If you’re wondering how best to get around in New Zealand, I can say with one thousand percent certainty that renting a campervan is the way to go. New Zealand is especially well-suited for campervan travel, with an abundance of campsites and rental companies to choose from.

I think most people would agree that New Zealand’s natural beauty is the main attraction, and a campervan is the best way to experience the mountains, beaches, night skies, and sunsets. You’ll have the option to stay in more remote places that don’t have a hotel nearby.

A campervan will also give you so much more flexibility with your itinerary. For example, we nixed a location because we knew the weather would be horrible, and the campervan meant we could just drive on, rather than having to stop at our planned hotel or try to cancel the reservation.

Mad Campers

We went with Mad Campers because we liked their van choices; I noticed a lot of other companies just refitting minivans, and it didn’t seem like enough space to me. The MAD2 from Mad Campers was just the right size for a self-contained campervan with toilet, sink, stove, and fridge. We stored our luggage up top and had a full-size mattress that we could spread out at night or fold up during the day for more space to move around inside.

We were able to make it over passes, but sometimes we were struggling with the small engine. But overall, the Mad Camper MAD2 did the trick!

Mad Campers had excellent customer service. When we picked up our van in Auckland, we received a thorough introduction to the van’s ins and outs, along with driving tips for New Zealand. They continued to check in with us during our trip to make sure everything was running smoothly. We also had the option to drop our van off in Christchurch, which was great to not have to bring it back ourselves to Auckland.

A note on insurance: I have relied on my credit card’s rental car insurance in the past, but mine did not cover recreational vehicles, so I had to purchase insurance from Mad Campers. Check with your credit card or other insurance to see what’s covered.

Navigating Roads

To me, the only downside to renting a campervan is that New Zealand has many windy, narrow roads that are pretty much unavoidable if you’re headed to top destinations like the Coromandel Peninsula or Fiordland National Park. This can be tough if you’re in a large campervan or RV, which is why I recommend renting a smaller van. The van we rented from Mad Campers was a Nissan Vanette and was the perfect not-too-big, not-too-small size. We could easily zip around corners and squeeze into parking spots, yet it also was just roomy enough inside to not feel constraining. Unless you’re a large family or would like to stand up inside, I wouldn’t recommend anything larger. The larger you go, the more difficult driving will be.

Finding a Camping Spot

We used the Rankers app, and it was so useful. It lists places where you’re allowed to camp and classifies them as free, affordable, or expensive. It provides information like the availability of restrooms, showers, laundry, kitchen, number of sites, and dump sites. Users are able to rate campgrounds and provide comments and photos.

While there are many campgrounds that provide full amenities for a cost of $30-$50 NZD per night, there is a much more affordable alternative: freedom camping. Freedom camping is much more basic with no amenities offered. Campers are responsible for packing out their own waste and must be equipped with a toilet, otherwise they are not allowed to camp there. Your van must also display a blue self-containment sticker, so look out for that when making your campervan reservation.

Our campervan was self-contained, so we ended up freedom camping almost every night. It was cost-effective and offered us a lot more freedom and space away from crowded campsites.

Itinerary

Most blog posts I read recommended at least three weeks to fully see the North and South Islands, and anything less should be spent on one island so you can fully immerse yourself and not waste so much time driving. However, we only had ten days but saw both islands. While I would have loved more time, I do feel like we packed a lot in to make the trip worth it, and while there was lots of driving, it was spectacular scenery, so I can’t really complain. I just think there is so much to see on both islands, so if you have the energy and don’t mind driving, you can absolutely see both islands in ten days. This is our itinerary:

Day 1: Land in Auckland, pick up van, drive to Cathedral Cove. Stayed at Waiponga Reserve Opoutere freedom camping.

Day 2: Waimangu Volcanic Valley and Rotorua. Stayed at Rotorua free overnight campervan parking.

Day 3: Hobbiton Movie Set and Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Stayed at Kiwi Camp National Park.

Day 4: Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Stayed at Ngatitoa Domain Camping.

Day 5: Wellington-Picton Ferry and Abel Tasman National Park. Stayed at Hope Saddle Lookout freedom camping.

Day 6: Te Tahi Caves, Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, and Hokitika Gorge. Stayed at freedom camping site next to Kokatahi Valley Country Inn.

Day 7: Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Lake Matheson. Stayed at Cameron Flat campground.

Day 8: Lake Wanaka and Lake Pukaki. Stayed at freedom camping on Lake Pukaki.

Day 9: Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. Stayed at freedom camping on Lake Pukaki.

Day 10: Lake Tekapo and Christchurch. Stayed at 219 on Johns Motel & Holiday Park.

Day 11: Returned campervan at Mad Campers Christchurch. Departure home.

Note that this itinerary was very on the move with almost no downtime. With only 10 days, we really had to stick to a schedule and hurry along to the next place. If we ever get to go again, I would do at least 15 days total so that we could relax in one of these areas (Abel Tasman or Coromandel Peninsula are my top picks).

Our longest driving day was day 7 from Hokitika to Cameron Flat: 373 km or 231 miles. Yes, it was a long day but we had a lot of gorgeous sightseeing along the way, so it didn’t feel so tedious. If you have the mindset that this is a roadtrip vacation, you won’t be disappointed by all the driving because that’s the point. But on my next visit I think I’d like to spend some time doing longer hikes or even backpacking in one region. There are so many different ways to see New Zealand, but I think a roadtrip is the best introduction to cover a lot of ground. Happy campervanning!