Best Audiobooks for Family Road Trips: 10 Picks from £5.99

Quick picks

• Best overall: Just William's Greatest Hits, read by Martin Jarvis, £9.05 to buy.
• Best budget: Who Let The Gods Out?, read by Maz Evans, £5.99 to buy.
• Best for families: The BFG, read by Mel Giedroyc, £6.79 to buy.

The 10 audiobooks in more detail

Just William's Greatest Hits by Richmal Crompton, read by Martin Jarvis. Listening length 4 hours and 51 minutes, unabridged. £9.05 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Martin Jarvis reads 17 Just William stories, including 'William and the Snowman' and 'William's Truthful Christmas', and two of them were performed in front of a live audience. The publisher pitches the collection as entertainment for the whole family and says boring car journeys are a thing of the past. It also includes Martin Jarvis's own reflections on recording the stories.

Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans, read by Maz Evans. Listening length 7 hours and 16 minutes, unabridged. £5.99 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat when a shooting star crashes to earth: it is Virgo, a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. Together they accidentally free Thanatos, a death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and have to call on the retired Olympian gods for help. The author reads it herself, and the listing shows it as Book 1 of 4.

The BFG by Roald Dahl, read by Mel Giedroyc. Listening length 4 hours, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. One moonlit night Sophie is snatched from her bed by a giant, but luckily he is the Big Friendly Giant, who would rather eat snozzcumbers and drink frobscottle than children. The other giants in Giant Country have nastier plans, and Sophie and the BFG must stop them. Puffin's 2024 edition is read by Mel Giedroyc and, says the publisher, is full of sound effects.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, read by Jesse Bernstein. Listening length 10 hours and 13 minutes, unabridged. £9.05 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Percy Jackson's life turns strange when monsters from Greek mythology start appearing and he finds out he is the son of a Greek god. Zeus believes Percy has stolen his lightning bolt, so Percy and his friends have ten days to find the real thief and prevent a war on Mount Olympus. It is Book 1 of 7, and the publisher notes it is the story behind the Disney+ series.

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens, read by Gemma Chan. Listening length 5 hours and 47 minutes, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong run a secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, but they have few real cases until Hazel finds the Science Mistress lying dead in the Gym. When the body vanishes five minutes later, the pair have to prove there was a murder before they can solve it. The listing shows it as Book 1 of 10 in the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries.

The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher, read by Paul Shelley. Listening length 6 hours and 25 minutes, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. A boy called William Trundle meets a dinosaur, the Christmasaurus, one Christmas Eve, and the two set off on an adventure full of Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer. This is the Musical Edition read by Paul Shelley, with 14 original songs written and performed by Tom Fletcher and a full orchestra. The listing shows it as Book 1 of 4.

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig, read by Stephen Fry. Listening length 4 hours and 32 minutes, unabridged. £8.64 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Stephen Fry narrates Matt Haig's story, which the publisher introduces as the true story of Father Christmas and warns is full of impossible things. The listing notes it is now a major film and shows it as Book 1 of 3. At 4 hours 32 minutes it fits neatly into a drive to see family over Christmas.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome, read by Gareth Armstrong. Listening length 8 hours and 40 minutes, unabridged. £11.65 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. First published in 1930, Swallows and Amazons introduces the Walker children, their camp on Wild Cat Island, the sailing boat Swallow and the two Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett. The publisher says the series is still enjoyed by children and adults alike and was inspired by Ransome's own sailing and camping holidays. It is Book 1 of 12.

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, read by Philip Pullman and a full cast. Listening length 11 hours and 55 minutes, unabridged. £12.07 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild among the scholars of Jordan College with her daemon Pantalaimon, until her uncle Lord Asriel arrives and draws her into a struggle involving stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears. Her journey takes her into the cold far North. This classic recording is read by Philip Pullman with a full cast, and it is Book 1 of 3.

Holes by Louis Sachar, read by Kerry Beyer. Listening length 4 hours and 37 minutes, unabridged. £10.44 to buy outright on 19 October 2026. Stanley Yelnats' family has a history of bad luck, so when a miscarriage of justice sends him to Camp Green Lake, a detention camp that is neither green nor a lake, it is no great surprise. Every day each boy must dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep, and Stanley sets out to find out why. This 2026 Bloomsbury edition includes new material from the author, a foreword by Phil Earle and reading group notes.

How to choose an audiobook for a family road trip

• Start with the youngest listener. A story the youngest child can follow keeps the whole car listening. The BFG, Just William's Greatest Hits and The Christmasaurus are easy places to start, while Northern Lights and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief suit families with older children and teens.
• Match the length to the trip. Every Amazon UK audiobook listing shows the listening length. The picks here range from 4 hours (The BFG) to 11 hours 55 minutes (Northern Lights), so a short title can cover a single journey and a longer one can last a whole holiday.
• Short stories or one long plot. A collection of short stories, like Just William's Greatest Hits, is easy to stop at a service station and pick up again. A single plot, like Murder Most Unladylike or Holes, keeps everyone guessing between stops.
• Think about the next trip. Eight of the picks are the first book in a series according to their listings, from Book 1 of 2 (Holes) to Book 1 of 12 (Swallows and Amazons), so if the family enjoys one there is more to come.
• The narrator. Everyone in the car will hear the same voice for hours, and every listing names its narrator. This guide includes Stephen Fry, Mel Giedroyc, Martin Jarvis, Gemma Chan, and Philip Pullman with a full cast.
• Unabridged or abridged. All 10 picks are marked unabridged on their listings, so you get the full book.
• Set it up before you go. Download the audiobook in the Audible app at home and start it before you pull away, so nobody needs to touch the phone while you are driving.

Buy outright or use a membership?

Each title above can be bought outright on Amazon UK, and you keep it. Prefer a membership? At the time of writing, eligible new Audible members can get Audible Standard for £0.99 a month for 3 months, then it renews at the standard monthly price shown on Amazon. Offer ends 17 December 2026; terms apply, cancel anytime. See the Audible offer box near the top of this page for the details.

Prices were checked on Amazon UK on 19 October 2026 and can change at any time. Check the current price on Amazon before you buy.