The Ultimate Road Trip Playlist For Long Drives

Last Updated on 6th December 2022

Creating the ultimate road trip playlist can take an awful lot of dedication and perseverance. If you’ve been reading my blog for the last couple of months, you’ll know that Matt and I have embarked on two lengthy road trips; one around South Island New Zealand for 5 weeks and most recently, a 30-day road trip along East Coast Australia.

During those trips, we drove over 11,000km so it’s safe to say that we needed some form of entertainment to keep us occupied while driving for hours on end.

It’s taken a lot of hard work and a fair amount of tweaking but I think I’ve finally managed to combine all our top songs, albums and podcasts for the ultimate road trip playlist for long drives!

Let me know if I’ve missed any classics!

Ultimate Road Trip Playlist – best road trip songs

One of my favourite things back at home about getting ready for a night out was putting one of my favourite 80s songs on and then starting radio on YouTube which would provide me with hours of great music.

Since I’m no longer really able to do that, Matt and I did something similar while we were driving on PlayMusic and YouTube Music. I’ve definitely missed out on some songs here by accident, but if you’re looking for an idea of the best songs to download for the ultimate road trip playlist, here are some of my very favourites!

P.S. Make sure to save them on Pinterest so you can refer back to them! Also, I’ll keep updating this post with new songs when I can!

Ultimate Road Trip Playlist – best road trip albums

When researching things to listen to on our road trips, Matt and I took to ever-reliable Google for a quick search on the best albums of all time.

We listened to quite a few that were listed as the best critically acclaimed releases of all time, but we found many of them to not be as enjoyable as they were hyped up to be.

In the end, I think we managed to compile a pretty good list of albums to listen to on our long drives!

Bat Out of Hell Part 1 – Meatloaf

Thanks to my mum’s impeccable taste in music, I grew up listening to some of the best albums of the 70s and 80s; including the iconic Bat Out of Hell album by Meatloaf.

Meatloaf is one of my favourite musicians and this album is probably my absolute favourite; it’s a perfect road trip essential and I even got Matt singing and dancing along to it (it’s not his usual cup of tea so this was a great bonus for me!).

Rumours – Fleetwood Mac

The Rumours album by Fleetwood Mac was an album that was listed as one of the best of all time and it was one that we thoroughly enjoyed listening to.

It’s got some cult-classic songs on the album and is a much more mellow and relaxed album to have on your ultimate road trip playlist.

The Killers Greatest Hits

I know it’s 100% cheating to have a greatest hits album listed as technically (according to Matt anyway!) it’s not an actual album. However, The Killers are my favourite band of all time and their Greatest Hits album is one of the best things I’ve ever listened to. It’s a great album to have on your road trip playlist as there are so many great songs to sing along to!

The College Dropout – Kanye West

Kanye West is a ~controversial~ character to say the least but his earliest album; The College Dropout is an excellent road trip companion, especially once you learn the words and you can sing along!

Stop The Clocks – Oasis

I used to listen to Oasis quite a bit when I was younger as my dad absolutely loved them and always had their album in the car. I’d forgotten just how good the ‘Stop The Clocks’ album is and we listened to it while driving in New Zealand when we wanted more chilled-out tunes.

2001 – Dr Dre

Dr Dre is another controversial artist in many people’s eyes but the 2001 album is Matt’s favourite album of all time so we listened to this quite a few times during our road trips!

Thriller – Michael Jackson

I’m personally not the biggest fan of Michael Jackson but I can appreciate how many bangers are on the Thriller album so it was something that we added to our road trip playlist in New Zealand.

The best podcasts for long drives – ultimate road trip playlist

I’ve been an intermittent listener of podcasts for the last three years or so but on our recent road trips, I found myself craving some inspiring, motivating and hilarious words from strangers on the internet while we drove through the outback, over mountains and by the sea.

Depending on the kind of listener you are, podcasts can either be a great aid or a mega distraction. So if you find yourself unable to concentrate properly while driving and listening to a podcast, make sure you prioritise safety and maybe skip the episode and save it for later!

If you are looking for some podcast inspirations that are funny, inspiring and educating, check out my ultimate road trip podcast playlist below!

My Dad Wrote a Porno

My Dad Wrote a Porno is without a doubt one of the funniest podcasts I’ve ever listened to. I used to listen to it when I worked in digital marketing at my 9-5 job and I would always find myself having to turn it off because I couldn’t concentrate properly as it made me cry with laughter!

If you’re looking for a podcast that’s sure to keep you alert while driving and laughing along the way, you definitely need this on your list!

The Joe Rogan Experience

This podcast has been around for over 10 years and is renowned as one of the very best in the industry.

Whether you’re a fan of Joe Rogan or not, it’s hard to disagree that some of his podcast guests and episodes are absolutely brilliant. We listened to a fair few of the episodes with creative, determined and inspirational guests who all range in their creative paths but who are all ultimately successful.

I found myself nodding along to so many things and feeling truly inspired by some of the guests on the podcasts. These episodes are great to listen to on a road trip as they get you thinking and make you feel empowered a lot of the time. Some episodes are also pretty funny and thought-provoking so it’s not all serious and business-like!

The Tim Ferris Show

Tim Ferris is one of the most successful investors and businessmen in the world right now and his widely popular, best-selling book ‘The 4-Hour Work Week’ is largely the premise of his own podcast; The Tim Ferris Show.

While I don’t agree with some things he says or practices, I did enjoy listening to many episodes while we were driving around Australia and New Zealand and I’d highly recommend giving at least one episode a go while you’re on a long road trip.

Shagged, Married, Annoyed

Starring comedian Chris Ramsey and his wife Rosie, ‘Shagged, Married, Annoyed’ is a hilarious podcast centring on the pair’s lives together, as well as hilarious questions from their audience and viewers.

It’s remarkably funny and laugh out loud and will certainly give you some discussion topics for you and your partner that are sure to make you giggle!