For RV enthusiasts, few if any means of traveling can compare with hitting the open road in an RV.

Travel enthusiasts who have never before traveled in an RV might be intrigued by that enthusiasm and the freedom that comes with hitting the open road without having to worry about hotel costs and checkout times.

Though those are great reasons to consider traveling in an RV, vacationers should build fuel costs into their travel budgets.

That's because RVs typically do not get great gas mileage.

According to the online RV resource RVshare.com, the cost of gas for an RV can be hard to predict, as fuel prices can fluctuate wildly depending on the time of year and where people are when they need to gas up their RVs.

However, predicting the gas mileage an RV gets is a little simpler, and RVshare notes that typically depends on which type of RV travelers are using.

For example, class A RVs, which typically feature a flat vertical front and large windows, may only get about six to eight miles per gallon.

Class C RVs are typically built on a truck chassis and get better gas mileage than Class A RVs, averaging somewhere between 10 and 13 miles per gallon.

It's important to note that these figures are just estimates.

Difficult terrain, such as steep mountains, can P reduce gas mileage even further.

Despite the sticker shock they may experience at the pump, travelers interested in RVs should not let that deter them from climbing into an RV and hitting the open road.

The cost of fueling up may not exceed the cost of lodging, which RV travelers won't need.

And RV drivers can save even more money by cooking their own meals in the kitchens or kitchenettes that are standard in most RVs.