EnglishReef to rainforest from Cairns, with the tent already on top.
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 the models with two tents on the roof take four or 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 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.
Cairns runs on the dry season, roughly May to October, when tracks are open and campgrounds full. In the wet, roads flood, some parks close and the tent gets a daily rinse; plan around it.
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 for Cairns pick-up: four models from Campervan Village, Indie and Britz, from about €99 per day at the budget end.
The flagship: Britz’s dual-cab 4x4 with low-range gearing, two rooftop tents, a slide-out kitchen and a 270° awning, bookable straight out of Cairns. There is no toilet or shower on board. Indie’s Adventure Standard (from about €99) is the budget pick, and Campervan Village’s Desert Sands sleeps up to five.
The Captain Cook Highway to the Daintree River ferry, then rainforest campgrounds where the trees meet the reef at Cape Tribulation. The road ends there for hire vehicles: the Bloomfield Track beyond is usually excluded, so you return the way you came.
Climb out of the heat to crater lakes, the waterfall circuit around Millaa Millaa and cool-night campgrounds at altitude. Short driving days and the best swimming holes in the region.
The sealed Mulligan Highway runs inland through savannah country to Cooktown, with outback pubs and campgrounds along the way. A real taste of the Cape without touching the tracks your contract excludes.
Ready to Explore Far North Queensland?
Start your adventure today. Compare rooftop-tent 4x4s, find the best deal, and drive the roads less travelled.
Search Rooftop Tent Campers NowExplore the best places to rent a campervan, motorhome, or RV worldwide
