A simple road-trip budget: fuel, pitches, food and equipment. Required internal links: [/tools/hire-vs-buy-calculator/], [/hire-buy-used/roof-tent-total-cost/], [/hire-buy-used/hire-vs-buy-a-roof-tent/], [/roof-tents/first-roof-tent-weekend/], [/tools/kit-list-builder/]. Example queries: none. Ad: none planned. Sources checked 21 Oct 2026: GOV.UK, VCA, legislation.gov.uk, TfL and Brittany Ferries. No prices, write "check the current price".]*
On this page
The short answer
Budget a road trip by listing each cost category, finding the current figure for each from an official or operator source, and adding them up. Fuel is the one cost you can work out yourself: divide the miles by your car's mpg, then multiply by 4.546 to get litres. Pitch fees, ferries and food come from their own sites or your own shopping list.
What goes in the budget
Price each of these on its own line, so you can see which figure moves if a price changes:
- Fuel: the whole route there and back, plus any detours for supplies.
- Pitch fees: each night, plus any extra charge for extra people, extra vehicles or an electric hook-up.
- Ferries and tunnels: the crossing for your car and passengers on your date.
- Charging zones and tolls: any daily charge for a city zone, such as London's Ultra Low Emission Zone, and any toll on the route.
- Food and drink: your shopping list for the trip, priced at the shops you'll use.
- Gas and consumables: cylinders, stove fuel, bin bags and the small items you use up.
- Equipment: anything you need to hire or buy, such as a tent, bedding or a cool box. If the tent is new to you, your first roof tent weekend lists what a first trip uses, and the kit list builder helps you sort the rest.
- Insurance and cover: any extra cover you add for the trip, and any change to your car premium.
Where to get each current figure
Use one source for each line, and write down the date you checked it.
- Fuel: the weekly road fuel prices table on GOV.UK, which sits in the road fuel and other petroleum product price statistics collection. Use the latest weekly figure for planning, then check the price at the station you'll actually use.
- Ferries and tunnels: the operator's booking page for your route, date and vehicle. Brittany Ferries, for example, runs routes from UK ports to Brittany and Normandy and has fares and booking on its own site. Check the price for your dates rather than an earlier quote.
- Charging zones: for London's ULEZ, Transport for London has a vehicle checker and a postcode checker. The charge applies only to vehicles that don't meet the standard and aren't exempt. Check the current charge there before you drive in.
- Pitches: the campsite's own booking page. Check the rate for your dates, and whether hook-ups or extra vehicles are charged on top.
- Food, gas and consumables: your own list, priced at the shop you usually use.
- Equipment: the maker's or retailer's current price for anything you buy, and the hire company's current rate for anything you hire.
- Insurance: your insurer's quote, with the trip cover shown separately from any change to your premium.
Work out fuel from distance and mpg
Fuel is the only line you can calculate from figures you already have:
litres = miles ÷ mpg × 4.546
- Miles: the total distance, return trip included, plus a little for detours.
- mpg: your car's official combined figure for its model, from the Vehicle Certification Agency's data table, or your own fuel records if you have them.
The agency says its figures come from laboratory tests run to compare models, and that fuel use on the road may vary from them. If you have your own records, use those. The table shows results in both mpg and litres per 100 km, so check which unit you're reading before you use the formula.
The 4.546 comes from the imperial gallon, which the Weights and Measures Act 1985 defines as 4.54609 litres. Rounding to 4.546 is fine for a budget. Once you have litres, multiply by the current pump price per litre to get the fuel line.
Fill in the budget table
Copy this table into your own notes. Add a figure to each line only once you've checked it against its source, and leave the figure column blank until then.
| Cost | What to price | Where to check | Current figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Miles ÷ mpg × 4.546, then the pump price per litre | GOV.UK weekly road fuel prices | ||
| Pitch fees | Each night, plus extras | Campsite booking pages | ||
| Ferries and tunnels | Car and passengers on your date | Operator booking pages | ||
| Charging zones and tolls | Each zone or toll on the route | Official zone and toll sites | ||
| Food and drink | Your shopping list | Your usual shops | ||
| Gas and consumables | Cylinders, stove fuel, bags | Retailer pages | ||
| Equipment | Hire or purchase for each item | Maker, retailer or hire company | ||
| Insurance and cover | Trip cover and any premium change | Your insurer | ||
| Total | Add the figure column |
Hire or buy the tent
The tent is often the biggest single line, so treat it separately. Hiring spreads its cost across the trips you take, and buying spreads it across the years you'll use it. The hire vs buy calculator takes your own figures and shows which costs less on them. For the full list of tent costs beyond the purchase price, read what a roof tent really costs, and hiring or buying a roof tent explains how to read the result.
FAQs
Do I need the exact fuel price before I set off?
No. Use the latest weekly figure from the GOV.UK table for your planning budget, then check the price at the station you'll use. Fill up at a price you've seen that day rather than one you've estimated.
Is the official mpg figure what I'll get on the road?
Not necessarily. The Vehicle Certification Agency says its figures are for comparing models and that real fuel use may differ. If you have your own fuel records, put those into the formula instead.
Does the London charging zone apply to every car?
No. Transport for London says the ULEZ charge applies to vehicles that don't meet its emissions standards and aren't exempt. Use its vehicle checker before you drive into the zone.
Should insurance go in the trip budget?
Only the extra cost of any cover you add for the trip, and any change to your car premium. Ask your insurer for both as separate figures, so you can see what the trip itself adds.
Next: Check the hire vs buy calculator
Once you've priced the tent, put your hire or purchase figures into the hire vs buy calculator to see which costs less on your own numbers.
More in Hire, buy or used
Sources
- GOV.UK: the weekly road fuel prices table is published in this collection as accredited official statistics (checked )
- Vehicle Certification Agency: official fuel figures come from lab tests, are for comparing models, may differ on the road, and are shown in mpg and litres per 100 km (checked )
- Weights and Measures Act 1985 Schedule 1: the imperial gallon is 4.54609 cubic decimetres and a litre is a cubic decimetre (checked )
- Transport for London: the ULEZ charge applies to vehicles that do not meet the standard and are not exempt; vehicle and postcode checkers on the site (checked )
- Brittany Ferries: routes from UK ports to Brittany and Normandy, with fares and booking on the site (checked )