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A campervan road trip budget, worked through
The total is mostly hire, fuel and somewhere to sleep. Here is one trip added up line by line. The trip itself is an example; the prices come from the sources linked below.
The trip: 10 daysexample, 2,000 kmexample of driving, 2 peopleexample, a diesel campervan using 12 litres per hundred kmexample, and every night at a Queensland national park or state forest campground. Swap in your own numbers in the calculator.
| Line | Working | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hire | days × a daily rate at the bottom of the mid-range band in Motorhome Republic’s published price guide (budget campervans typically AUD 30 to AUD 100 a day; mid-range AUD 100 to AUD 180; luxury motorhomes from AUD 180, sometimes over AUD 3501) | A$1,000.00 |
| Fuel | 240 litres of diesel at the national average of 279.3 cents a litre2 | A$670.32 |
| Camping | nights × people × $7.75 per person per night3 | A$155.00 |
| Total | A$1,825.32 |
What this example leaves out
- Insurance and extras. Motorhome Republic notes that prices rise in peak seasons, and protection, mileage and extras can cost more1. Excess-reduction cover is often the biggest add-on: get the figure from your quote.
- Age. You generally need to be at least 25 to hire a campervan; some suppliers rent from 18, possibly with an under-25 charge1.
- Park entry and tolls. NSW parks such as Murramarang charge $8 per vehicle per day4 on top of camping; city toll roads come from your route planner.
- Holiday parks. Powered sites at private parks cost more than park campgrounds and are priced per site.
- Free nights. In Victoria, you can camp anywhere in a Victorian state forest if you set up at least 20 metres from waterways and stay no longer than 28 consecutive nights5: each one of those nights takes a line off the camping total.
Where the money goes
In this example, hire is 55% of the total and fuel 37%. The quickest savings are a smaller van (less hire and less fuel) and fewer, longer stops.
Work out your own trip: open the campervan hire calculator. It starts with sourced defaults and leaves the rest for your quote.
Sources
- Motorhome Republic, Australia campervan rental (price guide and FAQ). Checked 31 October 2026.
- Australian Institute of Petroleum (AIP), national retail petrol and diesel prices, data for the week of 25 October 2026. Checked 31 October 2026. AIP figures, quoted with credit. AIP is the fuel industry association; its retail data comes from Motormouth.. hand-entered from the AIP national retail tables (week ending Sunday).
- Queensland Parks and Forests, Camping bookings and fees. Checked 31 October 2026.
- NSW National Parks, Depot Beach campground. Checked 31 October 2026.
- Victorian Government, Camping in State forests. Checked 31 October 2026.