Campervan hire in Perth: collecting from Bentley

Perth is the most isolated capital in the world, and that fact shapes every trip you take from it. The depot at 28 Charles Street, Bentley, WA 6102 sits south-east of the city centre, near Curtin University and the Canning River, which puts you on the correct side of the river for the freeway south and gives you a straight run east to the hills.

What is around the depot

Bentley is a mixed suburb — university, light industry, student housing, a lot of small restaurants along Albany Highway. It is functional rather than pretty, and it is close to everything you need: supermarkets, fuel, cheap eats and the Canning River foreshore for an evening walk.

The city centre is up the road, with Elizabeth Quay on the Swan River, the museums in the cultural centre and Kings Park on the hill above. Fremantle, at the mouth of the river, is the historic port with the markets and the old gaol, and Rottnest Island is a ferry ride from either the city or Fremantle.

The two big regional directions are the south-west — Margaret River, the karri forests, Albany and Esperance — and the north, which is a different order of trip entirely.

Which way out

South. The Kwinana Freeway to Mandurah, then Bunbury and the south-west: Busselton, Margaret River, Augusta, the caves, and the forests around Pemberton and Walpole. Continue east for Albany, the Porongurups and Esperance.

East. Great Eastern Highway into the Perth Hills — Mundaring, Kalamunda, the Bibbulmun Track trailheads — and on to the wheatbelt towns if you want the dry interior.

North-east. Roe Highway to the Swan Valley, Perth's oldest wine region and the closest one to the city, then the Great Northern Highway north.

North. The Brand Highway and the coastal route to Cervantes and the Pinnacles, Geraldton, Shark Bay, Carnarvon, Exmouth and Karijini. This is a multi-week drive, not a weekend, and the distances between stops are the whole planning problem.

Who this depot suits

South-west loop travellers who want a week of forest, coast and wine. Anyone driving the Coral Coast north to Exmouth or Karijini, which is the big Western Australian trip. People combining Perth with a one-way drop in Broome or Darwin. And travellers who want to leave the city without crossing it, since Bentley is already south of the river.

Before you collect

The north is hot, empty and unforgiving, and the season matters more than the itinerary. Check temperatures and road conditions for the months you are travelling before you commit, and understand that some inland roads and station tracks are unsealed and often excluded from cover.

Fuel and water planning on the north-west coast is not optional. Know the gaps between roadhouses, carry a spare and a repair kit, and do not rely on mobile coverage outside towns.

If you are heading south instead, book campsites in the Margaret River and Albany areas over summer and school holidays — those regions fill up. For a comparison of what different vans can carry on a long northern run, see the campervan hire Perth options before you book.