Music has the power to transport us, change our moods, and conjure memories. And, for many travelers, music is closely linked to travel. It can helps us understand the people and culture of a place, break down language barriers, and sear certain moments into our memories forever.
With help from members of our Travel Community and Scott’s Cheap Flights staff, we’ve created the ultimate travel playlist of 100 travel songs. Some reference specific places, others showcase the musical talent of a specific country, and others simply celebrate the joy of exploration.
Here, in no particular order, are 100 of our favorite travel songs. 56 songs that reference specific places in the title or lyrics
Sure, some of these songs, such Paris by the Chainsmokers or Toto’s Africa, actually have little to do with the specific place; it’s just used as the title or the setting for the story. But others not only reference a country or city, they also evoke a specific sense of that particular place or tell a story about that destination.
For example, in Marrakech Express, Crosby, Stills & Nash recount scenes from a train ride Nash actually took in 1966. In London Calling, the Clash sing about the social issues facing London in the late 70s. In Walking in Memphis, Marc Cohn croons about his experience wandering the city. And Simon & Garfunkel’s America was inspired by a road trip that Paul Simon took with his girlfriend.
Here are some of our favorite songs that mention a specific city or country, and a snippet of the lyrics.
Listen when: you’re on a $388 flight to Vienna, or a $671 flight to Johannesburg, or a $353 flight to Paris, or…1. Kathmandu – Bob Seger
That’s really, really where I’m going to
That’s what I’m gonna do
The one that’s going to Katmandu
Up to the mountain’s where I’m going to
dua. One Night in Bangkok – Murray Head
One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
3. I’ve Been Everywhere – Johnny Cash
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
4. Africa – Toto
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what’s right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened of this thing that I’ve become
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never have
Bonus: Check out the 2018 cover by Weezer and this awesome 2016 video from Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard.
5. Marrakech Express – Crosby, Stills & Nash
Take the train from Casablanca going south
Blowing smoke rings from the corners of my my, my, my, my mouth
Striped jellabas we can wear at home
Don’t you know we’re riding on the Marrakesh Express
6. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) – Shakira
7. San Francisco – Scott McKenzie
If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there
8. London Calling – The Clash
The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growin’ thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
‘Cause London is drowning, and I, I live by the river
9. Galway Girl – Ed Sheeran
You know, she played the fiddle in an Irish band
But she fell in love with an Englishman
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand
Said, “Baby, I just wanna dance”
With my pretty little Galway girl
You’re my pretty little Galway girl
10. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – They Might Be Giants
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can’t say
People just liked it better that way
11. Ramblin’ Man – the Allman Brothers Band
I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’
I’m leavin’ out of Nashville, Tennessee
They’re always having a good time down on the bayou
Lord, them Delta women think the world of me
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
That I was born a ramblin’ man
12. Aux Champs-Élysées – Joe Dassin
Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées
Champs-Elysees, Champs-ElyseesIn the sun, in the rain, at noon or midnightThere is everything you want on the Champs-Elysées
13. Lovers in Japan – Coldplay
Dreamin’ of when the morning comes
14. Barcelona – George Ezra
I’ll be lying right by your side
15. April in Paris – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
I never knew the charm of spring
I never knew my heart could sing
Till April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
April in Paris, this is a feeling
16. Blue Hawaii – Elvis Presley
17. Back in the U.S.S.R. – The Beatles
Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia’s always on my mind
You don’t know how lucky you are boys
18. Rio – Netsky featuring Macklemore
It’s the “Rio” remix, you should see us
Swimming in the ocean like the pool is hella heated
Expedited Visa and I’m posted with my feet up
Parasailing over beaches, got my girl from Ipanema
19. Barcelona – Ed Sheeran
And you and I we’re flying on an airplane tonight
We’re going somewhere where the sun is shining bright
And let’s pretend we’re dancing in the street
20. Havana – Camila Cabello
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh na-na
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na, ah
Oh, but my heart is in Havana
21. In America – Neil Diamond
Every time that flag’s unfurled
Got a dream they’ve come to share
22. Tennessee – Arrested Development
They tell me my ears are so young
My family tree, my family name
For some strange reason it had to be
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
23. Paris – The Chainsmokers
Standing there with a frown and a cigarette
Posting pictures of yourself on the internet
24. Graceland – Paul Simon
The Mississippi Delta was shining
Through the cradle of the civil war
25. Carolina in My Mind – James Taylor
In my mind I’m gone to Carolina
Can’t you just feel the moonshine?
And, ain’t it just like a friend of mine
Yes, I’m gone to Carolina in my mind