Best Way To Travel Around Australia: Caravan Vs. Camper Trailer

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We often get asked what’s the best way to travel around Australia – caravan or camper trailer?

Both have their pros and cons, but ultimately we chose a camper trailer for the majority of our 18-month road trip around Australia.

Do we regret it? Would a caravan be better?

Having road tripped in a caravan on separate occasions, we can see the appeal to this as well.

So if you’re deciding on a camper trailer or a caravan to explore Australia, here’s our comparison of both so you can make an informed decision.

Which Is Better, Caravan or Camper Trailer?

If you’re short on time and don’t want to read our full experience, then the quick answer is that a caravan would be better than a camper trailer to travel around Australia.

The reasons for this is because there’s less time needed to pack up and get going, you do can get caravans with power so you don’t have to worry about powered sites, and they are less likely to break.

Of course, this is just a quick summary. There are many pros and cons of traveling Australia with a camper trailer and caravan.

Later in this guide, we share our experience of traveling around Australia with a camper trailer, so you can get a better picture of what that was like.

For now, here’s a summary of the pros and cons of each.

Pros and cons of travelling with a camper trailer

There are different types of camper trailers you can travel around Australia with:

• A flip-over camper mostly has a sealed hard top when travelling and opens to the rear to become the floor which is suspended off the ground on legs.
• Soft floors tents are set up usually by removing the soft vinyl tonneaux cover, pulling the canvas out & extending the internal frame.
• A wind up with a hard floor and roof like our Jayco Swan. Some have beds that come out the ends. The interior is then similar to a caravan.