Best cars for road trips 2026: top 7

More people than ever are choosing road trips in favour of traditional family holidays, so it’s a great time to plan that once in a lifetime adventure. But what road trip car should you choose?

Avoiding the chaos and stress of airports to get away is certainly appealing, and the best road trips in the UK help make the journey an integral part of the holiday. But with the Channel Tunnel within easy reach, the best European driving holidays aren’t too ambitious either.

Choosing the perfect road trip car can be daunting, as it’s a vehicle that will become a full-on travel companion. Whether you want comfort and space, performance and luxury or just a sense of fun from your road trip car, our list of the best road trip cars covers all budgets and size needs.

1: Kia Picanto

Price: from £17,095       Fuel economy: 51.4mpg (1.2 GDi)        Boot space: 255 litres

A tiny city car isn’t the most obvious choice of road trip transport, but hear us out with this one. The humble Kia Picanto is a great example of how small, low-power cars can be more fun to drive on real roads than powerful, expensive ones.

With even the biggest engine making just 77hp, you’ll need to work the Picanto hard to keep up on the motorway – and that’s more fun than just cruising along. Road trips are rarely dull when you’re pushing a car to its limits, and you can do that in the little Kia and still be under the speed limit. You’ll sip fuel, too – a bonus with unpredictable fuel prices.

What’s more, the Picanto is good fun to drive on the kind of tight, twisty roads that are found in most of our top 10 best road trips in the UK. Then, when you head into a nearby town for dinner, parking is a doddle.

And with kit such as cruise control and sat-nav fitted as standard, it’s not too taxing when you’ve got a long journey to do. Only the relative lack of space means you’ll be packing light for your road trip.

2: Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric

Price: from £45,615        Range: up to 484 miles          Boot space: 407 litres

If your road trip car of choice has to be fully electric, then the new Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric is our favoured option.

That’s primarily because it set new standards for range when it arrived, offering up to 484 miles on a charge officially. That’s enough to get from London to Dundee without having to top up – allowing more freedom with your road trip route away from charging stops.

The CLA isn’t just about going the distance, however. It’s impressively efficient at a cruise thanks to its clever two-speed gearbox, can be charged up quicker than your roadside comfort break and offers an effortlessly composed driving experience.

You’ve even got an on-board supercomputer with Google Gemini and ChatGPT voice assistants, helping you plan the perfect road trip route and work out the best stops along the way.

3: Nissan Qashqai e-Power

Price: from £34,875       Fuel economy: up to 64.2mpg          Boot space up to 504 litres

Not all road trip cars need exciting features or thrilling performance. Sometimes the car isn’t the star, and the Nissan Qashqai e-Power blends into the background by being practical, easy to drive and very efficient.

It’s so efficient, in fact, that Nissan claims gentle driving can eke out a massive 777 miles of range from a single tank of fuel. Forget the CLA’s London to Dundee – this Qashqai can get from London to Milan and beyond without filling up.

That sort of range used to be the reserve of big diesel cars, but the Qashqai e-Power’s much smoother, quieter hybrid power means road trips that involve travelling through busy cities are a doddle. Performance is still strong, too.

What’s more, the Qashqai has Google tech integration for accurate navigation and voice assistance, enough room for four adults and a boot that can swallow up several days of road trip clobber.

4: Volkswagen Golf R

Price: from £46,930        Fuel economy:   35mpg            Boot space: 341 litres

If you’re a petrolhead planning a road trip, whether it’s the Nurburgring or the North Coast 500, the Volkswagen Golf R will take it all in its stride.

It’s probably one of the most complete all-round cars on sale today. Whether you’re zipping through town, cruising on the motorway or enjoying a twisty road or track, the Golf R manages to be comfortable, extremely fast and capable in all weather.

With 333hp, all-wheel drive and the option of adaptive dampers to expertly blend comfort and handling, the Golf R excels in any situation. It’s even quite efficient for a performance car, and easy to drive.

Two or three road trip companions are unlikely to complain about the space on offer, and although boot space isn’t huge there is a much roomier estate version available. Sadly, that’s no longer offered as a new car, but VW will sell you a lightly used one.

5: Skoda Superb Estate

Price: from £38,135        Fuel economy: Up to 57.6mpg (diesel)      Boot space: 690 litres

If space and cruising ability are top of your list of priorities for a road trip car, look no further than the brilliant Skoda Superb Estate.

It’s a favourite of taxi drivers and long-distance business users alike for good reason. The Superb is impressively comfortable and capable on long journeys, so even the most ambitious road trips won’t leave you with a headache and bad back at the end.

Frugal petrol and hybrid power features in the Superb, but it’s also one of the few new cars still available with diesel power – offering outstanding cruising economy and a long range to a tank.

But it’s the room inside the Superb that really makes it stand out. Your road trip companions will have limo-like legroom, while the boot is so vast that you could easily camp in it if that night’s pit stop accommodation doesn’t work out.

6: Range Rover

Price: £112,760       Fuel economy:  Up to 38.2mpg (diesel        Boot space: 725 litres

If your budget can stretch to it and you want the ultimate go-anywhere road trip car, look no further than the ‘full-fat’ Range Rover.

From its commanding driving position to its lavishly equipped interior, the Range Rover gives even the tamest road trips a real sense of occasion. It also offers effortless performance and, in diesel or hybrid form at least, reasonable fuel economy for such a huge car.

This latest model is the first Range Rover to offer seven seats, so friends you meet on your travels can join you for dinner. And everyone travels in immense comfort, with technology such as electrically deploying tables and media screens helping the miles fly by.

But the Range Rover’s party piece is its class-leading off-road ability. You may never need it, but the ability to navigate almost any terrain you can throw at it is reassuring when your road trip route suddenly goes off the beaten track.

7: Porsche Panamera

Price:  from £89,400     Fuel economy:  up to 92mpg (e-Hybrid)    Boot space: up to 500 litres

The latest Porsche Panamera’s outstanding blend of comfort, performance and technology makes it a dream road trip car for crossing Europe.

Whether you opt for the base V6 Panamera or a top-flight, 781hp Turbo S E-Hybrid, the big Porsche is very fast, seriously surefooted and a lot more fun to drive than your average luxury saloon.

Models with the optional active suspension have a physics-defying blend of handling and comfort, while the interior is classy, solid and offers enough space for four adults to enjoy hours of road trip mile munching.

And unlike in a Porsche 911 you won’t need to pack light, as the Panamera’s 500-litre boot and useful hatchback opening means a quartet of suitcases can easily fit.