Road Trip Tips For Couples
If you’re considering a road trip with your significant other, this article is for you!
We have collated all of our essential road trip tips in one place so you can get the best experience possible from your next adventure as a couple.
We recently embarked on our most ambitious road trip yet - a 5000+ mile (8000km) round-trip from Belfast (Northern Ireland) to Athens (Greece) and back again. The trip took us around 3 months as we ventured through 17 different countries along the way.
We think it's fair to say that we’re experienced road trippers after that ambitious journey, which is why we have created this article to help you.
So, let’s dive into: Road Trip Tips for Couples
Disclaimer - this blog post contains affiliate links where we can earn a commission, if you make a purchase through them (at no extra cost to you).
Useful Travel Resources For Planning Your Road Trip As A Couple
- 🏠 Book your perfect stay with HostelWorld or Booking.com
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- 🚘 Hire a car for more comfort via Rentalcars
- 🎲 Buy some of the Best Travel Games For Couples to take with you on your trip
Road Trip Tips for Couples
Underneath, we have highlighted the best road trip tips we have collated over the years. As we mentioned, our most ambitious road trip was a giant 8000km drive across Europe, but these tips are equally important for a 3-hour journey as they are for a 3-month adventure.
Although road-tripping as a couple is one of the best adventures you can have together, it can soon turn ugly if you don’t plan and devise some simple boundaries before the trip begins.
Always remember that the best part of a couple’s road trip is spending quality time together and making lasting memories. Yes, things will go wrong and might not always go to plan, but just remember that you’re doing it with your best friend, so everything will work out for the best.
So, let’s now jump into our road trip tips for couples.
Listen to podcasts and audiobooks
We start off with a relatively well-known road trip tip, but it’s still pretty vital - download some great podcasts and audiobooks to listen to on the road!
Road-tripping is all about having adventures and exploring new places, but there will be those long driving days when you simply want to get from point A to point B.
During these days, we recommend downloading some podcasts and audiobooks to listen to. Audiobooks are a great option because you can start the book at the beginning of the road trip and challenge yourself to listen to the entire book before the end of the trip.
With podcasts, perhaps you share different interests, so why not choose a different podcast per day?
For example, on our road trip around the best places to visit in the Western Balkans, Orla chose for us to listen to the ‘Katherine Ryan: Telling Everybody Everything’ Podcast, whereas Ben chose the very different ‘Guardian Football Weekly’ podcast.
Turns out that we actually enjoyed listening to both podcasts equally by the end of the trip.
Have plenty of snacks for the road trip
We have a nice and straightforward couples road trip tip up next - bring plenty of snacks and drinks for the journey.
Now, what you bring is entirely up to you guys. Perhaps you both love crisps (chips) and fizzy drinks (soda) and want to stock up as much as possible? Maybe you both want to go down the healthy route and have some fruit and water in reserve?
Whatever route you take, ensure you have plenty of supplies because you don’t want anyone getting hangry during the trip and causing unnecessary tension.
Our go-to road-trip snacks are usually trail mix, granola bars and bananas, but you can choose whatever road-trip snacks suit you best as a couple.
Plan the road trip together as a couple
This one is a pretty important tip because you want the road trip to be a combination of both your interests and ideas.
Collaborate on the trip itinerary, including destinations, activities, and accommodations, to make sure both partners have input and feel excited about the journey.
You don’t want it to become one person’s adventure with the other simply ‘along for the ride’. It has to be a worthwhile, memorable experience for both sides of the couple!
Something that worked well for us during our road trip as a couple would be to alternate the days we arranged things - one day, one of us would plan where to eat while the other planned the accommodation/park-up spot, then the next day we would swap roles.
This road trip tip might not work for every couple, but it certainly worked for us.
Pack light as a couple
It might sound silly and counter-intuitive that you can pack light as a couple because there are two of you, sharing a small space, but it definitely can be done.
Do you both need to bring your own toothpaste? Do you need 2 separate travel adapters? Can you share one blanket instead of packing 2 bulky sleeping bags?
Being savvy with your packing - perhaps by following our long-term travel packing tips - means you avoid unnecessary clutter and get more space.
There’s nothing worse than embarking on a road trip when your knees are buried in your chest because there are 3 big bags stuffed under the passenger seat because there isn’t enough room elsewhere.
Pack light, pack smart, and you’ll be setting yourself up for success on your couples’ road trip.
It’s unlikely you’re going to have room for a suitcase, so pack wisely ready for your road trip as a couple
Share the driving during the road trip
Road trips are one of the best adventures you can have, but they can also become pretty tiring.
Particularly on those long point A to point B days, driving can become monotonous and boring. To avoid this happening, it’s essential to share the driving burden during the road trip.
Not only does sharing the driving make it more enjoyable for both parties, but it also makes it safer because driving for too long can cause you to become tired and less observant.
Top tip: if one of you is a more confident driver, then perhaps they should do the driving in the cities and busier areas, while the other can do a lot of the driving on the motorways/highways to break up the journey a little.
Be okay with silence every now and then
We promise you that it’s okay to have some silence during a couple’s road trip.
Especially when planning on going on an expansive, cross-country journey, you don’t need to be talking and laughing 100% of the time. Of course, the beauty of a road trip as a couple is that the majority of it is going to be spent laughing and smiling, but don’t worry about having a little quiet time during the in-between periods.
Learning to be okay with silence shows how strong your relationship is and means you won’t get socially ‘burnt out during the adventure.
Remember that you are spending an extended period in a very confined space with your significant other; at times, you are going to need the quiet to be able to relax and recharge your batteries fully.
One of our top tips for hiking as a couple is learning to go at your own pace and give each other space if necessary - while we appreciate it’s tricky to give each other physical space when on a road trip, you can still give each other a little social space to be able to wind down and relax.
Play games during the journey
Some of the best road trip activities for couples involve playing games and keeping each other entertained during those long journeys.
There are plenty of different road trip games you can play, ranging from those that don’t require any prior planning, all the way to games that require a board, cards and dice.
Some of the best travel games for couples we like to play regularly during a road trip are Rummikub, Bananagrams and Mapominoes.
It’s important to remember that all 3 of these require you to be stationary, so they are best played when you’ve parked up for the evening or even during a rest in the middle of a long driving day.
Of course, there are plenty of games you can play while driving. Some easy go-to options are eye-spy, categories and the word association game.
Anything to pass the time, like a trivia quiz or a guessing game, will help the road trip go smoothly.
Our favourite travel games to bring on a road trip
Make sure you pack everything you need for the road trip
Our next road trip tip for couples requires you to do some forward planning and thinking - what are you going to need on your road trip?
Now, this answer to this question will differ massively based on a range of factors like where you’re road-tripping, how long you’re planning to be on the road, whether you’re sleeping in the car/van or a tent, etc.
Regardless of your road trip style and itinerary, however, you need to make sure you pack everything you will need for the duration of the trip.
You don’t want to get a couple of days into the road trip, realise you haven’t packed a razor and spend half your day going into a town and looking around shops. This valuable adventure time should be spent creating memories on your couples’ road trip.
Top tip: it can be handy to create a packing checklist and manually tick each item off when you put them into the car/van, to make sure you don’t miss anything important.
Plan out your bathroom breaks efficiently
Nobody wants to be caught short on a road trip, so schedule regular bathroom trips into your daily itineraries.
Say, for example, you’re going to go on a hike one day, and you’re planning on being away from the vehicle for an extended period of time; make sure you drive somewhere that has a bathroom before you start the hike. Nobody wants to run off the trail in search of a sheltered bush or tree.
If you’re fortunate enough to be driving a camper van during your couple's road trip, the van may even have the luxury of a portable toilet, which is excellent.
Though any seasoned van lifer will tell you, the portable toilet is supposed to be for number 1s only. Arranging regular bathroom stops during your journey will allow you to conveniently take a number 2 without having to worry about the repercussions in a small, confined camper van.
Road trips as a couple can be really romantic and enjoyable, but you’ve got to factor in the less romantic, more practical elements like bathroom stops too.
Be prepared to get lost at some point during the road trip
Getting lost is just part of what is to be expected during a road trip, so don’t let it get in between you.
You can plan for every eventuality, and then, somehow, Google Maps tells you to take a right when it should have been a left and suddenly, you’re in the middle of nowhere.
One of our best road trip tips for couples is to embrace getting lost. Treat it as part of the adventure, and learn to be flexible.
As long as you’re safe, getting lost is just another layer to the already incredible memories you’re creating.
If you’re really lost, then try and retrace your steps by simply turning around and driving towards the last place you really remember. Alternatively, identify some notable landmarks up ahead (Mountain, river, etc.) and head towards them before you eventually find your way back to your intended route.
Getting lost at some point during a road trip is bound to happen - embrace it and figure out the best plan together as a couple!
Route 66 - a great place for a Couples Road Trip
Always bring some loose change - to avoid charges at tolls
One of the more practical suggestions we have on this list of road trip tips for couples, but nonetheless still a great little tip for avoiding unnecessarily stressful situations while on the road.
Regardless of where you’re driving in the world, you’re likely to find a toll booth that requires some change. You don’t want to be in that awkward situation where you’re both scrambling around the car/van, looking for any coins you can find in the door well or underneath the seats.
Instead, plan to have a pot of change somewhere discreet in the vehicle so you know you always have something to use when you get to a toll booth.
Having loose change can also be handy on longer road trips when you pull up to a gas station, and they inexplicably charge you to be able to use the bathroom - this happened to us a lot during our road trip through Europe.
We don’t think anyone should ever have to pay to use a bathroom, but that’s a discussion for another day!
Try not to be a backseat driver
We’ve all been there, right? When you’re concentrating on driving and somebody in the seat next to you or behind is constantly commenting on your driving abilities.
‘Slow Down’. ‘You should have gone right there’. ‘Go into the left lane’.
All of these little comments can be really distracting and can get particularly annoying during a long road trip. The last thing you want to do is upset your partner during a couples’ road trip, so try and keep those little opinions to yourself as much as you can.
Obviously, it goes without saying that you’re more than welcome to comment when your other half is doing something genuinely dangerous, but for all those other little instances, it’s not worth creating friction.
Bring a pillow/blanket to make the road trip as comfortable as possible
We appreciate that not everybody will have the luxury of driving a camper van during their couples’ road trip. Most road trips together will happen in a car, so you need to bring a few extra supplies to make it as comfortable as possible.
Regardless of whether you’re planning to sleep in a hotel or not, you should always bring a pillow and a blanket on your road trip so you can get as comfortable as possible in between driving.
It’s a great feeling when the other one is driving, to be able to snuggle up in a blanket in the passenger seat and catch up on a few hours of sleep before it’s your turn to drive again.
Take lots of photographs of each other (and together)
A scenario that no couple wants after their epic road trip together, is to get back from the trip without a single photo of each other to show for it.
Living in the moment during the adventure is really important, so we certainly don’t recommend spending your entire trip looking through the lens of a camera but do be mindful enough to take the occasional photo together to remember the trip in years to come.
Top tip: one of the best gifts for travel couples is a gopro and during a road trip they come in handy because you can attach them to your dashboard and record hours and hours of footage of the journey, ready to be transformed into an amazing road trip video later on down the line.
Reflect on your Couples Road Trip together
Our final tip for a successful road trip as a couple comes in handy at the very end of your trip - once you’re settled back into your routine at home, you should take some time to reflect on the road trip together.
What parts did you both love? Which aspect of the trip did you both find tricky? Do you even want to go on a road trip as a couple again?
Answering all of these questions while the journey is still fresh in your memory will serve as an excellent resource for the next time you plan a trip together as a couple.
Bonus tip: it’s a great idea to create a scrapbook of all the tickets/photos you’ve collated along the way, it will be a great thing to look back on in years to come.
Road Trip Tips for Couples: Final Words
So, there we have it, folks. A conclusive round-up of all the road trip tips for couples that we have learned and perfected along our countless journeys over the years.
Just remember that the most important aspect of a couples' road trip is spending quality time together and creating lasting memories. Flexibility and a positive attitude can help you navigate any unexpected challenges that may arise during the adventure.
You can find even more travel tips for couples on our website to help you make the most of your next trip together.
