A Guide to Self-Drive Campervan Vehicles in Australia

One of the most exhilarating ways to experience Australia is with the freedom and flexibility that a campervan or motorhome road holiday offers. You set your own itinerary, stop where you want, when you want, travel at your own pace with no ties to schedules or fixed timetables.

Australia is fortunate to be home to some of the World's leading Campervan rental companies offering a diverse range of vehicles from adventurous four wheel drives to luxurious motorhomes. This wide range of choice and options can be daunting even for the seasoned traveller and with this in mind DriveNow has put together a series of information pages to assist you in locating the right vehicle for your holiday.

To learn more about DriveNow's campervan partners please visit our Campervan Partner Profile page.

Long gone are the days when a Campervan holiday involved lumpy beds, awkward bathroom facilities, limited cooking options and generally stepping away from home comforts. Today's Campervans have evolved to offer European styled kitchens, spacious living areas with audio-visual equipment, large double beds and well equipped bathrooms. What's more they are surprisingly easy to drive. Power steering, automatic transmissions and modern design really has taken the hard work out of travelling in a vehicle larger than most of us regularly drive.

Campervan Classes

• 6 Berth Motorhome
  Top end luxury vehicles, generally largest in a suppliers fleet with 3 double beds, comprehensive kitchen, onboard shower & Toilet facilities and Air-Conditioning/heating . Large entertainment area and audio visual equipment often includes LCD TV & DVD players. Turbo Diesel engines with manual and auto transmissions depending upon supplier. Examples include Britz's Frontier and Apollo's Euro Deluxe.
• 4 Berth Motorhome
  Luxury vehicles, 2 double beds (Kea's 4 berth allows one bed to be split into 2 singles), comprehensive kitchens, generous entertainment area, Air-Conditioning/heating and onboard shower & Toilet facilities. Often equipped with LCD TV & DVD players. Turbo Diesel engines with manual and auto transmissions depending upon supplier. Examples include Kea 4 berth and Maui Spirit 4.
• 3 Berth Motorhome
  Luxury 3  berth (1 x double & 1 x single) with comprehensive kitchen, onboard shower & Toilet, Air-Conditioning/heating and audio visual equipped. Turbo Diesel engines with manual transmission. Examples include Apollo's Cruiser.
• 3 Berth Campervan
  Accommodation for 2 adults & 1 child, Cooker, Fridge and sink (hand pump), no onboard bathroom facilities, Air-Conditioning/heating in Driver's cabin. Unleaded Petrol engines with manual transmissions. Examples include Backpacker's Nomad and Apollo's Hitop campervan.
• 2 Berth Motorhome
  Luxury vehicle, 1 double bed, comprehensive kitchen and onboard shower & Toilet facilities, Air-Conditioning/heating and often equipped with LCD TV & DVD players. Turbo Diesel engines with manual transmissions. Examples include Kea's ST/TV and Maui's Spirit 2 T/S.
• 2 Berth Campervan
  Widest choice of vehicles, 1 Double Bed, well equipped kitchen, usually with onboard shower & Toilet facilities. Turbo Diesel and unleaded Petrol engines with manual transmissions depending upon supplier. Examples include BackPacker Wanderer and Britz Elite.

As specifications and features do vary between suppliers and different fleet models these vehicle classes should be treated as indicative guides.

Vehicle Definitions

The term Campervan, Motorhome, RV (Recreational Vehicle) and even 4 WD Campervans are all often inter-used to describe the same vehicle. Whilst there are exceptions (detailed elsewhere on the site) a set of rule-of-thumb definitions could include:

• Motorhome
  Top end luxury vehicles generally long-wheel based and providing the most generous living space and facilities for the number of passengers that can be carried. In most instances these are 6 and 4 berth vehicles and come equipped with European styled Kitchen appliances, bath room facilities, Fully air-conditioned/heated and LCD televisions, DVD players and in some instances even Playstations.
• Campervans
  Includes largely 3, 2.5 (2 adults & 1 child) and 2 berth vehicles. Today, many of these are equipped with bathroom and complete kitchen facilities and often TVs & DVD players. Most have air-conditioning and heating in the Driving and Living cabins.
• Recreational Vehicles (RVs)
  North American term to describe both the above sets of vehicles.
• 4WD Campervans
  4 Wheel Drive Campervans are designed on their namesakes, the most popular of which is Toyota's Land-Cruiser. Whilst limited in internal features (generally bedding for two) these often provide additional external sleeping through tent extensions and some can accommodate up to 5 travellers (such as Britz's 4WD BushCamper). Vehicles are all Diesel with manual transmissions and generally long-range fuel tanks. The 4WD vehicles are ideal for those who want to travel off the beaten track.