A lot of you already travel for a concert or event. You fly into a city for a headline show or a festival weekend, then fly home with a sore throat and not much else.
This spring we’ve been looking at the other half of that trip. What happens if you pick up a van the morning after and drive somewhere quiet? Whether that’s for restoration or to keep the fun going.
Two routes stood out, one in each hemisphere. The first runs from Brisbane up to Noosa and the Sunshine Coast, and you can do it right now while south-east Queensland is warm and the summer storms haven’t arrived. The second heads out of Las Vegas into the Mojave Desert, with Red Rock Canyon and Lake Mead as the first stops, and it’s at its best in the mild months either side of a Nevada summer.
They look nothing alike on a map. They also ask different things of you, from how far you’ll drive to what the van needs to have inside it.
Hiring a campervan in Brisbane for the run up to Noosa
Brisbane is an easy city to leave. If you’ve been at a show in Fortitude Valley, the airport and the highway north are both close to town, which helps when you’re collecting a vehicle with a slightly fuzzy head.
The simplest place to pick up a campervan is Travellers Autobarn in Brisbane, whose Hendra depot on Nudgee Road sits about ten minutes from the airport and roughly fifteen from the city. Noosa and the rest of the Sunshine Coast are about a 90-minute drive north from there, with the Glass House Mountains on the way, so a morning pick-up still gets you to the Noosa River by mid-afternoon.
For a couple, a two-berth van such as the Chubby or the Budgie is plenty: a bed and a gas cooker, and not much else to think about. If you’re bringing friends, the Hi5 sleeps four to five, which makes it the van for a group splitting fuel and site fees after a festival weekend.
Two practical details make the Queensland side easier than it looks. Tolls are charged automatically to your card, so you never have to think about the Gateway Motorway on the way out. Campervan hire also includes a 10% discount at Discovery and G’Day campgrounds, which is worth checking against your route before you book the first night.
Spring suits this trip. Brisbane sits around 15 to 25 degrees through the season, warm enough for a late swim and cool enough to sleep in a van without lying awake sweating. You can’t say that about January.
From the Glass House Mountains to Noosa Heads
Don’t rush the first hour. The Glass House Mountains turn-off comes up less than an hour out of Brisbane, and the lookout puts the whole cluster of volcanic peaks in one view, Mount Beerwah and Mount Tibrogargan included. Stop there for a coffee before you head to the coast.
From there you get to choose your pace. Caloundra and Mooloolaba are the busier end of the Sunshine Coast, with surf clubs and esplanade traffic on a sunny weekend. Noosa is quieter once you’re past Hastings Street. The coastal walk in Noosa National Park runs from the headland around to Alexandria Bay, and early on a weekday morning it’s about as calm as Noosa gets.
If your timing lines up, the Eumundi Markets run on Wednesdays and Saturdays, about 20 minutes inland from Noosa. Saturdays get busy, so park the van early. This is a trip where you’ll spend more time parked than driving.
Renting a camper van in Las Vegas for Red Rock Canyon and the Mojave
Vegas works the other way around. You come for a residency or a big weekend show and stay a night longer than your wallet would like. The desert starts almost as soon as the casinos stop.
Once the Strip has had its fun with you, you can collect a van through Travellers Autobarn camper van rental in Las Vegas, which runs from a depot at 3050 W Sirius Ave, just west of the Strip near I-15. Every hire there comes with unlimited miles. That matters far more in Nevada than it does on the Sunshine Coast, because a desert loop can run to several hundred miles before you’re back in town.
Timing is the bigger call. April to June and September to November bring milder weather and lower rates than July and August, but Vegas hire still counts May to October as its busier season. Prices drop from November to April, and the daily rate falls the longer you keep the van, so a fortnight costs less per day than a long weekend. If you want mild days and cheaper rates at once, aim for April or November.
Two things shape the route. Death Valley is off limits to these vans between May and September because of the heat, so if it’s on your list, plan for the cooler months. Desert nights also get properly cold outside summer, which is why the Beeva, with its built-in heater, is the one to ask for if you’re travelling in April or November.
You also don’t have to drive back. The van can be dropped in Los Angeles or San Francisco instead, which turns a desert loop into a one-way run to the Pacific.
Out to Red Rock Canyon and Lake Mead
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is about a 26-minute drive from Las Vegas Boulevard, close enough to be on the scenic drive before the pool parties start. The one-way loop is roughly 13 miles of red and cream sandstone, with pull-outs for short walks. The drive has used timed-entry bookings through the cooler months in recent years, so check before you go rather than turning up at the gate.
Lake Mead sits on the other side of town, east past Henderson and Boulder City. It’s the largest reservoir in the US, and its shoreline campgrounds are a different kind of quiet: flat water against bare brown hills. Beyond that is the Mojave proper. Valley of Fire State Park is about an hour northeast of the city, and the Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Preserve are across the California line to the southwest. Shade is scarce at both, and phone signal is patchy. Carry more water than you think you’ll need.
What each trip asks of you
Season comes first. The Brisbane run suits our spring exactly as it is, with mild nights and warm days through to November. Vegas has a narrower window, and the cheap months don’t line up neatly with the comfortable ones.
Distance is the next difference. Brisbane to Noosa is a morning’s drive, and you could do it twice in a day if you had to. Nevada asks for far more time behind the wheel, which is why unlimited miles and a one-way drop-off are the details to check before you book. Then there’s the van itself. On the Sunshine Coast you need a bed and a gas cooker, and something bigger only if friends are coming. In the desert, a heater stops being optional at three in the morning.
In Queensland the saving is the 10% campground discount. In Las Vegas it comes from travelling outside the busy months and keeping the van longer. One is a long weekend after a Brisbane gig. The other is a week at least, and you’ll want to leave the Strip early. Either beats flying home with only a sore throat to show for it.
