Best RV Mattresses of 2023

There’s nothing like traveling the country in a recreational vehicle, and I can speak from personal experience. My dad’s old Holiday Rambler was comfortable, cozy, and way better than a motel—with one glaring exception. The stock mattresses that came with the vehicle weren’t much better than the outdoor cushions for patio furniture.

Dad never got around to replacing the mattresses in his Rambler, but today’s RV owners have a lot more options for staying comfortable when they turn in for the night. To help you sleep well on your journey, we’ve selected a list of the best mattresses for RVs and campers. Our top picks include mattresses available in both specialty RV sizes and standard bedroom sizes. We’ll also share expert tips in our buyer’s guide for choosing the mattress that best fits you and your home on wheels.

Best Mattresses for RVs: Our Top Picks

• Editor’s Pick – Dreamfoam Essential
• Best RV Mattress for Back Pain – Helix Midnight Luxe
• Best RV Mattress for Hot Sleepers – Brooklyn Aurora Luxe
• Best Queen-Size RV Mattress – Nolah Natural
• Best RV Bunk Mattress – Bear Trek
• Best RV Mattress for Any Sleeping Position – Dreamfoam Hybrid

How We Chose the Best RV Mattresses

To choose the best RV mattresses, we tested more than 100 mattresses at our Mattress Advisor lab and scored them in 14 categories to produce an overall average rating for each. After identifying the best of the best, we then looked at the mattresses that score best in several support categories, such as pressure relief and spine alignment, and comfort categories, such as cooling. We also used our firsthand experience as RV travelers to inform our selections, as well as mattress value, customer reviews, and additional sleeper feedback.

Note that we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in our product reviews and other content. Our results and recommendations are never influenced by the commission we may receive from brands, and products we receive are never guaranteed a positive review.

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Dreamfoam Essential – Editor’s Pick

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: 8.5/10

If you’re looking for lots of options with your RV mattress, the Dreamfoam Essential is hard to beat. It’s available in more than a dozen RV sizes, including short queen and Olympic queen, and five thickness options (6″, 8″, 10″, 12″, and 14″). Finding the right size and height for your RV sleeping area should be a breeze.

Formerly known as the Wanderlust, the Dreamfoam Essential is from Brooklyn Bedding’s RVMattress.com brand. It uses gel swirl memory foam designed to contour to the shape of your body and provide cooling. With prices for queen-size options starting at $524, the Dreamfoam Essential is also a solid choice for RV enthusiasts on a budget.

The Dreamfoam Essential has a 120-nights sleep trial and a full 10-year warranty.

Read our full Dreamfoam Essential mattress review.

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Helix Midnight Luxe – Best RV Mattress for Back Pain

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: 8.7/10

One of the perks of traveling by RV is being able to spend every night on a comfortable mattress that can support good back health—and not being stuck with a hotel mattress that leaves you feeling cramped or doesn’t suit your sleep style.

The Midnight Luxe is the ultimate travel companion for excellent back and neck support on the road. It earns a 9/10 in our testing for spine alignment, so it helps support your spine’s natural curve; and an 8.5/10 for pressure relief, which means it does a good job in cradling your joints and dispersing tension before it can build up. This is especially helpful for side sleepers, who will appreciate the hybrid mattress’s medium firmness and multiple layers of contouring foam.

The Midnight Luxe comes with a 100-night sleep trial and a 15-year limited warranty.

Read our full Helix Midnight Luxe mattress review and take a look at the best mattresses for back pain. 

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Brooklyn Aurora Luxe – Best RV Mattress for Hot Sleepers

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: 8.8/10

At the end of a long day on the road, the last thing many RV travelers want is to spend the night losing their cool. Fortunately for hot sleepers, the Brooklyn Aurora Luxe is designed to help keep things from getting toasty as you sleep.

The Aurora Luxe has scored a 9.5/10 for cooling in Mattress Advisor’s testing and review process. This luxury hybrid mattress has cooling technology built into every layer, starting with a top foam layer that uses TitanCool beads to help regulate body temperature. However, price could be a sticking point—regular price for a short queen size is $1,874, not counting sales or discounts.

The sleep trial is 120 nights with a 30-night minimum and the warranty lasts 10 years.

Read our full Brooklyn Aurora Luxe mattress review and check our our list of the best mattresses for hot sleepers.

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Nolah Natural – Best Queen-Size RV Mattress

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: 8.7/10

If you like to sleep like royalty and want a queen bed for a queen-size RV frame, take a look at the Nolah Natural. This medium-firm mattress is known for its eco-friendliness. It includes organic cotton and wool, as well as Talalay latex.

The Nolah Natural has a GOTS certification and a OEKO-TEX 100 certification, so you can sleep knowing you’ve got some of the best materials underneath you. We found this mattress to be great for those under 230 lbs, as well as hot sleepers. Its construction should be suitable for most sleepers, and its latex material and coil system work to promote cooling.

You get a 120-night sleep trial with Nolah, free shipping and returns, and a lifetime warranty.

Read our full Nolah Natural mattress review and check out our list of the best queen-size mattresses. 

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Bear Trek – Best RV Bunk Mattress

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: Coming Soon

Whether you’re traveling solo in a small camper or you have bunk beds in your family RV, a quality bunk-size mattress is important for sleeping well on the road. Whatever your situation, the Bear Trek can help you get there.

The Bear Trek is designed to provide airflow and cooling, with a breathable cover and a layer of Cooling Gel Memory Foam. It’s anchored by a layer of High-Density Support Foam. All foams used in the Bear Trek have CertiPUR-US® certification, so you don’t have to worry about formaldehyde, mercury lead, and similar substances in the enclosed space of your motor home.

Regular price for an RV bunk size is $549. The Bear Trek comes with a lifetime warranty and a 120-night sleep trial.

Bear Trek review is coming soon.

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Dreamfoam Hybrid – Best RV Mattress for Any Sleeping Position

Mattress Advisor Overall Score: 8.5/10

The Dreamfoam Hybrid comes in a dozen size options, including several RV-specific sizes, so you can find one to fit almost any sleep space. Unlike the Dreamfoam Essential, which is available in five heights and firmness levels, the Hybrid is limited to one medium firmness that works for most sleepers and most sleep positions. But the chief area in which it distinguishes itself from the Essential is in cooling, which comes courtesy of the Hybrid’s innerspring layer and use of cooling gel-infused memory foam. If you’re a hot sleeper who tends to wake up fighting your sweaty sheets—or if you have unreliable AC in your RV—this memory foam and innerspring bed is a winning choice for its temperature regulation and breathability.

The Hybrid also excels when it comes to responsiveness, which is a good sign for people who like to change positions throughout the night. You can settle in quickly on the bed and move around with ease; it adapts to your movements and supplies immediate support. You also don’t need to worry about slipping off the side of it—Dreamfoam’s Hybrid also earned high marks in our test of edge support, or how well it maintains its structure along the mattress’s edges.

The Dreamfoam Hybrid comes with a 120-night sleep trial, so you can try it out before committing. It also carries a 10-year warranty.

Read our full Dreamfoam Hybrid mattress review.

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How to Buy a Mattress for Your RV or Camper

Your sleep on the road is just as important as it is when you’re at home. Most RVs come equipped with generic mattresses, they tend to be lumpy, stiff, and uncomfortable. Lack of sleep or repeated nights of bad sleep can adversely affect your mood and make you feel irritable or unfocused. Travel and vacation should be a time of peace, adventure, and relaxation, so choosing a quality RV mattress is important.

Whether you’re a seasoned RV traveler or a “van life” newbie, we have tips to help you find the best mattress for the journey. In this guide, we’ll dive into:

• What Makes an RV Mattress Different?
• RV Mattress Sizes
• Types of RV Mattresses
• Benefits of an RV Mattress
• What to Consider When Shopping

What Makes an RV Mattress Different?

The main things that separate most RV mattresses from standard bedroom mattresses are size and shape. They’re typically a few inches shorter or narrower than bedroom mattresses. The reason is that they need to fit easily and comfortably in the compact spaces of a recreational vehicle’s interior. Even in the largest RV, the sleeping spaces are usually a lot smaller than your bedroom at home. The shortage of headroom also means that many RV mattresses aren’t as thick, either.

RV Mattress Sizes

As mentioned, RV mattresses tend to be a bit smaller than traditional mattress sizes to fit into compact spaces. Take a look at our chart below for a summary of different RV mattresses sizes. Note that the dimensions of various RV mattresses can vary, depending on the manufacturer.

Another thing to remember is that not all RVs use RV-size mattresses. Newer RVs in particular might be more likely to use standard sizes. Our best advice is a variation on the old carpenter’s saying: measure twice, buy once.

Check your owner’s manual, and then use a tape measure or a smartphone app to measure the space yourself. Only then can you be sure whether you need an RV-size mattress or a standard-size mattress.

RV Mattress Size	RV Mattress Dimensions
RV Bunk	28″ x 75″ 30″ x 75″ 30″ x 80″ 32″ x 74″ 34″ x 75″ 35″ x 79″ 42″ x 80″
RV Twin	28″ x 75″ 28″ x 80″
Narrow Twin	30″ x 75″
Three-Quarter	48″ x 75″ 48″ x 72″
RV Full	53″ x 75″
RV Queen	60″ x 80″
RV Short Queen	60″ x 75″
RV King	72″ x 80″
RV Short King	72″ x 75″
RV California King	72″ x 84″

RV Twin

Twin mattresses are the most economical for an RV because they take up little space. They can be used alone, side by side, or in a bunk. Sometimes they can double as daytime seating or fold out from a table to save even more space. Dimensions include 28″ x 75″, 40″ x 80″ and the 30″ by 75″ narrow twin.

RV Bunk

Bunk mattresses are similar to twin sizes but are more specifically made for bunk beds in campers. Bunk mattresses fit perfectly in family-friendly travel vehicles such as fifth wheel trailers. The dimensions range from 28” x 75” to 42” x 80.”

RV Full

RV full mattresses are just like regular double mattresses except wider. They complement pull-out or fold-out couches and sofas the best in an RV. The dimensions range from 53” x 75” to 55” x 75.”

Three Quarter Queen Size

You guessed it: three quarter queen mattresses are 75% the size of a regular queen in both width and height. These are perfect for spaces in your RV with odd dimensions or placement. The dimensions range from 48” x 75” to 48” x 80.”

RV Queen

Though most RV mattresses aren’t the same dimension as regular mattress sizes, RV queen mattresses have the same dimension as your queen mattress at home. These fit well into pop-up trailers and tend to only have one size: 60” x 80.”

RV Short Queen Size

Short queen mattresses are 5 to 6 inches shorter than regular queen mattresses. This size is perfect for couples who rented a smaller travel vehicle. The dimensions range from 60” x 74” to 60” x 75.”

Olympic Queen

Olympic queen mattresses are 6 inches wider than a regular queen mattress—perfect for RVs that are wider than they are longer. These tend to only have one size: 66” x 80.”

RV King

King sizes are slightly narrower than regular king mattresses and are often found in pop-up trailers. The dimensions range from 72” x 75” to 72” x 80.”

Eastern King Size

Eastern kings are rather new sizes for RVs. They are four inches wider than king-size mattresses. This size is perfect for couples who love space or parents who co-sleep. These tend to only have one size: 76” x 80.”

RV Cal King

California kings are more common in regular homes than in RVs. RV Cal kings are 4″ longer than regular RV kings. These are great for tall people or those who toss and turn. The dimensions range from 72” x 80” to 72” x 84.”

What’s the Right Thickness for an RV Mattress?

For a bedroom mattress that gets regular nightly use, a height of at least 9″ is a pretty good benchmark. You can usually go a little thinner with an RV mattress.

Some brands offer RV mattresses as thin as 6″, which might work well for children and adults less than 130 lbs. For most average-weight adults, however, a 9″ minimum will probably provide an adequate amount of support and durability.

Remember to check for thickness options as you shop for an RV mattress. Also, remember that thinner mattresses tend to feel firmer.

Types of RV Mattresses

Just like your at-home mattress, RV mattresses are made of different materials and use different designs. Here’s a look at the major categories:

Memory Foam Mattress

Memory foam is the most popular type of RV mattress because of the gentle contouring comfort it provides. The foam adjusts to your body’s shape, and most offer great pressure relief. Although memory foam tends to sleep hot, some memory foam mattresses have cooling gel layers or utilize open-cell technology that promotes airflow.

Innerspring Mattress

Innerspring mattresses are of the most inexpensive options when it comes to RV mattresses. They are composed of metal coils surrounded with padding for combined comfort and support. Springs have a tendency to squeak, however, and metal coils have the potential to rust. Regardless, some people love the feel of a traditional mattress.

Latex Mattress

A latex mattress includes latex foams (either natural or synthetic) that are cool and supportive. Latex is a naturally antimicrobial material and is also mildew-resistant, so latex mattresses tend to work fine in RV spaces. They can feel a bit firm, however, depending on foam density and the type of latex used.

Hybrid Mattress

Hybrid mattresses combine any of the materials above to make a comfortable sleeping experience that is often customized for a specific sleep style or issue, such as cooling. Hybrid mattresses work great for many sleeping positions and body types.

Air Mattress

RV air beds are filled with air that you often have to pump yourself. They are great if you want to customize your firmness. Air beds also allow you more room in the RV because you can deflate them and pack them away until it is time to sleep again.

Benefits of an RV Mattress

• Drowsy driving can reduce reaction time and focus. A high-quality mattress in your RV makes pulling over to catch some Zs a simple solution to travel exhaustion.
• Because they’re used in tight spaces where ventilation can be limited, many RV mattresses are made to be hypoallergenic. If you have allergies or sensitivities, RV mattresses are perfect for your travels.
• The sleeping spaces and bed platforms in many RVs are shorter and narrower than those in your bedroom at home. RV mattresses that are specially sized for these spaces mean you get an exact fit: no measuring, no gaps, no cutting.
• Some of the best mattress companies make RV-size beds that are almost identical to their bedroom models, except for width, length, or thickness.

What to Consider When Shopping for an RV Mattress

Type of Vehicle

If you’re already one of the estimated 10 million RV owners, chances are you know there is more than one type of RV. Each has a different layout, which will affect the type of RV mattress compatible with the RV itself.

• Motor homes are RVs where the driver’s seat is attached to the interior. They come in three classes that vary in size: A, B, and C. Class A motor homes have the most room and could reasonably fit any size mattress. Class B motor homes are a bit smaller and often feature bunk beds. Depending on the layout, they could fit any size bed as well. C Class motor homes are the smallest and typically feature pull-out couches or sleeper sofas rather than beds.
• Pop-up trailers are not attached to the vehicle directly but are towed behind a car or truck. They aren’t made for long trips, and the mattresses that come with them often aren’t removable. Mattress toppers are the most compatible with these RVs.
• Travel trailers, like pop-up trailers, are towed behind a car or truck. These are rather large in size, but often utilize pull-out couches, or beds that fold out.
• Fifth wheel trailers are those giant towable trailers with a raised forward section. Despite their size, these are the easiest type of towable trailers to maneuver because of the fifth wheel coupling. Trailers this size can sleep up to six people and could reasonably fit any size RV mattress—from twin to king sized.

Sleep Temperature

While most RVs have air conditioning systems, they’re not always as efficient as the climate control systems we use in our homes. They use a great deal of energy, and a vehicle can have many small spots for air to escape. If you’re a hot sleeper at home, look for an RV mattress that has cooling features such as gel-infused foam, aerated latex, and covers made with cotton, bamboo, and other breathable fibers.

Durability

On average, you can expect a high-quality RV mattress to last about 7-10 years. Memory foam and latex mattresses are generally at the top end for longevity, followed by foam/coil hybrids. A well-made air mattress could last a decade, provided that it doesn’t spring any leaks.

How long a mattress lasts depends in part on how frequently it’s used, so you might be able to squeeze an extra year or two out of an RV mattress that doesn’t get regular nightly use. Also, you can extend the lifespan by cleaning your mattress and using the type of foundation recommended in the warranty.

Off-Gassing

Freshly unboxed mattresses, especially ones that use memory foam, often have a “new mattress smell” caused by the off-gassing process. Although a temporary pungent odor might be the only result, in extreme cases off-gassing could lead to headaches, dizziness, or nausea. To minimize the effects, unpack your mattress in an open, ventilated area and leave it there for at least two days before you move it into the vehicle.

Accessories

Depending on your RV’s model and configuration, you may or may not be able to replace the mattress that comes with it. Even if you can’t upgrade your mattress, though, there are some sleep accessories you can use to make it more comfortable. RV bedding accessories aren’t always easy to find, but you can try specialty RV sites and Amazon for starters.

• Bedding: Comfortable accessories, including sheets, pillows, and comforters, can add a touch of luxury to your RV sleep space.
• Mattress topper: A time tested solution to uncomfortable mattresses, mattress toppers will add a cozy layer of foam that can be easily cut and shaped to an RV mattress size. Toppers shaped specially for RVs are also available on Amazon and other sites.
• Mattress pad: A mattress pad works the same as a mattress topper by adding a cushioning layer between you and an uncomfortable mattress. They even have cooling options for people who sleep hot.
• Mattress protector: The compact, enclosed spaces of an RV can be a friendly environment for mildew. To guard against moisture (and help keep your mattress fresh and clean), try a waterproof mattress protector.

Warranty and Sleep Trial

The industry standard for mattress warranties is 10 years, so make sure that your choice has a warranty at least that length of time. Also, many online brands offer sleep trials that let you try out your new mattress for 100 nights or longer with the option of returning it if you’re not satisfied.

Recap: Our Picks for Best RV Mattress

A lot of thought goes into picking an RV mattress. It has to be the right size, the right thickness, and the ideal firmness. RVs make for great road trips and family memories, so make sure you have the perfect mattress to complement your home on wheels.

As a reminder, here are our top picks:

Mattress	Award	MA Score (out of 10)
Dreamfoam Essential	Editor’s Pick	8.5
Helix Midnight Luxe	Best RV Mattress for Back Pain	8.5
Brooklyn Aurora Luxe	Best Mattress for Hot Sleepers	8.8
Nolah Natural	Best Queen-Size Mattress	8.7
Bear Trek	Best Bunk Mattress	Pending
Dreamfoam Hybrid	Best for Any Sleeping Position	8.5