Road trip budget basics

Four costs, in order of size

On almost every Australian driving trip, the costs break down into four categories, and they are consistently in the same order of magnitude: fuel, where you sleep, food, and park fees and permits. Fuel dominates on long routes, accommodation dominates on short ones, and park fees are almost always the smallest line despite getting the most attention on travel forums.

This guide gives you the arithmetic rather than the answers. We do not publish prices, because fuel prices move weekly, campground rates vary by park and season, and park fees are reviewed regularly — a figure copied from a page written two years ago is worse than no figure at all. All amounts here are in Australian dollars (AUD).

1. Fuel: the only calculation that really matters

The formula is straightforward:

Total distance (km) ÷ 100 × consumption (L/100 km) × price per litre = fuel cost.

Two of those three inputs are commonly wrong. Consumption should be your measured figure under real load, not the manufacturer's. Measure it on the first two fills of the trip: note the odometer reading and the litres taken, and divide. A vehicle rated at 8 L/100 km often sits at 10 or 11 loaded with water, camping gear and a roof rack, and at 14 to 16 towing a caravan.

The price input needs a regional adjustment. Fuel in remote roadhouses is considerably more expensive than in capital cities, and on a route like the Gibb River Road or the Oodnadatta Track the majority of your fuel is bought at the higher end. A practical approach is to calculate the whole trip at the highest price you expect to pay rather than the average — the overestimate is small in absolute terms and it removes an unpleasant surprise.

Worked example, using assumed figures you should replace with your own: a 2,500 km trip in a vehicle measured at 11 L/100 km. That is 2,500 ÷ 100 × 11 = 275 litres. At an assumed $2.00 per litre, the fuel cost is $550. At an assumed $2.40, which is closer to remote roadhouse territory, it is $660. The difference between those two figures is smaller than most people expect, which is worth knowing before you drive an extra hour to save a few cents a litre.

2. Where you sleep

This is the line with the widest range, because the options genuinely differ by an order of magnitude. From cheapest to dearest: free council and roadside camps, which cost nothing but have minimal facilities and stay limits; station stays, which are usually nominal; national park campgrounds, which are modest and booked in advance; commercial caravan parks, which cost more and provide showers, laundry and power; and rooms in towns, which are several times any of the above.

The useful planning move is to decide your mix before you leave rather than night by night. A common pattern on a two-week trip is roughly half free or park camping, a third caravan parks for the shower and laundry, and a couple of nights in a room where the weather or the driving justifies it. Once you know the mix, get the current rates from the relevant park service and a couple of caravan parks on your route, and multiply.

Two costs hide inside this line. Peak-season rates are materially higher than off-peak at commercial parks, and powered sites cost more than unpowered — which matters if you are running a fridge and have not fitted a way to charge without mains power.

3. Food

Food is the most controllable cost and the one most affected by where you shop. Groceries in capital cities and large regional centres are broadly comparable; groceries in remote communities and roadhouses are considerably dearer, because everything has been trucked a long way. Stocking up in the last large town before a remote leg is worth real money as well as being practical, since roadhouse ranges are limited.

The other variable is how often you eat out. A trip where every dinner is at a pub costs several times one where you cook, and the choice is frequently made for you: many regional towns have one bakery that closes at two and a pub that stops serving at eight. Carrying enough food to be self-sufficient for two days beyond your plan is a safety habit as much as a budget one.

4. Park fees and permits

This is usually the smallest of the four lines, and the one with the most variation between states. You may pay for vehicle entry, for camping, and for specific activity permits, and these are administered separately. Multi-park or holiday passes exist in several states and are worth the arithmetic — divide the pass price by the daily entry rate to find the break-even number of park days, then count the park days in your itinerary.

Because fees are reviewed regularly, check current fees with the relevant state park service before you travel. Our park pass guide explains how each state's system is structured and when a pass makes sense.

Where the savings actually are

Three decisions move the total far more than anything else. The first is distance: a shorter route in the same number of days cuts the largest line directly and improves the trip, because you spend less of it driving. The second is the accommodation mix, which is the difference between a modest trip and an expensive one on identical roads. The third is the season — travelling in the shoulder months means lower rates, more availability and fewer forced compromises.

What does not move the total meaningfully is chasing cheap fuel, skipping park fees or cutting the contingency. The first saves a few dollars per tank, the second is both false economy and an offence in most parks, and the third is what pays for the tyre.