
- The Cranberries- Zombie
- Sum 41- In Too Deep
- T.Rex- 20th Century Boy
- Gin Blossoms- Hey Jealousy
- Blink-182- What’s My Age Again?
- The Runaways- You Drive me Wild
- Thin Lizzy- The Rocker
- Puddle of Mudd- Blurry
- The Duke Spirit- Love is an Unfamiliar Name
- 4 Non Blondes- What’s Up
- The Subways- We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time
- Suede- Animal Nitrate
- Shed Seven- Chasing Rainbows
- The Mission- Deliverance
- Free- All Right Now
- Status Quo- Down Down
- Ugly Kid Joe- Cat’s in the Cradle
- Extreme- Get the Funk Out
- Gun- Word Up
- Kiss- Detroit Rock City
- The Blackout- Higher and Higher
- Semisonic- Closing Time
- Weezer- Buddy Holly
- The Undertones- Teenage Kicks
- La Woman – The Doors
- Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum
- Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group
- Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull
- Roadhouse Blues – The Doors
- Beating Around the Bush – AC/DC
- Rock Me = Great White
- Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
- La Grange – ZZ Top
- Highway to Hell – AC/DC
- Radar Love – Golden Earing
- Sail – Awol Nation
- Kickstart My Heart – Motley Crue
- Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
- Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
- Head Like a Hole – Nine Inch Nails
The Bottom Line
There you have it. 100+ songs you can add to your list of songs you simply have to download for your next road trip.
While we have divided the songs into 4 different lists based on a theme or music genre, you can add them all to the same big list and enjoy each and every single one of these songs whilst traveling.
From Pitbull to AC/DC and from Daft Punk to Placebo, there is literally something for everyone. These lists were made after lots of consideration, so we really hope that you will enjoy not only the look but the sound of them too.
Waste no more time now; start ticking things off your list and find some time in the day to start downloading those songs. And don’t forget to enjoy the ride!