EnglishRooftop tent 4x4s from Broome, your dry-season gateway to the Kimberley.
First trip to Australia? US$50 off·NEW50
This is not a tent you strap to your own car: you hire the whole vehicle with the rooftop tent fitted, bedding inside and the kitchen kit in the back. Climb the ladder, sleep above the ground, fold it away and drive.
The tent travels folded and secured, always. Driving with it open is off the table for safety and under every rental agreement.
Quick to put up and quicker to fold away, with no hunting for level ground to pitch on. The exact drill varies by model, so give it one practice run at pick-up.
Each rooftop tent sleeps two, and all three Broome models carry two tents on the roof: the Warrior 4WD and the Allstar sleep four, the Desert Sands up to five. Check the exact berth count on each vehicle’s card before booking.
Rooftop tents handle normal camping weather well; in genuinely strong wind the sensible move is to fold it down, as with any tent. Plan exposed coastal nights accordingly.
Two rulebooks apply: the parks decide where you sleep, and the rental contract decides where you drive. Both are friendlier than you fear if you play them straight.
Free camping is generally not allowed inside Australia's national parks: you book a designated campground, and several states sell the permit online per person and per night. With a rooftop tent you want a level parking bay rather than a tent pad, so book a drive-in site before you set off.
Every hire contract draws the same lines: the Simpson Desert and Old Telegraph Track are off-limits, beach driving is barred, and remote legends like the Oodnadatta Track need the operator's written permission first. The tent on the roof changes none of that, so plan routes the contract actually allows.
Broome runs on the dry season: May to October is the travel window, with warm days, cool nights and open roads. When the wet arrives, tracks close, humidity climbs and campgrounds empty.
You sleep upstairs wherever a car can legally camp, and in town you park like a car. The trade: no standing room and no built-in bathroom on most models. You live outside, which is rather the point.
We only list what our booking engine confirms with the rooftop-tent filter on. Broome is a small depot: three 4x4 models today, the Desert Sands from Campervan Village, the Warrior 4WD from Britz and Allstar’s 4WD Rooftop Camper (on request only), so book early for dry-season dates.
The flagship: Britz’s dual-cab 4x4 with low range, two rooftop tents, a slide-out kitchen with sink and two-burner stove, fridge, 270° awning and snorkel, bookable straight out of Broome. There is no toilet or shower on board. Campervan Village’s Desert Sands (from about €250) sleeps up to five and is the cheapest to book instantly; Allstar’s 4WD Rooftop Camper starts from about €212 but is on request only.
Sunset over Cable Beach, red cliffs at Gantheaume Point and a campground close to town while you learn the tent. Park up and walk onto the sand: hire contracts bar beach driving.
The road to Cape Leveque is now sealed, so the peninsula’s red pindan cliffs and white beaches are within easy reach. Book campgrounds and any community access ahead; capacity up there is small.
The sealed Great Northern Highway south, with station stays and the endless shell-strewn sweep of Eighty Mile Beach along the way. Long legs between fuel stops, so plan them.
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