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One of the most common reasons people don’t travel is the high costs. The cost to motorhome in France is often comparable to staying in hotels or even Airbnbs, with the added bonus that you can get away from the touristy spots and head into small villages and national parks.
I went through all of our credit card statements to put together a rough estimate of how much our one month road trip across France cost. The answer: expensive. And worth it!
We are a family of four, with a one-year-old and a three-year-old. All of the prices include meals and food for four, plus additional costs that we incurred traveling with a baby. (Like diapers, wipes, and baby food!)
Disclaimer: During my last visit to France, the US dollar was stronger than the Euro, making the country more affordable than usual. Conversion rates change frequently, so your costs will vary based on your currency at the time of your visit. Every dollar amount here is based on the USD charged to my credit card. I specifically use a card with no foreign transaction fees—an absolute must before traveling.
Disclaimer #2: During our road trip around France, we also crossed into Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra and Spain. France borders eight European countries, making hopping over the border in your RV a breeze. When I say these were my costs for RVing in France, it also includes buying meals in Monaco, groceries in Italy, and tolls for crossing borders. I found it impossible to parse these specific expenses out of our records without making our month-long trip numbers seem inaccurate. So this is inclusive of RVing across six countries!
RV Rental
Our Anywhere Campers rental cost about $5,000 for one month, which breaks down to $165/night. This is a little more than other motorhome rental options, however, you get a little more with this particular rental company. This type of motorhome that sleeps four is perfect for families like ours, but you can find smaller vehicle rentals for couples or solo travelers.
Cost: $5000
You can watch our Anywhere Campers van tour here for more details on the motorhome itself!
Toll Roads
You will need a line in your budget just for toll roads because holy moly are they expensive. And ubiquitous. The equivalent to an interstate or highway in the US is going to be a toll road in France. On our most expensive day, we paid over $60 in tolls. This involved taking the tunnel through the French Alps and into Italy to escape an early-season snowstorm.
To save on tolls, we used the “Avoid Toll Roads” feature on Google Maps. On days when we needed to cover a few hundred miles, we hopped on the toll road to save time and have access to aires.
Total spent in a month: $225
Campgrounds
Before I share our total cost spent on campgrounds, I want to note the number of nights we spent camping in France and our average nightly spend. Campgrounds charge per person, so these fees are based on two adults and two small children. (In most cases, we weren’t charged anything for our kids since they were aged three and under during our visit.)
During our one month road trip, we spent 10 nights in French campgrounds. We spent, on average, $32 per night. So specifically in France, we paid around $350 on camping fees. It’s worth noting that sometimes those camping fees included a few extra dollars when we put in an order for fresh baked croissants in the morning! That might be the biggest perk of French campgrounds.
(Campground prices were similar in Spain and Italy, if not a dollar or two more. However we paid $50/night in Andorra which greatly skews our total camping costs. We had to stay a few nights in the capital city while we were sick, which hurt the pocketbook a bit!)
The amount you spend on campgrounds depends primarily on often you intend to stay in campgrounds. You can easily find alternative camping options to save money.
Total cost for one month of campground fees: $700
Read Next: 5 Camping Options in France (Free & Paid!)
Groceries
By far, groceries were our biggest expense. We cooked more often than we ate out so we could opt for camping in more remote places. When we camp abroad, I have a singular mindset when I enter a foreign grocery store: If I want to try it, I buy it. This included buying a lot of macarons and gourmet chocolates from Le Clerc. (No regrets. They were always delicious and half the price of visiting a patisserie!)
Here our grocery bill includes food and toiletries for our family of four, as well as wine, cooking utensils for the RV, and small toys occasionally for the kids. Most notably, this includes buying baby food, diapers, and wipes, which tend to be expensive and skew our numbers a bit.
Total spent: $900
Fuels
This includes diesel fuel as well as propane (GPL or LPG) as we filled up with both at gas stations.
As I mentioned earlier, we did travel and fill up with gas in other countries. Specifically our most expensive fill-up was outside of Barcelona, where we returned our one-way motorhome rental. Gas was a bit more expensive in Spain compared to France, but is a good representation of a month-long road trip. We covered more than 2,500 km or over 1,600 miles. I was shocked that this number was so low!
Cost: $600
Restaurants
We didn’t eat out often—probably every couple of days. But our meals were always extremely affordable compared to eating out in America. Monaco, Andorra, Switzerland, and Spain were all significantly more expensive than France and Italy. In France, we frequently found multi-course meals for around $15 USD per person. A trip to the bakery for coffees and pastries cost $10 each morning.
Naturally, our most expensive French meals were in Paris where we picked up our motorhome. But I was still pleasantly surprised at the affordability of restaurants as a whole. My personal favorite meal: roasted duck salad with champagne dressing, cassoulet—a traditional Toulousian dish of pork and white beans, and ice cream. $16 for all three courses.
Cost: $400
(This does include a $100 meal in Geneva, Switzerland!)
Champagne
Oh yes, this did need its own line item!
Even if you don’t tour the Champagne region, you will likely spend a pretty penny on wine. It’s Europe after all! We purchased multiple bottles of champagne as well as a few tastings during our two-night stay in Epernay.
Cost: $150
Experiences
We often purchased admission tickets to family-friendly adventures like zoos, an aquarium, a cog train tour of the Alps, and food tours. We also opted for free experiences as often as possible, like walking the double-walled castle in Carcassone and hiking in the Pyrenees.
Cost: $400
Public Transport
Once in the camper, we only used public transport a few times. In many cases, bus tickets and shuttles were included with campground fees. However, we did buy train tickets to visit Monaco while we were camping on the Côte d’azur.
Cost: $20
SIM
I paid a one-time $100 fee for my Airalo eSIM. This covered me in France as well as bordering countries. However, it is data-only and doesn’t include calling.
My husband purchased an Orange SIM that included calling for $40, but it only lasted for 14 days and had to be reloaded multiple times, totaling around $100. This SIM also did not work in bordering countries, making it a less attractive option if you plan on venturing outside of France during your road trip.
Total Costs: $200
Summary of Costs
Oh, I so don’t want to add up all these numbers! Traveling for a full month was an expensive trip.
Total spent: $7,895 or $263/day.
I always love breaking down these numbers by day, because I know that if we didn’t cook our own meals and were in hotels every night for a month that our costs would be much higher!
Was this number higher or lower than you thought? Share what you think in the comments!
