Is New Zealand Affordable?: See our cost calculator for 2025
- karenconnolly59
- Apr 14
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then takes half the clothes and double the money"
Susan Heller
Travelling to New Zealand is on the bucket list for many people but how much should you budget and are there economies you can make?
This is like asking how much is a piece of string as it will all depend on how extravagant you want to be and what your preference is for accommodation, mode of transport and meals etc.
Some people may think how much you spend on your holiday/tour a private matter which we can understand however, by sharing our costs with you we hope you can get a sense of how much things are in New Zealand to help you decide what you may want to do.
We may or may not be your average couple, who can say, so in this post we decided to breakdown what we spent and on what so if you link this to our previous post describing our 27 day tour you can use it for your own planning.
Our outgoings started before we even got to New Zealand with items such as visas and essential travel items. See our post about the 7 Essential planning Tips for the Mature but Young at Heart Traveller off to New Zealand for more information.
We've listed the full costs in the table below with a further breakdown for individual experiences, stays and places to eat.
Item | How Many | £ |
Legal/Passes | 2 | 52.00 |
Jucy Campervan | 24 nights | 5180.00 |
Public Transport | 326.00 | |
Luggage & Packing | 2 | 164.00 |
Accommodation | 17 | 490.00 |
DOC Pass | 30 nights | 95.00 |
Tourist Attractions | 1521.00 | |
Cafes/Restaurants | 941.40 | |
Fuel | 851.80 | |
Supermarket | 518.80 | |
Parking | 9.00 | |
e-Sim | 27 days | 72.38 |
TOTAL | 10,221.38 |
Legal Costs
£ | |
NZeTA | 17 |
IVC&TL | 35 |
Public Transport
Mode | £ | |
Airport to Auckland | Taxi | 30.00 |
Auckland to Campervan Pick Up | Taxi | 25.50 |
Auckland buses | Bus | 20.60 |
Interisland Ferry | Ferry | 250.00 |
Luggage and Packing
Number | £ | |
Wheel holdalls | 2 | 88.00 |
Holdall Straps | 2 | 7.59 |
ISA padlocks | 2 | 6.98 |
Packing Cubes | 2 | 61.00 |
Accommodation
Hotel/Campsite | Number of Nights | £ | |
Imagine Beach | Hotel | 2 | 156.00 |
Sea Breeze Campsite | Campsite | 2 | 40.00 |
Te Mata Views | Campsite | 1 | 17.50 |
Donegal House | Campsite | 4 | 52.00 |
Murchison Motorhome Campsite | Campsite | 1 | 29.50 |
Rainforest Retreat | Campsite | 2 | 27.00 |
Wanaka Holiday Park | Campsite | 1 | 33.00 |
Q Box | Campsite | 2 | 37.00 |
Dunedin Holiday Park | Campsite | 1 | 27.00 |
Lylo | Hotel | 1 | 71.00 |
Cafes and Restaurants
Eatery | Location | £ |
Pizza Takeaway | Auckland | 6.00 |
Remedy Coffee | Auckland | 61.00 |
Little Bird Kitchen | Auckland | 65.00 |
Hot Water Brewing Co | Sea Breeze Campsite | 51.60 |
Redwood Tree Cafe | Rotorua | 4.00 |
Cosy Corner | Taupo | 34.50 |
Ajuna Eatery | Napier | 37.50 |
Tennyson Cafe | Napier | 6.50 |
Interisland Ferry | Cook Strait | 22.00 |
Donegal House | Kaikoura | 183.50 |
Hamner Springs | Hamner Springs | 25.50 |
Pancake Rocks Cafe | Punakaiki | 6.00 |
Monsoon Restaurant | Franz Josef | 59.50 |
Full of Beans | Franz Josef | 33.00 |
The Landing | Franz Josef | 30.50 |
Big Fig | Wanaka | 42.00 |
Charlie Brown | Wanaka | 8.00 |
Verdu | Queenstown | 36.00 |
Hollyford Cafe | Te Anau | 30.00 |
BRTW Cafe | Invercargill | 33.00 |
Niagara Falls Cafe | Curio Bay | 28.30 |
Burger Plant | Dunedin | 21.50 |
Craftworx | Oamaru | 27.00 |
Raspberry Cafe | Tai Tapu | 16.00 |
Sime Kitchen | Kaikoura | 67.50 |
Airport cafe | Christchurch | 6.00 |
Trips
Attraction | Location | £ |
Redwoods Tree Canopy Walk | Rotorua | 65.00 |
Whale Watching | Kaikoura | 175.00 |
Hamner Springs Thermal Water Park | Hamner Springs | 31.00 |
Buller Canyon Jet Boat | Buller Canyon | 125.00 |
Buller Canyon Zip Wire | Buller Canyon | 40.00 |
Helicopter ride | Franz Joseph | 600.00 |
Quad Bike Tandem | Franz Joseph | 150.00 |
Skyline | Queenstown | 93.00 |
Paragliding | Queenstown | 150.00 |
Bill richardson Transport World | Invercargill | 35.00 |
Oamaru Penguins | Oamaru | 42.00 |
Steam Punk HQ | Oamaru | 15.00 |
Looking at our cost calculator for 2025: Is New Zealand Affordable?
In looking to answer: 'Is New Zealand affordable?: See our Cost Calculator for 2025' this post shows everything we spent with the exclusion of flight costs. We deliberately omitted the flight costs as it will vary so much from country to country and what time of year you fly not withstanding which class of seat you choose.
You will be able to choose now if this itinerary is for you and where you can make changes to suit your own lifestyle and budget.
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