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If you’re thinking of renting a motorhome in Australia, then you definitely need to do your research! The right motorhome is the basis for a successful road trip, so knowing what you need and familiarizing yourself with the rules of the road (and the rental companies) is crucial.
I’m from Australia, and together, Bailey and I have done countless motorhome and campervan trips around the country over the past 10 years. I’d like to think that we know our stuff by now! That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to renting a motorhome in Australia.
This is your one-stop shop for information about motorhome rentals in Australia. By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to hit the road.
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT CODE: I’ve organized a special discount code that will get you 5% off if you book your campervan or motorhome through JUCY or Star RV! Simply click here to select your JUCY campervan, or click here to select your Star RV motorhome, and then use the code DTRAVEL25 at checkout to get 5% off – it’s that easy!
1. Picking a good Motorhome Company is so important!
I really can’t stress this enough!
After all, your motorhome is going to be your home and your mode of transport for your entire road trip. Basically, it’s going to be the center of your world for the duration of your road trip, so choosing the right one will make or break your trip.
On a recent road trip we did with our friends, we went with Star RV, while our friends opted for a cheaper company in an effort to save money. We were instantly impressed with our motorhome, as it was new and well-equipped, while our friends’ vehicle left a lot to be desired. At first glance, we could see that it had a lot of visible wear and tear, but that was only the start.
Throughout the trip, everything in our motorhome worked really well and we had no problems whatsoever! Meanwhile, our friends’ issues never ended. The power in their motorhome would trip all the time, their battery didn’t last long, and most of their appliances were faulty. It just made their lives really difficult, and it really put a damper on the trip for them.
We’re so thankful that we went through Star RV. Our motorhome wasn’t outrageously priced at all, but we could have skimped on quality by going for a different company, and we’re so glad we didn’t. Our friends really wished they had gone with Star RV like we did, as we had a much better experience.
The moral of the story: choose a reliable motorhome rental company!
If you’re ready to book NOW, check out Star RV’s inventory here!
2. You NEED the right facilities/motorhome for your trip
The right facilities for your motorhome are a necessity, not a nice-to-have. A vehicle that’s kitted out to suit you will save you a ton of hassle and make your trip way smoother! Here’s everything you need to consider:
Size
The first thing I suggest you think about is the size of your motorhome. Being able to walk around and having extra living space can save a lot of frustration!
If you have a smaller motorhome, you might not want to cook in the kitchen, as it can be annoying trying to move around in such a tight space. If this happens, you’ll end up spending a lot of extra money on eating out.
On the flip side, size is also important if you don’t want to drive a big, bulky motorhome. Larger motorhomes are harder to drive and harder to park. I would definitely recommend a more compact motorhome if you’re not a confident driver.
Also, think about where you’re going! If you’re going to be spending time in cities, then a smaller vehicle is going to be much easier to maneuver around. If you’re heading along the East Coast, through Sydney and Brisbane, then I would definitely suggest a more compact motorhome.
Personally, we don’t mind compromising on space in order to drive a smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicle. We prefer having a motorhome that’s easy to drive and park, and allows us to get in and out of cities without any hassle. However, we travel as a couple – I think that having the extra space is a really good idea for families!
Number of seatbelts
Make sure that you double-check the number of seat belts. It turns out that the number of seat belts does not have to equal the berth (aka the number of people that the motorhome sleeps). For example, 2-berth motorhomes may have 2 or 4 seatbelts, or 4-berth homes might only have 2 seatbelts!
Basically, don’t just look at how many people the motorhome can sleep. Think about how many people you’re bringing and double-check that everyone will have a seat belt, otherwise, you’ll be breaking the law!
Manual/Automatic
If you’re used to driving in a country where they drive on the right-hand side, such as the US or Canada, then renting a manual motorhome might make your life more difficult. You’ll be using your other hand to shift gears, which can feel strange at first, especially if you’re not used to driving a manual vehicle! In this case, it might be worth renting a motorhome with an automatic drive. As mentioned, we like to rent through Star RV, and all of their vehicles are automatic anyway!
However, if you’re already used to driving in Australia, or hail from somewhere like New Zealand or the UK where they also drive on the left, then you can save money by renting a manual. You can compare prices on Motorhome Republic, as they allow you to filter manuals and automatics easily. I will say that automatic motorhomes seem to be much more common these days, though.
Check out all the options available on the Motorhome Republic here!
Number of Beds
How many people do you want your motorhome to be able to sleep?
The number of beds is indicated by berth. For example, a 2-berth motorhome sleeps two people, a 3-berth sleeps 3 people, and so on.
If you want some extra space, it might be worth getting a motorhome that can sleep more people than you actually have. Bigger berth motorhomes also tend to have larger kitchens and more living space.
Parents with small children could also save money and opt for a smaller berth caravan if the kids will sleep in the same bed as them – just make sure the motorhome has enough seatbelts! However, I definitely do not recommend doing this with adults, as it would be far too uncomfortable.
Kitchen options
Let’s get one thing straight: the kitchen in your motorhome is never going to be huge.
They do vary in size, though. You’ll want to make fairly simple meals, regardless of what kitchen you get, but some have extra features like pull-out grills that allow for a bit more variety. Bigger motorhomes will also have more fridge space and extra gas burners.
The motorhome we rented from Star RV had a two-burner stove, a water filter, a 90-liter fridge, a toaster, a kettle, and a microwave, which is standard for all of their vehicles. Basically, we had everything that we needed, and cooking was pretty easy.
However, this does vary from company to company. Always read the specs carefully, and if you’re in any doubt about a particular item that you want, contact the rental company to make sure.
Bathroom options
Motorhomes come with either a portable toilet or a fixed bathroom. Honestly, we always avoid using portable toilets wherever possible, and we know we’re not alone in this!
With that said the portable toilets do come in handy because they allow you to use budget campsites that often require you to have a self-contained vehicle. You will still need to find showers, though, so this isn’t the best option if you want to go freedom camping for days at a time.
Many motorhomes come with a fixed bathroom that has a proper toilet and shower. If you choose this option, you will need to dump the toilet and greywater and refill the fresh water, so it does come with extra responsibilities. However, we opted for a motorhome like this and it was 100% worth it because we were able to camp virtually wherever we wanted!
Do you want to freedom camp?
I think this is one of the most important considerations when renting a motorhome.
If you want to freedom camp, then you’ll definitely want a self-contained motorhome with a fixed bathroom. These motorhomes do cost more, but they also save you money on campsite fees and allow you to camp virtually anywhere. We wanted to freedom camp, so we opted for a motorhome like this. For us, the extra cost was totally worth it!
We also knew that we wanted to head into remote areas for days at a time, so we also made sure that we had a decent kitchen with everything we needed and a fridge big enough to store several days’ worth of food.
Related Read: If a motorhome seems too big, consider a campervan! Here is our Complete Guide to Renting a Campervan in Australia with all the details.
3. You can’t freedom camp the entire time
We learned this the hard way!
When we set out on our road trip, we had planned to use free campsites for our entire trip. However, we quickly realized that we needed somewhere to charge our motorhome’s battery, refill our water, and dump our waste. You can’t exactly do this out in the wilderness – I can’t believe we didn’t think about it beforehand!
We ended up adjusting our itinerary so that we would visit a holiday park every 4-5 days. This was a good amount of time for us. You could go for longer, but I think you’d be suffering at the tail end of the interval between holiday parks because your battery will be very low (or even die), which means you’ll lose the use of basic facilities.
If you want to spend more time off the beaten path, look into renting a motorhome with solar panels. This will prolong your battery life, allowing you to go for longer without resetting your vehicle at a holiday park. However, these don’t come as standard so shop around and double-check this before booking.
Personally, I’m not sure that I would bother with this because the solar panels take a long time to charge. They’re not ideal if you’re using the facilities a lot, but they can buy you a little extra time if you’re going somewhere very remote.
4. Choose the right insurance option for you
Third-party insurance is always included when renting a motorhome in Australia because it’s legally required! This means that you’re covered if someone else damages your vehicle, and it can be proven that it’s their fault. However, it doesn’t cover you if you damage your rental motorhome, or someone else’s, so it’s definitely worth considering additional insurance.
We strongly recommend additional cover because it also covers you for things like break-ins, theft, and cracked windscreens. The latter is super common, especially in rural areas where trucks often flick up stones. It’s happened to me more times than I can count.
You’ve got a few different options here, so start by thinking about what excess you’re comfortable with. Excess is the amount that you have to pay out of your own pocket if you make a claim.
And whichever insurance option you choose, carefully read what it does and doesn’t cover. A lot of policies don’t cover driving at dawn, dusk, or after dark, especially in rural areas, due to the risk of hitting wildlife. Double-check your policy, although to be honest, I would avoid driving at night if possible!
Credit card insurance
It’s worth checking what insurance your credit card offers. Plenty of credit cards include coverage for rental vehicles, including motorhomes, but check the excess before you settle on this option, as you could still end up out of pocket. For example, if your credit card covers up to $3,000 AUD in excess but the motorhome rental company’s excess is $5,000 AUD, you would be liable for the additional $2,000 AUD!
However, some credit cards have pretty generous limits. I actually used my Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards credit card to fully cover our motorhome rental, so that’s one for fellow Aussies to look at.
Insurance from the motorhome rental company
The other option is to arrange extra cover through the rental company you’re using. Star RV, for example, offers different insurance packages. The Stress Free option covers you for certain situations, such as broken windscreens and panel damage, while the Stress Free Plus option covers you for pretty much all eventualities, and neither has any excess for allowable claims.
Most rental companies will offer at least two tiers of coverage in a similar fashion, but the benefit of Star RV in particular is that they won’t take a deposit from you if you insure through them. There’s more on this to come, but this can be a huge advantage.
Take advantage of Star RV’s competitive benefits and rates when you book here!
5. Watching out for kangaroos is serious business
There’s a reason why insurance often doesn’t cover driving after dark in Australia… there’s a big risk of hitting wildlife!
Okay, to be honest, you’re not at high risk of this in a city or town, but in rural areas, I definitely recommend avoiding driving at dusk and dawn. This is when kangaroos are most active and tend to jump across the road, often coming out of nowhere! You really don’t want to hit a kangaroo with your motorhome – take it from an Aussie who knows.
6. If you need a 4WD, you won’t be able to rent a motorhome!
There are so many places to explore in Australia that don’t require a 4WD. However, if you want to explore somewhere really rugged and remote, such as Kakadu National Park in Darwin, then you’ll need a 4WD. And this means that you won’t be able to get a motorhome.
Yup, motorhome 4WDs just don’t exist! Motorhomes are really too heavy and bulky to take off-road. And don’t think about sneaking one into a remote area that’s 4WD-only. Not only would it be an unwise choice in terms of your safety, but the authorities actively enforce 4WD-only rules, because they don’t want to have to perform a search and rescue operation!
So, if you want to go off-roading, you’ll have to downsize and go for a 4WD campervan instead. Britz is a pretty reputable company and they offer a few different 4WD options for exploring the outback for up to 5 people.
Related Read: Instead of taking your motorhome off-road, leave it in Darwin and take a guided tour to Kakadu National Park – here are our top 5 tours!
7. One-way drop-offs are a time saver but can limit your trip
We love it when a company offers one-way drop-offs because it saves us from having to drive back to where we started! This means we get so much more flexibility with our itinerary and have time to explore more places.
The downside to doing a one-way drop-off is that it can limit you in terms of rental companies. Many smaller companies don’t have many locations, so it’s more difficult to find a company that will allow you to pick up your motorhome in Sydney and drop it off in Broome, for example.
Fortunately, with Star RV we’ve been able to do lots of one-way trips. They’re a big company with 9 locations across Australia, so we have loved using them for one-way trips. There is a one-way fee, which is usually around $280 AUD, although they do sometimes waive this for longer rentals!
To be honest, we still save money even after paying the one-way fee because the fuel costs are so much lower this way. Motorhomes use a lot of fuel and Australia is not a small country, so not having to double back can save a ton of money – not to mention time.
8. Most companies require a credit card
One thing that surprised me about renting a motorhome was the huge security deposit! In Australia, the typical bond that you have to pay is $7,500 AUD, which is way more than we’ve ever come across in other countries.
I would recommend using a credit card for this, and in fact, a lot of companies only accept credit cards anyway. The advantage of using a credit card is that the rental company won’t actually take the amount out of your account, they’ll just pre-authorize it. This means that the amount is frozen, but it doesn’t actually go anywhere. Of course, you will need a large enough credit limit to cover this, so check with your provider if you’re not sure.
And unfortunately, whichever card you use, there’s also usually a 2% processing fee involved or something in that ballpark. This means that you end up having to pay roughly another $150 AUD for the privilege of putting a bond down – and no, you don’t get it back.
The only way around this that we’ve found is buying insurance directly from Star RV! When you choose either of Star RV’s additional insurance packages, you don’t have to pay the $7,500 AUD deposit (or any deposit at all) as long as you provide a credit card to keep on file. You can also use a debit card instead and pay a $300 AUD bond if you can’t use your credit card for any reason.
I must say, this is rare among motorhome rental companies in Australia. If you’re worried about that huge charge on your credit card, I think that renting and insuring your motorhome through Star RV is a good option.
9. Speeding is not tolerated in Australia – even if you are a tourist
We Aussies may be known for our laid-back attitude, but that is not the case when it comes to speeding! It’s taken very seriously here.
We’ve done road trips in some countries, such as Canada, where they let people off for speeding if they’re going 10 – 15 kph over the speed limit, and sometimes go soft on tourists. However, that’s not the case here. You can get fined for going as little as 1 kph over the speed limit, and you will definitely get a penalty if you’re caught going 5 kph above the speed limit.
And speaking of getting caught, there are cameras and speed traps everywhere, including where you’d least expect them. Trust me, speeding is very difficult to get away with. The fines are high, too, not like in North America, so don’t take the risk and just stick to the speed limit.
10. Overall, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Once you’ve got the logistics sorted, my best piece of advice for you would be to have realistic expectations of what traveling in a motorhome is going to be like, and then just enjoy the drive! It’s certainly more stressful than regular travel and it does come with extra challenges and responsibilities, but at the same time, you just can’t beat the freedom of it.
Road-tripping in a motorhome is an amazing experience. Yes, sometimes we’ve wished that we’d gone down the hotel route for a moment or two, but I promise you that the good times far outweigh the brief moments of stress or discomfort. This way of traveling is more difficult than staying in hotels, but the rewards are much greater, too!
I honestly think that everyone should do a road trip in a motorhome at least once in their lives. And if you’re anything like us, you might just get the bug and end up doing it over and over again.
Star RV Discount Code: For a 5% discount on your motorhome, use the code DTRAVEL25 at checkout!
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance!
If you’re looking to save money on travel insurance, we currently use and recommend SafetyWing. We’ve been using their coverage since 2018 and they’ve had our backs when we needed emergency flights and got sick overseas.
SafetyWing is one of the cheapest providers out there and covers everything from medical costs to lost luggage, travel delays, and emergency flights. A huge difference we’ve found between them and other companies is that they let you take out a policy AFTER leaving your home country. We’ve also found it handy that it’s a monthly payment rather than a lump sum, and you can get a refund for unused time.
SafetyWing has helped us out in some scary situations before and their affordable coverage has given us peace of mind. You can read our honest review of SafetyWing for all the pros and cons.
Thanks for reading!
Renting a motorhome to explore Australia is an unforgettable experience. This country is insanely beautiful and having the freedom to explore on your own, camp in the bush, and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of life will show you just how amazing it is!
I hope you found this guide helpful as you plan your road trip through Australia. Before you go, check out our other Australia blogs so you know exactly where to visit! As a native Aussie, I have traveled all over my home country and love sharing my travel tips and tricks – like this guide to renting a motorhome. Here are a few other resources I think you’ll find helpful!
13 Best Stops From Melbourne to the Twelve Apostles