The 17 Best Audiobooks for Family Road Trips (2024)

Are you one of those travelers who looks forward to a family road trip or dreads it with every fiber of their being? I am going to be honest, I fall into the latter bucket. I’ve dealt with enough melt downs in the car to know the only way we are going to make it is by being overly prepared. Which is why I put together our list of the best audiobooks for family road trips. A good audiobook is a life saver on long family road trips!

Throw in some healthy snacks, a few card games, and you’ll be in for a meltdown free road trip!

Why Bring Audiobooks for Family Road Trips?

Well besides the obvious goal of trying to avoid a temper tantrum or two?!

Audiobooks are a great alternative to screen time. I’m a ‘whatever goes’ type of mom when it comes to travel and screen time but kids have natural limits. There is no way you can fill a 5-hour road trip with screens.
Audiobooks are a great way to spend quality time in the car. The whole family can enjoy listening to stories together.
Audiobooks are educational. The research is and reading to your children is good for them! Audiobooks are a great alternative to reading in the car for those of us who get car sick easily!

How to Listen to Audiobooks on Family Road Trips?

You have a few options for listening to audiobooks on road trips!

Purchase an audiobook from Audible, which is owned by Amazon but not included in Prime memberships, or another cell phone app. You can download the audiobooks to your mobile devices and either listen with headphones or stream via bluetooth to your car radio. You can get a free trial to Audible for 30 days so you can try it out for your next road trip and decide if its a good option for your family!
Rent an audiobook from your local library. Just make sure you have an old school CD player so your kids can actually listen to their audiobooks. A benefit of this system is that you can have different audiobooks playing for each kid. Just invest in some good noise cancelling headphones.

The Best Audiobooks for Family Road Trips: For Big Kids (6-12)

The Roald Dahl Audio Collection: Narrated By Roald Dahl

Full of classics like James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the Fantastic Mr. Fox the Roald Dahl Audio Collection is sure to please the entire family. It’s particularly special to hear the stories narrated by the author himself.

The Harry Potter Audio Collection: Narrated by Jim Dale

The Harry Potter books are arguably some of the best books for young readers and the same can be said about the audiobooks. We love reading or listening to these stories before watching the corresponding movie. I love the idea of listening to one of the Harry Potter books en route to a vacation destination and then planning a movie night once you are there. If you are traveling with young children you may want to limit yourself to the first book in the Harry Potter series as they get darker after that.

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Audio Collection: Narrated By Jesse Bernstein

There are 21 books in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and this is another great option for families who want to listen to the audiobooks before watching the movie. The Lightning Thief is the first book and one of our favorites!

Chronicles of Narnia Audio Collection: A Multi Voice Recording

If you thought reading the Chronicles of Narnia was magical you will be absolutely blown away by the audiobooks. You are immediately transported to the magical world of Narnia. You’ll be in store for a magical and utterly captivating road trip. These are definitely some of our favorite audiobooks.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Audio Collection: A Multi Voice Recording

These books follow the misadventures of the Baudelaire orphans and their villainous relative Count Olaf. Tim Curry and other narrators bring these ghastly novels to life.

Charlotte’s Web: Narrated by E. B. White

A classic story of a pig named Wilbur and a young girl named Fern will delight kids of all ages. Due to the nature of what typically happens to pics on a farm, you may want to reserve this audio book for older children.

The Secret Garden: Narrated by Gus Jones

This had to be one of my favorite books as a young child and its so fun to listen along to the audiobook as my daughter discovered the story of Mary Lennox. Just be warned, this book always made me cry and the audio version is no different!

A Wrinkle In Time: A multi Voice Recording

Alright while on a long road trip you may wish you could time travel. The next best thing? The fantastical tale of Meg, Charles, and Calvin as they go on a quest to find Meg and Charles’s father. A Wrinkle in Time is the first book of a four book series so you can enjoy the whole series over multiple road trips.

Peter and the Star Catchers: Narrated by Jim Dale

Ever wondered how Peter Pan landed in his own fairy tale? Telling the tale of Peter before he met Wendy, Peter and the Star Catchers is an adventure story that will make long trips go quickly.

How to Train Your Dragon: Narrated By David Tennant

My kids love this movie so it is a blast to get to listen to the audiobook as well. How to Train your Dragon follows the adventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II as he tried to pass the Viking initiation test by capturing a Dragon. Hiccup ends up as a hero, and he’ll be the hero of your long road trip too!

Little House on the Prairie Series: Narrated By Cherry Jones

Did you know that the Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the Little House on the Prairie series? Little House on the Prairie is actually the third book of the entire series. I had no idea! The Little House books are a classic coming of age story with insightful glimpses into the hardships and joy of pioneer life in the US.

the Land of Stories Series: Narrated by Chris Colfer

The Wishing Spell is the first book of this fast paced series that combines modern day with fairy tales. The Land of Stories follows twins Alex and Conner as they leave their own world and fall into the magical world of fairy tales where they come face to face with some very familiar fairy tale characters. But this big question is, will they make it back home?

The Hobbit: Narrated by Martin Shaw

The Hobbit was my first introduction to the fantasy genre at 10 years old. I know, I was a dork even at a young age! But I honestly feel like there is no better introduction to fantasy than a J.R.R. Tolkein book. The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins on his great adventure. Listeners of all ages will be drawn into the fantastical world J.R.R. Tokein creates. I’d save this one for older kids (middle school +). While the novel is a behemoth the audiobook is just under 6 hours so you can fit it into a long road trip.

The Best Audio Books for Family Road Trips: For Younger Children (2-5)

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter: Narrated by David Crandall and Cynthia Franklin

These classic stories by Beatrix Potter are perfect for younger kids but the whole family will enjoy the tale of Peter Rabbit. This one is fun because you child likely already knows the story and you might even be able to follow along with your own book.

Mary Poppins: Narrated By Sophie Thompson

Another family classic that you will love listening to on a long drive. Mary Poppins is the perfect upbeat audio book to keep young children entertained. Older children will love the engaging storytelling as well!

The Trumpet of the Swan: Narrated by E. B. White

This one was new for us and tells the tale of Louis the trumpeting swan in his quest to win the heart of his beloved. The audiobook is so engaging you’ll feel the story of Louis coming to life for you.

The Mercy Watson Series: Narrated by Ron McLarty

Young kids will love the hilarious adventures of Mercy the pig. We were first introduced to this series in paperback version but this is one of those cases where a good book series makes for great audiobooks. They are just so hilarious!

Do you need something to entertain younger children who aren’t ready for an audiobook? Check out my list of the best toddler toys for long road trips.