How much does it cost to drive around Australia? If you’re planning to travel Australia, one of the first things you’ll need to figure out is your Big Lap of Australia Budget.
The Big Lap of Australia is the adventure of a lifetime. Many people work and save their whole lives to do this epic road trip. Whether you’re going for 6 months, a year or indefinitely – having an idea of what the Big Lap will cost you will really help you plan.
How much money do you need to save, and will you need to get work on the road? How did WE afford to travel around Australia for 3.5 years? When we started our Big Lap budget was $650 a week, which often blew out to $1000. At the end we aimed for $750 a week, and again, that often blew out to $1000.
Of course, what you spend as you drive around Australia will depend on YOU. A couple travelling in a small campervan and free camping will spend a lot less than a family of four driving a 4×4 towing a caravan and staying at Big4 caravan parks every night.
Some people like to do lots of “experiences” and others like to have a takeaway coffee every day. Use this post as a GUIDE, and remember – always have that buffer!
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The Big Lap of Australia Budget
We’ve broken down the Big Lap of Australia Budget into categories, and we will give you an idea of what WE spent, and what you can expect to spend, in each category.
Some of these costs you’ll have whether you’re at home or travelling – we’ve all got to eat! But even with those everyday expenses, you’ll find big variations as you travel around the country.
Make sure you read to the end as we share some little known tips for saving money on your travels.
Fuel
Depending on how quickly you travel, fuel will probably be your biggest expense.
How much you spend on fuel, whether that’s petrol or diesel, will also depend on your vehicle. You’ll spend less if you’re travelling in a campervan and more if you’re towing a caravan.
We travelled in a 4×4 Mercedes Sprinter van that weighs 4.5 tonne. Our fuel economy averaged out to around 12.5 litres per 100km. (That’s 19 MPG if you’re in the US and 23 MPG in the UK – apparently the measurements of a gallon are different). We did a mix of highway driving and gravel roads, with a bit of rougher off-road driving mixed in.
You’ll also need to factor in the price of fuel. Our van runs on diesel. When we first started our trip in February of 2021, we were paying on average $1.30 a litre for diesel ($3.30USD/gallon or .70 GBP per litre).
The price of fuel went up A LOT in the three years we were on the road, with $2 per litre being the benchmark now – so, if we’re paying less than $2 a litre we are cheering!
As you head out of the cities to more remote places, of course the price of everything gets more expensive. Early in our trip the fuel we found the most expensive fuel up on Cape York, at Bramwell Station in August 2021 we paid $2.05 per litre and we thought that was outrageous.
Just over a year later we were paying closer to $3 per litre in Central Australia and outback WA. I think the most expensive diesel was in Tom Price where we paid almost $2.89.
Food
Groceries
Whether you’re at home or travelling we’ve all got to eat, and the FOOD category was a close contender with fuel for the most expensive.
Of course, in the larger towns and big cities you’ll find plenty of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets where food prices are most competitive. But once you head into more remote areas and the outback, you’re relying on smaller IGA supermarkets at best.
There were times we struggled to find fresh fruit and vegetables.
Having a small fridge and tiny freezer means we couldn’t really stock up in the larger towns. We did have a large storage area under the bench seat in the van where we could store canned food and other dry goods like pasta and rice.
As we travelled we tried to buy locally where possible. So we would shop at Fruit stalls fresh produce markets like Rustys in Cairns, or small town farmers markets. We even found home baked Bread stalls at a couple of places in Tasmania.
It was also fun to shop for local specialties – Nigel especially loved the oysters in Tassie and Coffin Bay.
Our weekly grocery spend ranged from $150 a week in larger towns to $200+ a week in the remote areas. Towards the end of our trip it was very rare to have a week under $200.
Eating out and Takeaway
We didn’t tend to eat out at restaurants very often on our Big Lap of Australia, but we do love Fish and Chips! On our YouTube Channel we actually reviewed quite a few Fish and Chip shops as we travelled around Australia.
We probably ate out or had takeaway once or twice a week which cost us around $50 a week.
Another way we saved money was by rarely buying coffees out. Nigel makes a really good coffee (we use an Aeropress – perfect for travelling). We did buy local coffee to brew in the van – we loved Skybury in Far North Queensland, and Cheeky Devil coffee at the Salamanca Markets in Hobart.
Accommodation
Because our van was set up for being self-contained and off-grid, we were able to save money by free camping as much as possible. We used the WikiCamps app to find free or low-cost camps, and very rarely stayed in caravan parks.
This type of camping isn’t for everyone. We know that some people prefer to stay in caravan parks whether it’s the facilities, or having other campers around to socialise with, or even the security. We would much rather the peace and solitude.
Having said that, some of the free camps we stayed at were very crowded!
We also spent many nights in National Park campsites. These can be very cost effective – around $6-7 per person in QLD and the NT, and even the more expensive states like WA they are usually not more than $30 for a couple.
But when you compare that to caravan parks which are regularly over $50 even for an unpowered site you’ll see it’s a big saving.
Attractions and Entry Fees
We are not big on doing touristy things usually, so we didn’t spend a lot of money in this section. Most of our experiences were outdoor adventures, hikes, mountain biking, snorkelling and kite-surfing – all free!
However, there are a few things we considered to be a Must – the day trip to Rottnest Island, the Karrk Aboriginal Cultural Experience in Central Australia and the Gordon River Wilderness Cruise in Tasmania. All of them money well spent.
We did, however, need to pay national park entry fees. While the national parks are free in Qld, NSW and Vic, you need to pay an entry fee in the other states. Buying an annual pass saved us money in WA, and in Tasmania we bought the 2 month Holiday Pass.
Remember that some of the federally administered parks are not covered by their respective states Park Pass. In the NT, you’ll need to buy a separate pass for Uluru – Kata Tjuta NP and Kakadu, and in NSW you need to pay a day pass for Kosciuszko NP.
Alcohol
OK, not gonna lie, we love a good craft beer, and a glass of wine or two. We were always on the lookout for the quintessential outback pub, full of local larrikins and good cold beer.
We also enjoyed visiting small craft breweries (especially in Tasmania), and we did visit quite a few wineries in the Barossa.
Over the course of our trip, I’d estimate we probably spent $50-100 a week on alcohol. That may have included a beer or two in a pub, a bottle (or two) of wine, and maybe some cans of beer.
Please don’t think we’re big drinkers! We don’t drink everyday, and most days its only 1 or 2 drinks, but nothing beats doing a big hike or bike ride and coming back to the van and enjoying a nice cold beer.
Van Maintenance and Repairs
Driving 80,000km you can expect to have some maintenance costs with your vehicle. We only had one “break down” which turned out to be a human error which caused a short circuit. Thankfully we had good breakdown cover which meant we didn’t have to pay to have the van taken to a mechanic over 100km away on the back of a truck. And the repair cost us less than $500.
We had to change the tyres in Darwin (we have dual wheels on the back, so that’s 6 tyres). We upgraded the shock absorbers, and then we had a few minor repairs along the way. Oh, and a couple of flat tyres.
Of course, extraordinary repairs are always hard to budget for, but we recommend having a bit of money set aside for the inevitable.
Oh, and don’t forget your breakdown cover. We had Ultimate RV Cover with RACQ, which cost us $400 a year. This covered towing us and also a hire car or a hotel for up to 12 days – those two things would have cost much more than the $1200 we paid for the three years of cover.
Bills
Whether you’re living at home or on the road, you will always have bills! Health insurance, motor vehicle insurance, phone and internet, Netflix and the list goes on!
Rego and Insurance for the van. Our van is registered as a motorhome, so the registration is a bit cheaper than for a cargo van. The insurance is more expensive than it would be for a cargo van as it takes into account the fixtures and appliances in your build.
Phone and internet. If you’re working on the road, having stable reliable internet is of primary importance. Probably the biggest challenge with this lifestyle, for me, was the lack of reliable internet. Sure Telstra claims to cover 90 odd percent of the Australian population, but once you’re away from a city or a town, you can pretty much forget it.
We had long stretches in the outback where there was no internet or phone service. While it’s great to disconnect from technology, and reconnect with each other and with nature, if you’re working on the road, this can be stressful if you’re trying to make deadlines.
We both have our phones with Telstra, with pretty decent data allowances (180GB). I got dangerously close to my limit a couple of times – uploading videos to YouTube takes up quite a bit. While Telstra does have the best coverage, strangely several of the National Park Campsites in the NT only have Optus coverage.
Having said that, if we had planned to continue travelling in Australia, we would have dropped down to the lowest phone plans and gotten Starlink for our internet. Starlink costs $195 per month after you’ve paid for the equipment (or $80 for the “Mini” – max 50Gb).
I will admit to having “dish envy” every time we saw other travellers with that distinctive rectangular dish outside their vans!
NOTE: Since finishing our lap of Australia, we have moved to Europe for a couple of years and bought a van here to travel around in. We have Starlink now, and I have to say it’s a GAME CHANGER. We highly recommend it!
Flights Home
If you’re going to be away for a long time (we were away for 3.5 years) you will probably want to fly home a couple of times. My eldest son turned 21 while we were away, we didn’t want to miss that!
Flying across the country in Australia is EXPENSIVE – especially if you choose to visit family during the Christmas period. We recommend you have some money set aside for a flight home – just in case.
Money Saving Tips for your Big Lap of Australia Budget
Get the Wikicamps App. It costs about $8, and is a one-off cost (though I have heard rumours they will make it an annual subscription). Having (almost) up to date information at your fingertips along with genuine reviews from other travellers is priceless.
When you’re in wifi, you can download the information for each state, so you’re not always relying on internet. (The app works offline, but in order to access the reviews you either need internet connection or have that info downloaded.)
Get a good Fuel App. We use Petrol Spy. This app will let you compare prices of fuel stations – we’ve saved up to 20c a litre at times by using this app.
Consider house-sitting or pet-sitting. There will be times when you’ll feel like a rest from travelling. You may have a home to go back to – we flew back to Brisbane a couple of times for a week to visit with family. But if you don’t, house-sitting can be a really cost-effective way of having a break from life on the road.
We did house-sits in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne. The shortest was 4 days and the longest 2 weeks. Most sits seem to be around a week. You can choose a sit based on whether you want to look after pets (cats or dogs or even farm animals), location and duration.
We used a couple of websites in Australia, and we recommend Trusted Housesitters as an easy to use site, with extra levels of security. You can get 25% off the joining fee using this link and the code NAS25 to sign up.
Final Thoughts
The Big Lap of Australia is an adventure of a lifetime. You will see so many amazing things, meet great people and make memories to last forever. Whether you go for a short time, or indefinitely, there’s no doubt, the Big Lap will change you.
We came back with a completely different appreciation for our country, the landscapes, and especially the history and culture spanning back over 60,000 years.
Whatever we spent on our Big Lap Budget was well worth it. You can’t put a price on memories!
Got Questions?
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That was a fantastic read! ?? I really appreciate the detailed breakdown of the budget—it’s super helpful for anyone planning their own Big Lap adventure. Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences!
Thanks so much! I’m working on some more Big Lap itineraries and a Travel Planning Toolkit over the next few months.
Very interesting sounds great my husband and I hoping to do caravan travel around aust ,, we really would love to done years ago I am 82husband 81 will be doing some free camping some caravan park trying to work out cost need as much information as can get lob etc the free road trip planning list
Hope you enjoy your trip Shirley.