Great deals on motorhome rental in winter

A motorhome rental is always a fantastic adventure, even during the off-season! A camping road trip is certainly a different experience in colder months, but can be a great way to see a new place. There are fewer tourists, snow-capped mountains, crisp mornings, warm restaurants and the possibility of skiing or snowboarding in some locations. Additionally, you will find cheaper rental rates, accommodation costs and travel prices across the board! Imagine hitting quiet and uncrowded roads in your dream holiday destination, exploring to your heart’s content and holing up in a cosy motorhome for the night, before doing it all again the next day. With an off-season motorhome rental, you can do it - and do it affordably.

When is the off-season?

In the northern hemisphere, off-peak for motorhome rentals is between September and April. Of course this varies regionally, and places like northern Canada are too snowed under in winter for any travel plans. But generally the holiday period (late December/early January) is a peak winter travel time as loved ones reunite.  

In the southern hemisphere, winter falls between May and October and is considered off-season. Closer to the equator, there are many year-round travel destinations with consistently warm temperatures, including Florida, the Caribbean and Central America, Africa, some parts of southern Europe and northern Australia. 

Cheap motorhome and RV rentals

The vast majority of rental suppliers deliver discounts and off-season rates to make winter vacations on the road extremely cost-effective. In fact, costs can be more than halved during non-peak periods, due to a drop in demand. These are significant savings and other travel necessities are often cheaper too - flights, campsites and accommodation and even tourist attractions.

I ran a comparison search on prices in New Zealand during winter and peak summer. A week’s rental for a Rocket 2-berth sleepervan (one of the cheapest options on Motorhome Republic) is  $696 for the middle of January, and $148 for the middle of July. Seven days in a 4-berth Jucy Condo, another popular option, is $1560 in January and $360 in July. Even the bigger motorhomes are heavily discounted - the Britz 6-berth Frontier is $3106 for a week in January and $721 in July (prices as of March 2015). If a motorhome rental holiday has seemed out of your grasp before, make it a winter getaway and you’ll be surprised how affordable it is.

Avoid the crowds

Summer is certainly a great time to travel, but kids are also off school which means that flights are booked out, demand for rental vehicles exceeds supply, theme parks fill up and beaches are crowded with too people. So if you can renegotiate your priorities and move high temperatures down the list, you will certainly reap the benefits. 

Christmas period in the north and Thanksgiving in the USA are the only blips on the off-peak winter season radar. If cheap and uncrowded travel is your aim, avoid the days around either holiday. The days immediately before and after Thanksgiving and Christmas are widely acknowledged as the worst of the entire year for travel in the United States.

Enjoy a road trip with a difference

Of course, you can’t recreate the summer road trip experience in the wintertime, so you will have to embrace the chillier vibes. A holiday in the off-season is certainly different, but it can showcase a region in a manner that most tourists won’t ever see.

• Snowsport enthusiasts have every reason to prefer a winter motorhome rental. Hit the road with RV rentals from Calgary (Canada), Denver (US), or Queenstown (NZ) to try out a few different ski fields with your home on wheels.

• Think cosy! A vacation in the colder months means jackets and boots, scarves, big blankets to keep warm at night and escaping the chill in candlelit restaurants. A motorhome makes a great bolthole - much warmer and more comfortable than a tent, but still on nature’s doorstep. 

• The scenery in wintertime is often even more striking than in summer. From the evocative vista of waves crashing on a deserted Australian beach to charming and quaint scenes of wintry English countryside, there is a beautiful off-season destination for everyone. Additionally, at the risk of sounding like a Jane Austen novel, the air in winter is truly bracing. There’s nothing like a clear, crisp morning!

Wherever you decide to go for your winter vacation, Motorhome Republic can track down the perfect motorhome to protect you from the elements. Start dreaming!