VAN-COMPARATOR Guide

RV rental prices by country (2026 comparison)

Motorhome and campervan rental prices compared by country: France, Germany, Spain, Scandinavia, Iceland, the USA and Canada. Table plus the fees to watch.

How much does an RV rental cost from one country to the next? Vehicle type, season and platform matter more than the destination itself, but the gaps between markets are real. Here are realistic daily high-season ranges, and how to read them without getting caught out.

The price table by country

In low season, knock 30-50% off almost everywhere: it is the single biggest saving, covered in our off-season rental guide.

Why the gaps exist

Germany, Spain and Portugal combine large fleets with fierce competition, making them western Europe’s cheapest markets. Scandinavia and Iceland stack a short season, limited fleets and a high cost of living. In the US and Canada the daily rate looks comparable, but the structure differs: mileage is often billed on top (around $0.35/mile with the professional firms), vehicles are bigger (25-32 ft) and thirstier, and one-way fees run $300-800 on classics like Chicago-Los Angeles or Calgary-Vancouver. This price dispersion between tourism markets is not unique to motorhomes: back in 2000, Larry Dwyer, Peter Forsyth and Prasada Rao's study ("The Price Competitiveness of Travel and Tourism: A Comparison of 19 Destinations", Tourism Management, Google Scholar page) built an index comparing 19 destinations at purchasing-power parity adjusted for exchange rates — still the reference method for comparing a trip's cost from one country to another without being fooled by currency swings. The UK adds its own twist: right-hand-drive fleets and narrow lanes keep compact campervans in favour, and their prices firm.

The country changes the excess too, not just the daily rate

This is the line comparisons systematically forget: for an identical model on an identical platform, your financial exposure if something goes wrong depends on the vehicle's country of registration. Yescapa, for instance, takes out a separate policy per country, with a different insurer each time — Altima in France, Lagun Aro in Spain, Allianz in Germany, Bene in Italy, Caravela in Portugal, P&V in Belgium, First Underwriting in the United Kingdom. The excess follows that split, and the spread reaches a factor of two between extremes.

Two rules to remember: the excess applies per claim, not per rental, and its level also depends on the country that issued your licence. With the professional operators the logic differs but the order of magnitude holds: Roadsurfer starts at a €3,000 excess on the basic package, cut to €800 or €150 depending on the option taken, against a €1,100 deposit in the eurozone (£1,200 in the UK, $1,600 in the US, CAD 2,200 in Canada) — terms checked on 25/08/2026.

Mileage: three incompatible models

Comparing daily rates across countries only means something if you also compare what they include, and on this point the platforms do not speak the same language. Roadsurfer includes unlimited mileage in the daily rate on standard rentals — only relocations are excepted. Indie Campers sells "Distance Packages": mileage is not unlimited by default, and even the so-called unlimited option keeps a daily cap with a responsible-use clause, the per-kilometre overage rate being announced during booking because it varies with the station and the model. Yescapa offers three allowances — 100 km per day as standard, 200 km per day, or unlimited on part of the fleet only — with the overage rate set by the owner, listing by listing.

On a Scandinavian or North American itinerary, where daily distances easily exceed 250 km, that single line can overturn the country ranking set out above. Which is why the comparison only holds at the total price, with the trip's real mileage included.

What seasonality changes, according to the research

The "minus 30-50% in low season" rule is not uniform from one market to the next, and research explains why. The study by Josep-Maria Espinet, Modest Fluvià, Ricard Rigall-I-Torrent and Albert Saló published in 2012 in Tourism Economics (Google Scholar page), built on 1,776 properties across 32 destinations in eleven countries, establishes that a higher level of services and a higher rating go together with weaker seasonal price variation. Transposed to our market, that illuminates a constant observation in our comparisons: heavily standardised professional fleets smooth their rates across the year more than private owners, whose prices fall away far more sharply once the school term starts. In the shoulder season, therefore, it is on the peer-to-peer side that the gap against high summer is most spectacular — see our off-season rental guide.

The fees that reshuffle the ranking

Always compare the total price: platform service fees, cleaning packages (€60-150), included mileage, insurance and deductible reduction (€15-30/day), sometimes bedding and kitchen kits. A country that looks cheaper per day can end up dearer once those lines are added — the full breakdown is in our RV rental prices guide.

Compare like for like

Van-Comparator queries Yescapa, Goboony, Roadsurfer and Indie Campers at once and shows offers side by side, whatever the country. For a comparable vehicle, the gap between two platforms routinely reaches 10-25%: that, more than the choice of country, is where the real bargain hides.

Compare the platforms now →

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