Planning a family road trip? Here’s a free printable Road Trip Packing List, perfect for your next family vacation.
If you’ve never been on a big road trip, or you just need a little help remembering what to pack, here’s a helpful Road Trip Packing List for families.
These are the items my family actually uses on our road trips.
I’m a mom of 4 and I find myself making lists before every single road trip. So, to help both you and future me, I’ve created the ultimate road trip packing list printable.
This list doesn’t include clothing, swimwear, or shoes (obviously you’ll want those) but it covers everything you’ll want while you’re in the car!
** Disclaimer: As an Amazon.com Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases made by readers clicking my affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
1) Cooler
- ICE RETENTION: TempLock insulation keeps drinks ice cold
- PORTABLE: Large-grip bail handle makes the cooler easy to carry with one hand
- QUICK-CLEAN TOP: Smoother surface wipes down easily
- DRINKS FOR ALL: Holds up to 11 cans with 8 lbs. of ice
Packing a cooler is the number one priority for a road trip. You can use it to pack cold drinks, extra water, and even sandwich making supplies.
If you are headed into a National Park or a beach, it can be hard to find lunch at the right time, so a cooler is perfect for those kind of days!
2) Antibacterial Wipes & Baby Wipes
- KILLS 99.99% OF GERMS* — While wiping away dirt and messes
- WET ONES TRAVEL PACK HAND SANITIZING WIPES — Leave hands feeling smooth, soft, and clean
Wipes are a must-have on the road. Whether you want to wipe off your hands before or after eating, or just wipe off messy mouths, baby wipes are great to have along.
I also like to pack Antibacterial wipes in case we need to use pit bathrooms that don’t have running water which are so common in the National Parks.
3) Snacks
- Frito-Lay Classic Mix Chips & Snacks Variety Pack Includes: (6) Doritos Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips, (5) Cheetos Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks, (3) Ruffles Original, (4) Lay’s Classic Potato Chips, and (3) Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn
Snacks are always a great idea. We like to pack a variety of items both salty and sweet. Chocolate items are usually a bad idea because they can melt into a gooey mess.
But breakfast bars, apples, mandarin oranges, mini chip bags, fruit snacks, etc. make great car snacks. Packing your own snacks will help you save significantly on your road trip.
4) Reusable Water Bottles
- STAYS COLD: THERMOS vacuum insulation technology keeps drinks cold for up to 12 hours. Our kids water bottles are built so their drinks are as cool on the inside as they look on the outside. Not for hot liquids
Packing each member of the family a reusable water bottle will save you tons of money. Plus, reusable water bottles tend to be less messy (and less noisy!) than plastic water bottles.
We always pack a tiny bottle of Dawn dish detergent for cleaning them out as needed.
5) Music
Whether you are going old school and packing CDs or setting up a playlist, it’s a great idea to get some music ready for your trip.
6) Ziploc Bags
- Stands Up: Ziploc Brand Storage Bags include a stay open design with a wide opening for easy filling
Ziploc bags are always a great idea for road trips. I like to bring a few gallon size bags as well as sandwich size bags.
The gallon size bags are great for keeping things dry or placing opened food into. The sandwich size bags are perfect for dividing up snacks to toss back to your hungry kiddos!
7) Kindles
If your kids are able to read, be sure to bring along a Kindle. Kindles are superior to paper books when you are traveling because the screens light up so that your kids can read after the sun goes down or in the early morning hours.
Also, there’s always a chance that a paper book could get wet, which can ruin it, versus a Kindle that can usually be wiped off.
8) Copy of your Itinerary
It’s always a good idea to keep a folder in your car with your hotel reservations printed out, tickets to attractions, and anything else needed.
That way, even if your technology fails, you have all of your important information.
9) Movies
Choose some family friendly favorites to bring along! We have an old school DVD player in our car, but you might choose to use a portable DVD player or a tablet.
10) Sunglasses
- POLARIZED & UV400 GLASSES The large polarized sunglasses for women can filter rays and are designed to protect your eyes from long-term UV damage and keep your eyes healthy when you go out. UV400 protective coating blocks harmful UVA and UVB rays from 99% to 100%
Sunglasses are super important when you are on the road. Be sure to have a couple of pairs with you and definitely a pair for everyone in your family.
11) Phone Chargers & Holder
- Never Fall Off-Metal Hook Design: Miracase car phone holder adopts simplified locking design. The steel metal hook(with silicone pad and mat) will catch one of car air vent blades and provide excellent strudiness. It will work well for your car even in extremely harsh environments. NOTE: ONLY Compatible with horizontal and vertical vents. Not suitable for round vents. Also can be used on bedstand and desk.
Be sure to pack phone chargers for the car as well as a cell phone holder.
It’s great to have extra charging cords that you don’t have to remove from the car every evening when you reach your destination.
12) Band-Aids
- 80-count variety pack box of Band-Aid Brand Sterile Tru-Stay Sheer Strips Adhesive Bandages in assorted sizes designed for first aid and wound care to help protect and heal minor cuts, scrapes and burns
I like to pack along a variety of sizes of band-aids. It seems like kids are always getting a scratch or randomly getting hurt on trips. It’s handy to have some bandages for those moments.
13) Medicine Bag
Having a Medicine bag is always a good idea. We always pack Ibuprofen, headache medicine, Tums, Kids Dramamine, Motion Ease, SeaBands, ginger candies, and peppermints. It’s also good to have some tweezers along in case of splinters!
14) Clothespins
- Package includes 50 clothes pins. These clothes pins for hanging clothes are the basic need of every household.
Clothespins are super handy for road trips because you can use them for chip clips and to close up open packages of lunch meat or cheese.
15) Scissors
- SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR KIDS 4+: Fiskars Pointed-tip Kids Scissors for detailed cutting through all kinds of classroom materials; Ideal for kids ages 4 and up; #1 teacher-recommended brand
Scissors are another great idea for your road trip. Whether you need to cut open snacks, that ridiculously hard to open bread package, or cut tags off your new sunglasses, scissors are always handy.
16) Road Trip Toys
A few choice toys are important to keep kids busy on the road. We like to pack a mini backpack for each of our kids to help them keep their items stowed away.
Some things my kids enjoy: small drawing tablets, colored pencils, Polly Pockets, small race cars, and baby dolls.
You can find tons of fun Road Trip Toy ideas here.
17) Small Surprises
- 3D Thinking and Brain Exercising: Pencil erasers for kids with kawaii appearances and vibrant random colors, develop kids’s color and shape cognition, spark imagination and creativity. Novelty puzzle erasers for kids, easy to taken apart and reassembled again and again. Super fun and educational. Exercise kids’ logical thinking ability, fine motor skill, cognitive ability and so on.
Small surprises are a great way to keep kids happy on road trips. I tell my kids that I decide when surprises happen and they aren’t allowed to ask for them or I won’t do one soon.
I pack candy like Starbursts, fruit snacks, and lollipops. On our last trip I packed some mini erasers that were shaped like foods and animals for my kids that they really enjoyed.
18) Flashlight (Emergency Supplies)
A flashlight or other emergency supplies is also another important thing to pack. You don’t want to have to rely on your phone flashlight if things have went awry.
If you are traveling during winter, be sure to pack a blanket in case of emergencies as well. Also, make sure you have the items needed to change a tire or check tire pressure.
19) Paper Plates and Napkins
We like having paper plates and napkins for those on the go meals.
Multiple times we’ve found ourselves in the middle of nowhere at meal time and were able to make sandwiches and eat in the car or have a picnic at a National Park.
20) Trash Bags
Trash bags are handy for dirty clothes, wet swimsuits, wet shoes, etc. We like to have a variety of sizes with us.
I will definitely be bringing along extra trash bags the next time I go West. I had no idea that Colorado only uses paper bags, which aren’t so handy when you want to use and reuse grocery bags for wet shoes, wet clothes, etc.
You could definitely also use reusable bags, but they would get dirty over time and waterproof is superior when you’re dealing with wet items.
21) Backpack/Crossbody Bag
We always like to take a backpack or crossbody bag with us on our adventures. Whether we are headed into a National Park for the day or into a theme park, it’s nice to have a comfortable bag with us to carry the day’s essentials.
22) Jackets
Jackets or sweatshirts are a necessity. Weather can be so unpredictable. Just about everyone has bought at least one sweatshirt or jacket on a trip because of an unexpected weather change.
There’s always a chance of rain. Plus, mountain tops can be cold in the summer and even air conditioning can be extreme at times. We always bring a jacket along for rain or cold.
23) Hygiene Products
- WHAT’S INCLUDED — 8 packs of Kleenex On-the-Go Pocket Pack Facial Tissues, 3-Ply, 10 tissues per pack (80 tissues total)
A few items you might like to have along with you are sunscreen, bug spray, tissues, and even baby powder if you plan to go somewhere sandy.
Also, it’s always good to be prepared with feminine hygiene products in case you have a need and you are in the middle of nowhere!
24) Cash and Change
You’ll be glad to have cash and change along with you for toll roads or locations that only accept cash.
Print the Free Road Trip Packing List
Want to grab this free printable Road trip Checklist? I’ve included everything in the article above on this handy list. Simply enter your email address below and get access to this free printable!
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More Family Vacation Tips
Be sure to check out my other family vacation articles!
Learn all about taking kids to the Grand Canyon National Park here. It’s truly at bucket list worthy location to visit!
We took a road trip to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park with our Kids recently. It’s a little known location that is SO incredible. Don’t miss it!
Plus, if you are planning a trip to Disney World, be sure to grab my Disney World Packing List here.
