Despite the rising price of fuel, people around the UK will still want to take to the country's roads this summer to experience an good old fashioned road trip.

Whether that's a group of friends doing a tour of Cornwall, or Scotland's North Coast 500, or tackling the Welsh hills, there are numerous exciting options.

With that in mind, the RAC has put together a list of the best road trip cars on sale in the UK. However, the winner may come as a surprise, so might the car in second place too.

Coming in first is the £17,095 Kia Picanto city car which, although not an obvious winner, the RAC's Lawrence Allan explained how it's diminuitive performance made it more fun to drive than other much more expensive and powerful options available.

He explained: "Road trips are rarely dull when you're pushing a car to its limits, and you can do that in the little Kia and still be under the speed limit. You'll sip fuel, too - a bonus with unpredictable fuel prices.

"What's more, the Picanto is good fun to drive on the kind of tight, twisty roads that are found in most of our top 10 best road trips in the UK. Then, when you head into a nearby town for dinner, parking is a doddle."

Coming in second behind the Kia Picanto was the electric version of the Mercedes-Benz CLA, which Lawrence said was the best electric car for road tripping.

Lawrence said the main reason behind this was how far the £45,615 car could last on a charge, with a range of up to 484 miles, enough to get from London all the way up to Dundee in Scotland.

He added that it was also impressive because of how efficient it was, and how fast it could be charged up, making charging stops that little less time-consuming than other electric cars of the last decade.

Coming in third was the £34,875 Nissan Qashqai e-Power. Lawrence said this had come in third in part of because of its efficiency, one that meant it was possible to get over 770 miles from a tank of fuel, but also because of its practicality.

While the Kia and Mercedes had 255 and 407 litres of boot space respective, the Nissan has 504 litres. The Nissan also has the Kia beaten on fuel economy too, with the Kia able to do 51.4mpg but the Nissan up to 64.2mpg, key during a time of rising fuel prices.

When it comes to fuel, some experts have warned not to fill up between 10am and 2pm, including Interfuels' Gordon Walllis. He explained to the Express: "By late morning, many retailers have already adjusted their prices to reflect overnight changes in wholesale costs. That means drivers filling up around midday are often paying a premium.

"Late morning and early afternoon tend to be busy periods, with people stopping during errands, commutes or lunch breaks. When demand is steady, there is less pressure on retailers to keep prices low."