Solo travel in New Zealand: Here’s what it’s like
New Zealand is an awesome destination for solo travel. Here’s my experience from months of travelling alone around the country.
A little while ago, a friend of mine was driving alone on a remote, unsealed road in the South Island.
She skidded on the gravel and her van went off the road, flipping over and ending up on its roof. She was lucky — she climbed out without a scratch.
A little further down the road, another vehicle had gone off the road earlier that same day, and the driver died.
After the police and ambulances had been and gone, my friend was shaken and stranded. There was no way for her to get to Christchurch.
The police officer who attended the scene realised this, and invited her to stay the night at his house nearby. She accepted the offer.
He and his wife looked after her, giving her food and a bed for the night.
The next day, the police officer called a trucker friend who was driving to Christchurch — the trucker swung by, picked her up, and ferried her to Christchurch.
This is a wild, but true, story.
People in New Zealand are usually happy to help strangers in trouble. We’re used to living in isolated areas where we need to rely on each other for support.
In short, locals are kind, and even when things go wrong, you’re never far from help. On the whole, this makes solo travelling in New Zealand very safe.
As well as the friendly nature of New Zealanders, crime rates are low, there are no dangerous animals roaming around.
I’ve travelled extensively around New Zealand alone, in my van and in rental cars, and never encountered major problems.
jump ahead.
Is New Zealand good for solo travel?
The Marlborough Sounds at sunset
A solo hike on the Queen Charlotte Track
New Zealand is a great destination for travelling solo, as it’s a safe country, the locals are typically friendly and helpful, and you’ll find social backpacker hostels in most of the major towns.
If you’re considering a solo trip to New Zealand, bravo! I’m excited for you. My experiences of New Zealand solo travel have been positive (and I’ve travelled to more than 60 countries alone).
I love travelling around New Zealand by myself, as I know I’m always pretty secure, and if I want to chat to people it’s easy to strike up conversations with others.
There are some niggles — hostels in New Zealand can tend toward large and industrial, or kind of grungy. In some places, hostels serve as temporary accommodation for seasonal workers, and others (like Queenstown) the party vibe is strong.
I’ve stayed in quite a few hostels around New Zealand and never found one I loved, but as with hostels anywhere, you can always meet people if you’re not afraid to strike up a conversation with strangers (I usually start with the classic “where are you from?”).
Is it safe to travel alone in New Zealand?
New Zealand is among the safest countries in the world, ranking as the second most peaceful country in the world on the Global Peace Index (Iceland takes the number one spot).
This index gives you an idea of the safety of solo travel in New Zealand — our small island nation has low rates of conflict, homicides and corruption.
That means that while travelling alone in New Zealand, you are unlikely to face scams, pickpockets, or violent crime.
On the whole, New Zealand is safe for tourists, including solo travellers.
Safety precautions
I do suggest hiding any valuables in your car if you’re going to be away from it for a while, as thefts can happen if opportunists spot something worth any money in your back seat. I always hide things if I’m leaving my vehicle to go on an overnight hike, for example.
You don’t need to carry a lot of cash in New Zealand. We’re a plastic nation, so only keeping a small quantity means you’re less at risk of having money stolen. It’s much easier to use your card everywhere you go.
Petty theft in New Zealand can happen if people see an opportunity. It’s tricky when travelling alone but try not to leave things unattended, like on the beach while you go swimming (although I admit do this all the time).
Good to know | While you're in New Zealand as a visitor, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) provides insurance cover for any injuries. That means you will have cover for any treatment while you’re in the country.
ACC isn’t a replacement for travel insurance (they won’t cover illness, delayed travel, or loss of income in your home country) but you can have more peace of mind knowing that medical care is readily available and accessible if you have an accident or injury.
The biggest dangers in New Zealand
If you go swimming alone, try and make sure lifeguards are nearby
New Zealand is mostly very safe to travel alone, but there are some things you should be careful of.
Be cautious of swimming alone. New Zealand beaches can have strong rips and currents and there are often drownings over the summer period. If you’re not a strong swimmer, only swim at busy beaches with lifeguards on duty, to be safe.
Without someone else to share the driving, take lots of breaks if you’re on a road trip. New Zealand’s roads can be narrow, steep, and winding all at the same time. They can also be unsealed. Remember my friend who crashed her van? That happened on a gravel road. Driving alone can be tiring, so take extra care. Drive carefully and just pull over if you find people are piling up behind you — usually passing bays are easy to find.
Wear sunscreen! New Zealand sun is very strong and can burn you. It’s no joke — we have high rates of skin cancer and you don’t want to become a statistic.
Is New Zealand safe for solo female travellers?
New Zealand is generally a safe country for solo female travellers.
It’s rare to encounter street harassment in New Zealand. Occasionally people will shout things out — once in Wellington, I was swimming in a river in Upper Hutt and a group of teenagers yelled expletives at me (fortunately from the other side of the river).
I was willing to write that off as misguided youths though, and it’s the only incident in my recent memory where violent, gendered insults were hurled my way.
Generally, walking around the streets is secure. It’s safe to walk around most places at night, and I almost always walk around with my phone in my hand.
Most of the areas tourists will visit — like Ponsonby or Grey Lynn in Auckland — are clean, safe, and trouble free. As a woman, it’s always a good idea to keep your wits about you, but I always feel comfortable in these places.
The best places to travel solo in New Zealand
Travelling solo in New Zealand shouldn’t stop you from visiting any of the country’s main highlights. You have freedom to roam anywhere you’d like, as there aren’t any parts of the country that aren’t suitable for travellers on their own.
Having said that, these are a few of the places I loved the most while I was travelling around by myself.
Castlepoint
Castlepoint is a gorgeous stop on the east coast of the North Island. There’s some great camping here (I freedom camped right by the beach) and a short walk around the picturesque lighthouse.
There’s also the mighty Castle Rock, which offered a great view of the sweeping coast. I spent a lot of time up there enjoying the solitude.
Marahau
I loved staying at The Barn Cabins and Camp in Marahau, right on the fringe of Abel Tasman National Park in the South Island. This campground has some lovely facilities and a dorm room that’s perfect for solo travellers.
I stayed here for a week while working remotely, and met some really fun people. The Park Cafe just down the road that has a great open mic night on Thursday evenings, which was a cool place to hang out with new friends.
Gentle Annie’s Campground
A fellow traveller snapped this photo of me on the beach by Gentle Annie’s
Another social campground was Gentle Annie’s on the West Coast. It’s located in a beautiful area, right by a rugged beach.
There’s a great communal pizza oven where people gathered in the evenings — I met some other interesting people here too.
What to expect from solo travel in New Zealand
Travelling alone around New Zealand shouldn’t be too stressful, especially if you speak English.
It’s generally easy to get around and things aren’t too complicated, so you won’t feel like you have to figure out complicated transport or menus all by yourself.
One of the hardest parts of solo travel is having to constantly keep an eye on your stuff. You can’t just leave your things with someone else while you pop to the bathroom, or dash into a shop for a snack.
The good news is that in New Zealand you can be pretty relaxed about this kind of thing. You don’t have to worry about walking around with your phone or your camera in your hand — it’s very unlikely someone will try to rob you.
I’m also pretty casual about leaving my things on the beach while I go for a swim, or leaving my phone and laptop on tables at cafes when I get up to go to the bathroom.
Because I’m so accustomed to this, I’ve been robbed six times while overseas — New Zealanders are just so much more relaxed about looking out for your belongings, as it’s so safe here.
Most New Zealanders are welcoming to visitors. Don’t be surprised if people want to chat to you in supermarkets, at bus stops, or at the pub.
When my cousin was solo travelling around New Zealand by bus, she complained that what she thought would be quiet trips were constantly interrupted by her seat neighbour wanting to chat.
Also, a tip for having a conversation with a New Zealander — we love talking about the weather. Just mention how good, or bad, the weather is, and you’ll find yourself in an enthusiastic conversation with a local.
One of the more difficult things about solo travel in New Zealand is that you have to shoulder the cost of everything alone.
There’s not a lot you can do to bring down the cost of a rental car, petrol or food by yourself, but you can opt for cheaper accommodation.
As I mentioned earlier, hostel dorm rooms in New Zealand can be quite grim — I don’t know why, I’ve just never found a really stand out hostel here.
In Cromwell, I slept in a bunk above a guy with a CPAP machine. I think he might have lived there permanently, and it was a weird experience sleeping above someone with a hissing, whirring, machine going below.
In another hostel in Nelson, a guy made moves on me in the communal kitchen, before telling me he was staying in the hostel as a kind of halfway stop between getting out of prison and rejoining the community.
For this reason, camping and campervan travel has been my favourite way of travelling alone, over renting a car and staying in hostels.
Solo hiking in New Zealand
I often hike alone in New Zealand — I’ve been on many day hikes and multi-day hikes solo and never had any issues.
People in huts are generally very friendly, so if you fancy a chat you can almost always find people to play cards with.
In general, hiking in New Zealand is pretty safe. There are no wild animals to worry about, no poisonous snakes, and the heat is never too extreme.
The biggest danger on hikes in New Zealand is the weather. If you get caught in cold conditions or flooded rivers, it can be risky.
As long as you pay attention to the weather and don’t overestimate your abilities, hiking alone is safe.
Safety precautions
Going solo in the wilderness does come with risks, so when I’m hiking alone I take some precautions.
Always hike with a personal locater beacon (PLB). This is your life insurance, so don’t leave it behind. You can always rent one if you can’t afford to buy one.
I only tackle tracks I know are within my capability. Most hiking trails in New Zealand are well marked, but some require advanced skills like river crossings or backcountry navigation. I save those for trips with friends and stick to paths that are well marked.
Always share your intentions with someone. Let them know exactly where you are going and when you plan to be back. If they don’t hear from you by an agreed day and time, they can raise the alarm.
How to get around when you're travelling by yourself
When it comes to planning your solo trip, here’s what I’ve found to work for me in terms of getting around.
Transport
What’s the best way to travel solo in New Zealand? Your options are by rental car, public bus, or on a tour.
I travelled New Zealand solo in my van, and also hired rental cars when I flew from the North Island to the South Island.
Having a rental car was ideal for having more independence. One of the best things about travelling solo is being able to go anywhere you want, anytime you want.
A rental car maximises that, and you can zoom around at will.
The only major drawback is that when you’re not sharing the costs with another person, renting a car alone can be expensive.
Public transport in New Zealand is serviceable between major centres, but falls apart in more remote areas — which are often the best parts of the country to see.
If you want to connect with like-minded travellers, I’d recommend looking into small group tours, or hop-on, hop-off buses.
Accommodation
Solo travellers notoriously have to pay a ‘singles supplement’ on tours, but you might as well be paying this if you travel independently as well.
I rarely booked hotels and Airbnbs travelling around alone, because it’s much more expensive when you’ve covering the full cost of a room.
Instead, I stayed in dorm rooms in hostels. Hostels in New Zealand tend to be pretty friendly places and it’s a great option to connect with other travellers.
In my van, I would stay in campgrounds, which can be more isolating than hostels. However, if I wanted to chat to people it’s generally pretty easy to strike up a conversation with your campsite neighbours.
It helped that people were often curious about my van set up — it made a great conversation starter.
Occasionally I would spring for a budget Airbnb (around $100) but this isn’t that sustainable if you’re travelling for two weeks on a budget.
Travelling New Zealand solo in a van
I travelled New Zealand for about three months alone in my van and loved every second. Van travel in New Zealand is safe, which is why it’s such an epic campervan destination.
— Want to know more? Read about my van travels in Travel + Leisure
There are occasional horror stories, like the tragedy of the couple murdered in Raglan.
These incidents are freak one offs though — I’ve spent many nights parked in car parks and freedom camps and never had major issues.
There was one time in Westport when some local youths fired fireworks at my van and a few others parked by the beach, but I stayed inside with my doors locked and they eventually left.
The only real concern of being in a van is that you might end up in a location without mobile phone reception. This could make getting help tricky if you have a flat tire or other calamity.
As long as there are other people around, though, you should be fine. One time on Ninety Mile Beach, the van I was driving got stuck in the sand.
A local man stopped and without a word pulled out a tow rope and hitched to my van to pull me out of the hole I had literally dug for myself.
Some final words of advice
Travelling alone can get exhausting in any country, especially in one that is probably very far away from your home.
My final advice for you if you do come to New Zealand solo is to be kind to yourself.
One of my favourite solo travel memories in New Zealand is the time when I celebrated my 31st birthday alone on the road. I booked an Airbnb in Punakaiki with an outdoor bathtub and lovely hosts, and treated myself to the comfort of a real bed (I was travelling in a van at the time).
It was so blissfully luxurious, and after spending weeks on the road it felt amazing to just relax in a bath with a view, have my washing done by my generous hosts, and generally just take it easy for a night.
Another great memory is when I went to Maruia Hot Springs for a day retreat, instead of trying to go on another ambitious hike. I spent a whole day in hot pools, saunas, and plunge pools, completely blissed out.
What I’m trying to say is that sometimes doing less is the kindest thing you can do for yourself, and might end up being the moments you treasure most.
Having to take care of all the planning, logistics, and thinking all alone can be tough, and you deserve time to relax as well.
Travelling alone is no reason not to splurge on romantic accommodation, special dinners out, and all the other jazz people do when in couples.
So go ahead and spoil yourself — book that nice Airbnb, spend a day in a spa, go to a yoga class somewhere with a view. You definitely deserve it <3
Thanks for reading this far! I hope I’ve helped to ease some of your concerns about travelling solo in New Zealand.
If you’re planning a trip down to Aotearoa, you might also find these articles helpful:
