The Ultimate RV & Van Rental for Camping: Experiencing Van Life with roadsurfer
roadsurfer offers travellers a taste of van life. With locations across Europe and newly expanded locations in North America, no matter your price point or destination, roadsurfer has a van rental for camping waiting to hit the road with you.
Our roadsurfer RV, the “Surfer Suite”, in The Lake District, England.
Maybe it’s just my Canadian roots, but there are few things I love when I’m travelling more than road trips. I’ve been lucky enough to road trip in countries like South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and Turkey, and with each trip it leaves me feeling so much more connected to the destinations I’ve visited.
Just like road tripping, camping offers another way to feel rooted to your surroundings when you travel somewhere new. I’ve camped in places like Tanzania, Peru, Greece, and in many provinces across Canada, too. I’ve learned firsthand that while each camping experience can be filled with thrills and chills (like hearing the distant cackling of hyenas from my tent in the Serengeti), there’s truly nothing like it when it comes to feeling immersed in the place you’ve come to visit for such a short period of time.
So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to combine my love for camping and road trips, and test out one of roadsurfer’s camper vans on my recent trip to the United Kingdom. My sister, Brooke, and I were planning a trip to the Lake District, and as soon as I started researching the region, I knew it would be the perfect place to dive into van life.
Keep reading to the end of this article for a discount code you can use on your next roadsurfer booking!
A Little Bit About roadsurfer
The narrow, winding roads of The Lakes were the perfect backdrop to my first van life trip with roadsurfer.
roadsurfer is a German-based company that started in 2016 as an RV rental website. When 5 friends took an RV trip together and they realized how challenging it was for some of the group to rent a vehicle, compared to the friends who owned their own, they knew there was a gap in the market. Since then, roadsurfer has been working to make RV and van rentals easier for travellers.
Each year they’ve grown, expanding across Europe and North America. Today they have over 70 station locations in 14 European countries, plus 5 in North America, and over 7,500 vehicles total. In several countries they operate in, not only do they offer rentals, but they also offer tools to help build an exciting trip for travellers on the road, like recommendations for campsites and other tips.
As of the spring of 2024, they have new stations opening up in the USA in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and in Canada in Vancouver and Calgary. These locations offer amazing access to some of the most beautiful national parks in the USA and Canada, making it easier than ever to appreciate them on the road.
Booking Your roadsurfer and How It Works
Every roaadsurfer has a guestbook inside, for travellers to document their journey for the next roadsurfer to learn from.
roadsurfer functions in much the same way as a car rental company, but they offer the basic essentials of what you’ll need for campervan rentals on the road.
Their priority is for travellers to have the experience of connecting with each destination, and being a part of the roadsurfer community. The vans even have a roadsurfer guestbook for travellers to sign at the end of their journeys, detailing their itinerary and what they got up to on their trip.
roadsurfer is a big fan of the go-with-the-flow vision of van life. They offer flexible booking options, so you can extend your time on the road if you want, and unlimited mileage for your journey. They even offer a complimentary second driver, making it easy and affordable to split the driving with a trusted friend or loved one on the trip.
You’ll want to start out by heading to the roadsurfer website to choose a location. As I mentioned before, they have stations in all sorts of cities and countries. Aside from the locations I’ve already mentioned, more cities with roadsurfer stations include:
Seville, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
Bergen, Norway
Dublin, Ireland
Stuttgart, Germany
Bordeaux, France
Los Angeles, USA
Salzburg, Austria
Florence, Italy
Stockholm, Sweden
Zurich, Switzerland
Each roadsurfer station is located outside of the city centre, typically easily accessible by public transportation, and close to the nearest airport. This makes it so easy to land for a trip and hit the road right away, or check out the sights of the station city for a night or two before picking up your campervan rental. I also appreciate being able to to pick up a campervan outside of the city centre, since it gives you the opportunity and space to get more accustomed to driving the vehicle, without the added stress of being right downtown.
My hope is that in the future there will be even more stations opened in North America to access areas around Salt Lake City or New York in the States, or places on the East Coast of Canada, like in Newfoundland and Labrador or Nova Scotia. But given the direction roadsurfer is headed, I’m sure the sky will be the limit when it comes to further expansion.
Like I mentioned before, my sister and I had our sights set on the Lake District in England for my recent trip with roadsurfer. We learned that roadsurfer was just opening up a new station in Manchester, which was the perfect city to access The Lakes from. We went online and selected the station and dates we were looking for before choosing which van we would take on the road from their available fleet.
The roadsurfer Fleet
The Surfer Suite with the top popped. It sleeps up to 4, with 2 beds, a compact kitchen and an outdoor shower.
Depending on where you’re renting your roadsurfer from, their fleet will vary. Some locations are ideal for any and all types of vehicles, while others are better for more compact vehicles. It’s important to consider your vehicle transmission needs, too, since some vehicles are available in both automatic or manual, but some are either/or.
Whichever options are available, roadsurfer’s fleet has the latest RV and van models, and each are fully equipped with the basic necessities you’ll need to hit the road on a camping trip. It’s worth mentioning that almost all of roadsurfer’s vans and RV’s have a camp heater and air conditioner, so if you’re anxious about what the temperatures might reach during the day or night on your camping trip, you are set.
Whether this is your first time taking out a campervan or you’re a van life aficionado, the selection of RV’s you can rent for your trip will no doubt get you excited about the journey. Here are a few examples of the types of vans that might be available to you on your van trip escape:
European Fleet Models
The European fleet of roadsurfers is a combination of models under the umbrella of Volkswagen, Ford and Mercedes vehicles. There are other makes available, too, but these are the most common ones.
The European models tend to be more on the compact side, simply because many European countries have more narrow roads to contend with. While roadsurfer can’t guarantee exactly which make and model you’ll have for your trip, all rentals will have the amenities listed during your time of booking.
Surfer Suite: This was the model we rented out of Manchester for our road trip to The Lakes. This van sleeps up to 4 people, with a pop-up camp top. It fits in a regular-sized parking spot, has a full compact kitchen, and an outdoor shower.
Road House: This is a larger van much like the Surfer Suite that sleeps 4, but it has an enclosed 4-piece bathroom and a larger kitchen, too. I was eyeing this vehicle for our recent road trip, but unfortunately it wasn’t available with an automatic transmission at the time of my booking.
Cozy Cottage: This is one of the European RV’s, which is perfect for a couple. It sleeps 2, and has a pull-out bed, but with a much more spacious bathroom, living and kitchen area.
Camper Castle: This is an even larger variation of the Cozy Cottage, with space to sleep 4 and even more space for everyone to feel at home on the road.
There are many other models than these available in Europe, but this gives you a taste of some of the different options available to you to rent on your trip.
North American Fleet Models
Since North America’s roads are a little more spacious, this fleet of roadsurfers reflects that. The models in North America include more typical RV rentals, with various models by Winnebago, Thor Motor Coach and Sequence. Some of the options for roadsurfers in the USA and Canada are:
Couple Condo: This van sleeps 2, with a spacious kitchen, a 4-piece bathroom and a solar panel.
Liberty Lodge: Think of this van as the Couple Condo on steroids. It offers the same features, but with space to sleep for 4 with its pop-up roof tent.
Horizon Hopper: This van offers 4x4 capabilities, perfect for renting if you’re planning on heading through rugged terrain on your trip. It sleeps 2, with an enclosed bathroom and a well-planned kitchen area.
Family Freedom: This the classic RV to rent from roadsurfer. It sleeps 5, and has a large kitchen and living space, an enclosed bathroom, and even includes a proper oven.
Optional Add-Ons & What to Expect In Your roadsurfer Rental
Despite the roadsurfer fleet offering so much variety, almost all roadsurfers come with the same basic necessities for your trip.
Included in your roadsurfer rental
Every roadsurfer vehicle comes equipped with a roadsurfer camp kitchen set. Since our Surfer Suite van was suitable for up to 4 guests, it included 4 of all necessary plates, cups and cutlery, two sets of kids’ plates and cups, and cooking utensils and pots and pans. Every roadsurfer also comes with a gas range, a sink, and a camp fridge (which will vary in size depending on your model). Our 40L fridge offered more than enough space for what we needed to keep cold day-to-day during our trip.
Another feature you can count on in all vehicles is a system displaying all of the necessary information for your vehicle. This was very helpful on our trip, since it includes information like your water supply, the camp battery life, and waste water. Each roadsurfer also has a convertible living space, typically where the driver and passenger seats can rotate to face inwards, an awning, one camping table and two camping chairs.
Optional add-ons For your roadsurfer
Depending on the circumstances of your trip, you may want to add on some of the optional items for your roadsurfer rental to make the most of your trip.
Since my sister lives in a small flat in London, and all of my camping equipment was home in Canada, we opted to rent bedding for this trip. Variable bedding rentals are available per person or per couple, and include 1 pillow, 1 sheet, and 1 duvet; or 2 pillows with 1 sheet and 1 duvet.
Other items you can consider renting, depending on the model of your vehicle are:
a rear bike rack
additional camping chair(s)
an additional camping table
a car seat for children (different sizes available)
roof rack (for surfboards, outside storage, etc.)
portable camping toilet (for models with no enclosed bathroom)
Brooke and I actually rented a portable camping toilet for our trip too, since we didn’t have a bathroom on board our roadsurfer. We ended up never being in a position where we needed to use it though, so it wasn’t necessary for us.
I think a portable toilet might come in handy for more off-grid and/or nature-based destinations without a lot of amenities, but if you’re planning on staying at campsites during your trip, like we did, then you’ll be fine without one.
My Experience Testing Out roadsurfer
Taking in the sights of historic Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. roadsurfer offered the freedom to stop anywhere on our road trip through the Lake District, northeastern England and southern Scotland.
This was my first foray into van life, and for that I thank roadsurfer for giving me the opportunity to test drive this new method of travel for myself. Like I said, I’ve combined both road trips and camping trips before, but there is something a little different and very special of having everything you need with you at all times in a campervan, without having to set up camp.
roadsurfer includes a lot of useful information on their website which helped with the initial planning of our trip. They’re newer to England, so we weren’t able to take full advantage their Camping Spots App and their Road Trip Guides, since there weren’t any options in the area we travelled in from Northern England to Scotland. It does seem like for many other countries in Western Europe this is a different case, so I’d expect there will be more suggested road trip itineraries and camping spots available in the future for other destinations.
It was much easier to get used to driving the van than I expected, which was a relief for me since I was also adjusting to driving on the left side of the road, from the right side of the car. (A complete flip to what I’m used to driving primarily in Canada and the USA.) I’ve driven under these conditions before, but usually it’s been with a more compact vehicle!
Something I really appreciated about our Surfer Suite (which ended up being a Volkswagen California) was that it handled incredibly well on the road, and it also had sensors on all sides and corners of the car, plus a rearview camera. This made adjusting, parking and even parallel parking such a breeze in England and Scotland. I couldn’t be more grateful for this as a cautious driver.
I also love the fact that the Surfer Suite fits in a normal parking space. This made Brooke’s and my ability to park the car so we could check out different hikes, towns and vistas so much easier. There were a few small parking areas where we were able to park that pushed me to realize how challenging it would be if we had rented a larger vehicle.
There were more than a few times in The Lakes that we were driving on narrow roads with nothing but a stone wall as our shoulder, and centuries-old trees stretching low over the road. It was during these moments that I was grateful this vehicle was on the smaller side than other members of the roadsurfer fleet. I’d highly recommend choosing the size of the Surfer Suite for a trip in the United Kingdom!
The compact kitchen and living area had everything Brooke and I needed for our trip. The camp battery of the Surfer Suite lasted an impressively long time too—after a full day of driving and stopping over 5-7 hours, we’d typically park for the night with 60 hours of battery life remaining. This was to run the interior lights, the camp heater and to charge our devices. We also loved that the van had several USB outlets for charging, as well as one regular outlet we could use on the camp battery.
As a first-time van lifer, I found it much easier to figure out the other logistics of the van than I expected, like filling up the water supply, turning the propane tank on and off, and draining the waste water. If Brooke or I ever had a question, the vehicle manual was in the car with all of the information we needed to solve a problem, along with a roadsurfer QR code with helpful information or contact information at any time.
I don’t think anyone will be surprised that we didn’t end up using the outdoor shower hookup during our early April trip to Northern England and Scotland, but it was a great setup and would be ideal for those renting in warmer climates or near a beach. We also kind of regretted renting the portable toilet, since we never used it and it took up so much of our storage space under the lower bed area. Bear in mind that whatever you rent as an add-on, you’ll need to find a way to store on the road, too!
There were only two issues that I ran into with our roadsurfer, which I’ve learned about on both accounts. The first was that the Surfer Suite’s upper tent area is truly a tent, so if there are high winds or rain or both, as we experienced a few times in the UK, it’s best to park the pop top so that the back of the car faces directly into the wind. This will help to prevent anything inside getting wet or damp, or from the van becoming top-heavy in higher winds.
Smiling ear to ear, since the Surfer Suite was such a stress-free vehicle on the roads in England and Scotland.
I’d also recommend checking the weather to see what the forecasted wind speeds will get to, as there was one time in the early morning where we decided to take the top down due to high winds, and Brooke and I shared the bed downstairs for the rest of the morning.
Another item to keep in mind is ensuring that you book a vehicle that has the transmission you need. Unfortunately, roadsurfer doesn’t let you select your transmission ahead of time. As much as I’d love to feel comfortable renting a manual transmission vehicle, I just don’t feel confident driving one.
For these reasons, if you are inclined to either a manual or automatic transmission, I’d recommend selecting a vehicle that is either one or the other. Some rentals on the roadsurfer site have both transmissions available. This was the case for the Road House when we went to book it, but since the transmission varies and you can’t select it ahead of time, we decided to book the Surfer Suite since it was only available as an automatic. If this is important to you, then definitely select a vehicle with the one type of transmission you prefer.
When I think about everything Brooke and I were able to see and do thanks to having our roadsurfer, I’m very grateful. Although many parts of Northern England and Scotland are accessible by train or bus, having the luxury of deciding where we wanted to go and for how long each day, or planning scenic drives and deciding to stop for lunch or a coffee break in an area with beautiful views was so nice.
On top of everything else, reflecting on taking an RV trip like this with my sister fills my with so much joy. Brooke and I haven’t lived in the same country for the better part of a decade, so being able to spend this time together is something I’ll always be grateful for. For anyone who has taken a road trip before, you’ll know that many core memories are formed on the road, and this trip was that in spades.
If You’re Thinking About Renting a roadsurfer…
The camp lights and camp battery working their magic at nightfall in The Lakes.
…definitely do it! Their campervans and RV’s offer such a fun and memorable way to travel, and whether you’re travelling with friends, family members or your partner, then you are guaranteed to have the trip of a lifetime.
If you’re thinking about trying out roadsurfer for yourself, then you’re in luck! I have a discount code to share with you for your very first booking, linked below. This unique discount code is applicable for rentals booked in USD, EUR or GBP (unfortunately bookings can’t be made in CAD at this time), and will get you $95 USD, €85, or £75 off of your total booking cost. Just click on this button:
All in all, I really enjoyed my experience renting with roadsurfer, and I’m hopeful I’ll get to try out a roadsurfer in a new destination soon enough. With the new stations opening up in the USA and Canada, it’s giving me an itch to get myself west sooner rather than later. If I hit the road with roadsurfer again, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Until then, safe travels, roadsurfers.
I want to thank roadsurfer for hosting me as media during this trip. All opinions expressed are completely my own.