★★★★★ Rated 4.5 out of 5
Most of our road trips don’t start on our own driveway. They start at an airport, with a suitcase that has to fit a baggage allowance, a queue at a hire car desk and a car we’ve never driven, in a country where we don’t know where the nearest supermarket is. That changes what you can take, and it’s why the usual “what to keep in your car” lists never quite fit.
We’ve road tripped across Canada, the USA, Australia, Costa Rica, Chile and Oman, and you’ll find our routes and planning advice in our road trip guide. This page is the kit list. It covers what to pack from home, what to buy when you land, what to check comes with the car, and the car emergency kit we put together on every trip.
Split your road trip essentials three ways. Pack from home the small things you can fly with, such as documents, chargers and a first aid kit. Buy when you land the bulky things, such as water, snacks and winter supplies. Check at the hire desk what should already be in the car, such as the spare tyre and any safety kit required by law. There’s a free printable checklist in the same three columns below.
This is the whole list in one place. Each column is explained in more detail below.
| Pack from home | Buy when you land | Check at the hire desk |
|---|---|---|
| Driving licence and hire documents | Water, plenty of it | Spare tyre and jack |
| Insurance details and emergency numbers | Snacks for the car | Fuel type and tank level |
| Offline maps and a printed road map | Toilet roll, wipes and hand sanitiser | Breakdown number |
| Charging cables, power bank and a 12V USB adapter | A cheap cool box | Any safety kit required locally |
| A phone mount | Local snacks for the glovebox | Winter tyres or snow chains |
| A compact first aid kit | Ice scraper and de-icer in winter | Damage, photographed before you leave |
| A head torch | A blanket if you're heading somewhere cold | Boot space for all your bags |
These are the things that are small enough to fly with, hard to replace abroad, or that you need before you’ve even reached the car.
You’ll need your driving licence to collect the hire car, so pack it in your hand luggage rather than your suitcase. Keep it on you while you’re driving too, because in some countries you can be fined if you’re stopped without it. A UK photocard licence is enough to drive in the EU, but further afield, including the USA, Canada, Australia and Oman, an International Driving Permit is often recommended, and hire car desks frequently ask for one even where the law doesn’t. Check GOV.UK’s guidance for your destination and ask your hire company before you go.
Have your insurance details and emergency numbers where you can find them quickly, not buried in an email. It’s worth sharing them with someone at home too, in case you’re ever not in a position to make the call yourself.
Built-in sat navs in hire cars are hit and miss, so don’t rely on the car. Most newer cars let you use Google Maps or Waze through your phone. We’ve found Waze particularly useful, because other drivers report hazards and accidents ahead in real time, although it needs a data connection to work.
Download offline maps in Google Maps for your route before you leave home, while you’re on good wifi. And I always take a printed road map. There have been trips when we never opened it, and several when we’ve been very glad of it, because signal on a road trip disappears exactly when you need it.
Pack your charging cables in your hand luggage, then keep them in the front of the car, not the boot, so you can charge on the move. A 12V USB adapter costs very little and means you’re not relying on the hire car having the right sockets. A phone mount isn’t a legal requirement, but holding your phone while driving is illegal in the UK and in most of the places we’ve driven, so a mount is the simple way to follow directions hands-free.
Tom found that out when he picked up a car at Hobart Airport in Tasmania. None of the available Toyotas had a working sat nav subscription, so he had to follow Google Maps on his phone, balanced against the dashboard.
A vent mount would have saved a lot of glancing down. A power bank is worth its weight on long driving days. Power banks have to travel in your hand luggage, never the hold, and airlines limit how many you can take and how big they can be, so check your airline’s rules before you pack.
A compact first aid kit lives in my hand luggage for the flight and moves to the glovebox when we pick up the car. Mine covers plasters, a bandage, antiseptic cream, bite and sting cream, painkillers, antihistamines, rehydration sachets and a bag in case of car sickness. There’s more on what to include in our travel first aid kit checklist. A head torch is small, light and very welcome if you ever need to change a tyre at dusk.
Some road trip essentials are too bulky to fly with or simply easier to buy locally. We usually make a supermarket stop on the first day, as soon as we’ve collected the car.
Buy more than you think you’ll need, especially in hot weather, in case of breakdowns or delays.
Grapes, apples and cereal bars travel well, don’t make a mess if they spill and don’t fill the car with smells. If anyone in the car has a food allergy, this matters even more, because safe options aren’t always available when and where you need them.
Toilet roll, wet wipes and hand sanitiser, because rest stop toilets are not always what you’d hope.
A cheap one keeps water and lunch fresh on long days, and you can leave it behind or pass it on at the end.
Most things are card-only these days, but not everywhere. In Costa Rica we needed small amounts of cash for the toll roads, because cards weren’t accepted.
If you’re driving somewhere cold, pick up an ice scraper and de-icer rather than packing them.
The rest of your kit should come with the car, so take ten minutes before you drive away to make sure it’s actually there.
Check they’re in the boot and that you know how to use them, or who to call if you can’t. A flat tyre is the most likely thing to go wrong on any road trip.
Most reputable hire companies include breakdown cover. Save the number in your phone before you leave the car park.
Most European countries require a warning triangle and hi-vis vests, and some, including Germany, Austria and Croatia, also require a first aid kit. Reputable hire companies usually supply the triangle and a vest, but it’s the driver’s job to check everything required is in the car, so ask at the desk.
Check the fuel type, and whether the tank is full. Start your road trip with a full tank, and keep it topped up more often than you would at home, especially in remote areas or anywhere with bush fire warnings.
Photograph any scratches, scrapes and dents, and report them before you leave.
Check the sat nav works and that nothing like valet mode has been left switched on, which can lock you out of the navigation. If the desk can’t reset it, ask for a different car. It happened to us in Canada.
Make sure all your bags actually fit. We once booked a convertible in Florida and had no room for the luggage, or the kids.
There’s a fuller set of hire car lessons in our road trip guide.
Once you’ve packed, shopped and checked the car, your car emergency kit comes together from all three lists. This is what we make sure is in the car before we set off on a long drive.
Water and food: Enough for everyone for an unexpected wait.
First aid kit: In the glovebox, not the boot.
Charged power bank and cables: So a flat phone never leaves you without a map or a way to call.
Head torch: For anything that happens after dark.
Warm layers or a blanket: In case you're stuck for hours, especially somewhere cold or remote.
Printed map: For when the signal goes.
Emergency and breakdown numbers: Saved in your phone and written down.
A full tank: The simplest safety measure there is.
If you’re driving in winter, or anywhere snow and ice are possible, you may need snow chains or winter tyres. In Canada the rules on winter tyres vary by province. Quebec requires them through the winter, and British Columbia requires them on many mountain highways, so check before you go and confirm what your hire car has. Add an ice scraper, de-icer and blankets to your shopping list, keep the tank topped up, and give yourself more time between stops than you’d plan in summer.
The further from towns you go, the more your kit matters. Carry extra water and keep the fuel tank full, because the next fuel station can be a long way off. A 4WD may be essential for desert or unsealed roads. For truly remote areas with no phone signal, a satellite phone is worth considering, so you can call for help if you’re stranded.
We learnt the value of preparation the hard way when we got stuck in the sand in the Omani desert as the light was fading. A van of locals appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and towed us out. You can’t plan for the kindness of strangers, but you can make sure you’ve got water, a torch and a charged phone while you wait for it. Our Oman road trip guide has more on driving there.
On a road trip, everything you own is in the car. A road tripper is like a snail with its house on its back, just hopefully a bit quicker. The trick is knowing what goes where.
In the cabin: Documents, phones, cables, the power bank, the first aid kit, water, snacks, toiletries, the printed map and a layer for everyone.
In the boot: Suitcases, the cool box, spare clothes, blankets and anything you won't need until tonight's stop.
Packing the cabin well means you’re not unloading the boot at the side of the road to find a charger. For everything else you’ll want on holiday, our holiday packing list covers the suitcase.
Entertainment is a road trip essential too, especially on the longer legs. These are the things that have worked for us.
Build a shared playlist of songs about your destination, or by artists from it, and ask everyone to add to it before you go. Expect lively debates about tenuous links.
Take it in turns to queue the next song, so everyone gets their music played and you all discover something new.
Uno or a pencil and paper, for anyone who can look down in a car without feeling sick.
A list of things to spot along the way keeps people looking out of the window, even if attention drifts.
Buy some local snacks you can’t get at home, then produce them from the glovebox one at a time as a surprise. We borrowed the idea from John Torode and Lisa Faulkner’s ITV series John and Lisa’s Food Trip Down Under.
Your driving licence and hire documents, offline and printed maps, chargers and a power bank, a first aid kit, plenty of water and snacks, and a check that the hire car has a spare tyre and the safety kit required where you're driving.
Water, food, a first aid kit, a charged power bank, a torch, warm layers or a blanket, a printed map and your breakdown and emergency numbers. Add an ice scraper, de-icer and blankets in winter.
Split it. Fly with the small items, such as documents, chargers, a first aid kit and a head torch. Buy bulky things like water, a cool box and winter supplies when you land, and check the hire car has its spare tyre and safety kit before you drive away.
It depends on the country. A UK photocard licence is enough in the EU, but a permit is often recommended further afield, and hire car desks frequently ask for one even where it isn't legally required. Check GOV.UK's guidance for your destination and ask your hire company.
In closing
Most road trips never need the emergency kit, and that's exactly how it should be. But the times we've been glad of a printed map, a full tank or a bottle of water in the boot have made the habit worth it every time.
Pack the small things from home, shop on the first day and check the car before you drive away, and you'll have everything you need without paying for an extra suitcase. When you're ready to plan the route itself, our road trip guide takes you through the rest.
Happy road tripping, Lucy
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