Calculator
What will this road trip cost?
Fuel, lodging, and food, worked out before you book anything. Most people overestimate the fuel and underestimate the food, and the breakdown below usually makes that obvious.
Total trip cost
$1,214
4 people, 1,200 miles, 4 days
What this means
Food is the largest line, at 53% of the trip. Self-catering some meals or cutting a night moves the total far more than anything you can do about fuel.
Lodging is assumed at $140 a night and food at $40 per person per day. Both are our working assumptions, not sourced figures: if you are camping or staying with family, ignore the lodging line entirely.
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What this result means
Food is almost always the largest line, not fuel. Four people eating out for four days costs more than most tanks of petrol, and it is the easiest thing to reduce.
Lodging is the second lever. Camping or staying with family removes it entirely, which is often the difference between an affordable trip and an expensive one.
Fuel is usually the smallest of the three and the one people fixate on. Improving fuel economy barely moves the total.
How it works
- Divide round-trip distance by miles per gallon and multiply by the fuel price to get the fuel cost.
- Multiply nights away by $140 for lodging.
- Multiply people by days, which is nights plus one, by $40 a day for food.
- Add the three together, and divide by the number of people if a per-person figure is selected.
Assumptions and limits
- Lodging is assumed at $140 a night, which is our mid-range working figure and varies enormously by location and season.
- Food is assumed at $40 per person per day, which reflects eating out rather than self-catering.
- It assumes a single vehicle and does not include tolls, parking, or attraction admission.
- It excludes vehicle wear, maintenance, and any pre-trip servicing.
- Distance is round trip, not one way.
Sources
- Last reviewed
- October 1, 2026
- Geography
- United States
This is arithmetic on what you enter. The lodging and food rates are our working assumptions, not sourced figures, so no dataset is cited.
Common questions
Why is food the biggest cost?
Because it scales with both people and days, while fuel scales only with distance. A family of five on a week-long trip will spend far more on meals than on getting there.
How do I make the biggest saving?
Self-cater some meals and cut a night rather than optimising the route. Those two changes move the total more than anything you can do about fuel.
Does this include flights or rental cars?
No. It assumes you are driving your own vehicle.
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