Road Trip Daily Cost Calculator

Estimate your road trip cost per day for a realistic travel budget

This Road Trip Daily Cost Calculator is built for one decision: setting a realistic daily budget for a road trip before you go. People usually search for this when they are comparing routes, deciding how long they can travel for, or trying to stop a trip from becoming an expensive surprise halfway through. The goal here is not a perfect accounting audit. It is a practical estimate you can use to plan.

The calculator blends two common types of costs. First are trip totals that do not naturally happen per day, like fuel for the whole distance, tolls, parking, and other one-off trip expenses. Second are costs that tend to repeat each day, like accommodation, food, and activities. Once those are combined, the calculator converts your total trip cost into an average cost per day. That is the number you can compare against your available budget or a target daily spend.

You can use the default view with only the essentials: days, distance, fuel price, and fuel economy. That produces a daily cost based mainly on fuel, which is often the biggest variable for a driving trip. If you want a more realistic daily number, fill in the optional daily spending fields like accommodation per night, food per day, and activities per day. If you are travelling with other people and splitting costs, add the number of travellers to see an estimated cost per person per day.

What the results mean in plain language: the daily average is what you would need to spend each day, on average, for the whole trip to come in on budget. In reality, spending is uneven. You might pay more on some days because of longer driving distances, a pricier overnight stop, or a big activity. The average still matters because it tells you what the trip costs overall when spread across the days. The breakdown helps you see where the money is going: fuel, daily fixed spending, and other trip totals.

This calculator intentionally focuses on the daily budget problem and excludes adjacent use cases. It does not build a route plan, calculate driving time, predict traffic, or estimate full vehicle wear and tear. It also does not attempt to price every minor category like snacks, souvenirs, or unexpected repairs. If you want those, add them into “Other daily costs” or “One-off costs” so the daily average still reflects reality without turning the calculator into a complex spreadsheet.

Assumptions and how to use this calculator

• Distance is the total trip distance you expect to drive. If you are unsure, round up rather than down to avoid under-budgeting.
• Fuel economy is entered as litres per 100 km (L/100 km). Use a real-world average, not the best-case value from marketing or highway-only driving.
• Accommodation is treated as “per night” and multiplied by the number of nights, which is assumed to match the number of days entered for planning purposes.
• Food, activities, and other daily costs are treated as per-day averages. If your trip has a few expensive days, estimate a blended daily average.
• Tolls, parking, and one-off costs are treated as totals for the entire trip and are spread across days to compute the daily average.

Common questions

Why does this calculator use an average per day instead of a day-by-day plan?

Most people do not know their exact daily route, stops, and spending in advance. A daily average is the fastest way to answer the planning question: “Can we afford this trip if it lasts X days?” If you later build a detailed itinerary, the average still remains a useful benchmark for whether you are drifting over budget.

What should I enter for fuel economy if I do not know my car’s real-world number?

Use a conservative estimate. If you have a recent average from your vehicle display or a fuel tracking app, use that. If you do not, choose a higher L/100 km number than you think you will get, especially if you are carrying luggage, driving in mountains, or expecting stop-start traffic. Underestimating fuel usage is a common way people under-budget.

Do “days” mean days driving or days away, including rest days?

For this calculator, “days” means the number of days you want to spread costs across for budgeting. If you have rest days where you are not driving much, the fuel portion per day may be lower, but accommodation and food still apply. Use the total trip length in days so the daily average matches how you experience the trip financially.

How do I handle costs that happen only once, like a one-time activity or a gear purchase?

Add them to “One-off costs (total for trip).” The calculator will spread them across the trip days so your daily average stays realistic. If the one-off cost is not actually part of the trip budget you are trying to plan, leave it out. This calculator is only as accurate as the costs you decide to include.

Can this show a per-person budget if we are splitting costs?

Yes. Enter the number of travellers and the calculator will show an estimated cost per person per day. This is best used for shared trip costs like fuel and accommodation. If each person pays their own food or activities, keep those daily fields closer to your personal share rather than the group total.