Most people comparing campervans look at berths, bathrooms and price. The gearbox rarely gets a second thought until pick-up day, when the keys turn out to be for a manual and the driver has not changed gears since a driving test. Automatic campervan hire is worth deciding on in advance, because it affects availability, cost and how relaxed you feel on steep roads.

This guide explains how to choose, what usually differs between countries and what to check on the listing. For the wider picture on prices, our campervan rental guide covers how booking works.

Why the gearbox matters more than it sounds

A campervan is heavier and taller than a car, so hill starts, narrow streets and roundabouts take more attention. Add driving on the other side of the road, unfamiliar signs and a day of jet lag, and an automatic removes one job from a busy brain. That alone is worth something on a mountain road or in a city centre at rush hour.

There is also a hard rule that catches people out: licences. If you passed your driving test in an automatic car, your licence may be restricted to automatic vehicles in your home country, and rental companies can refuse to hand over a manual. Check your own licence, and read the rental company’s licence requirements; our guide to licence and age rules goes through the common ones.

Where automatics are common and where they are not

As a rough pattern, automatics dominate in North America and are common in Australia and New Zealand, where many rental fleets are built around them. In much of Europe, manuals are still the default for smaller campervans, and automatics make up a smaller part of the fleet, so they can be harder to find and may carry a premium. The pattern changes by company and by year, so treat this as a starting point, not a rule.

The live listings show it in practice. On the USA RV rental page, the vehicles are almost all automatic by nature of the US market. On the New Zealand rooftop-tent page we looked at recently, both 4x4s were listed as automatic. In Europe, always read the transmission label before you book, and use the filters where available.

Does an automatic cost more?

Sometimes, but not as often as people expect, and not as much as the season. On CampervanPlanet’s price overview for November 2026, the cheapest campervan started from about €18 a day in New Zealand (southern winter) and about €157 a day in Croatia. Iceland’s typical daily price was €137 in low season, €225 in mid season and €355 in high season, about 2.6 times as much in July as in the low season.

The lesson is that when you travel and where you pick up usually move the price much more than the gearbox does. Where an automatic does cost more, the gap is often a fraction of the seasonal swing. Moving your trip by a month, or collecting from a different depot, can save more than choosing a manual.

If you want to check, search the same dates twice, once with each gearbox, and compare. Our code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY20 takes €20 off at checkout through our links on whichever you choose.

Hills, mountains and tired drivers

A manual campervan is not hard to drive for a confident manual driver, but a loaded van with a small engine on a steep pass is a very different job from a small car. Hill starts with a heavy vehicle and handbrake, stop-start traffic in a city, and long descents where engine braking matters are all easier if you are used to it.

If you are an experienced manual driver, the manual is fine and often a bargain. If you are rusty, consider an automatic for a trip with lots of mountain driving, such as Norway, the Alps or Iceland. Many travellers find that a van in which the gearbox is not a worry is a better holiday.

A practical test is to ask whether you could comfortably do a hill start with a handbrake, on a slope, with a car behind you, in the rain. If the answer is “maybe”, choose an automatic.

Driving on the other side of the road

Two changes at once, the side of the road and the gearbox, is where tired travellers make mistakes. If you are driving on the left for the first time, in Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand or Japan, the extra simplicity of an automatic lets you concentrate on lane position. In a manual, a driver used to a right-hand gearstick has to learn to change gear with the other hand.

The reverse is true of right-hand drive countries such as the USA, Canada and most of Europe for drivers who come from left-hand traffic. Plan the first day carefully, begin somewhere quiet and pick up the vehicle in the morning, not after a long flight.

Our first campervan road trip tips cover the first-day routine in more detail.

How to filter and compare on the listing

On any booking page, look for the transmission label on each vehicle, usually shown with the berths and luggage capacity. Use the filters where they are available, and confirm the gearbox in the booking terms before you pay, since some listings state “manual or automatic” and the assignment depends on availability.

• Check the exact model rather than the vehicle class.
• Compare the same dates for each gearbox.
• Read the cancellation terms in case you cannot get the gearbox you need.
• Ask in writing if the listing is unclear.

The campervan rental price overview is a good starting point for seeing what each country costs this month, and the New Zealand campervan page shows how many automatics a typical fleet includes.

Our rule of thumb

If you drive an automatic at home, book an automatic and do not think about it again. If you drive a manual at home and are confident, book a manual where it saves money, and an automatic if you are heading for mountains in unfamiliar traffic. If you are undecided, price both for your dates; the gap is often smaller than you fear, and the peace of mind is worth a few euros.

When you are ready, compare vans for your dates and book through our links: a booking within 30 days of your click is credited to us, which keeps this site on the road.