How much does a trip to New Zealand cost?

Jun 12

This is what I spent in one. month of travel.

In one month travelling around the South Island (March 2024) I spent NZ$3200.

New Zealand can be expensive for visitors, but free activities and a favourable exchange rate for North Americans and Europeans means it is possible to visit on a budget.

One of the biggest costs you’ll face is the international flight to New Zealand.

To help you plan your trip without breaking the bank, here’s my best advice on visiting New Zealand on a budget.

How much does a trip to New Zealand cost?

Your personal budget for New Zealand will of course depend on where you go, what level of comfort you enjoy, and how many activities you would like to do.

This is a rough guide to what you can expect:

Budget Travelers: $100 - $150 NZD per day

Stay in hostels or campgrounds ($10-50 a night)
Cooking your own meals ($25-30 a day)
Hike, surf, or go to the beach

Mid-Range Travellers: $150 - $250 NZD per day

Stay in budget hotels or holiday parks
Eat a mix of takeaways, restaurant meals, and self-catered meals
Enjoy a mix of paid and free activities

Luxury Travellers: $250+ NZD per day

Accommodation: 4 or 5-star hotels, luxury lodges, or boutique accommodations
Dining at upscale restaurants and trying gourmet cuisine
Bucket list adventure activities

Daily costs in New Zealand in 2024

As with many other countries, New Zealand has seen sharp rises in inflation and the cost of living since 2021 — and businesses who have taken advantage of that.

So just a word of caution that you might notice a discrepancy between prices listed online and real costs on the ground.

Here are a few basic costs that are current as of January 2024:

1 litre of petrol: $2.70 on average (you can see live prices on the Gaspy website)
1 night at a standard DOC campsite: $10 to $15
A loaf of sourdough bread from Daily Bread in Auckland: $12
1 head of broccoli: $2.50 (you can see fresh fruit and veg prices on the Countdown website)
A cocktail in an Auckland bar: $21
A pizza at Little Aosta in Arrowtown: $26
A dorm bed in Queenstown: $65
A dorm bed in Christchurch: $40 (I’ve been paying between $35-50 for dorm beds in March 2024)
A burger in a restaurant: $28

The cost of your trip to New Zealand can vary widely, depending on whether you rent a car, take domestic flights, and whether or not you want to splurge on bucket list activities like glacier heli walks.

Budget travellers can travel on around $100 a day, if you stay at campgrounds, cook most of your own meals, and spend most of your time hiking, heading to the beach, and wandering around towns on your own.

Mid-range travellers can get by on around $100-$200 a day, by staying in basic hotels and motels, opting for a mix of self-cooked meals and eating out, and enjoying a mixture of free activities and paid tours and experiences.

If you have a bigger budget, $250+ a day will get you more luxurious accommodation, meals at nicer restaurants, and all the adventure activities and tours you desire.

There’s really no cap on how much money you can spend in New Zealand. For example, a meal at a Queenstown restaurant might cost $30-40, but you can also opt for a degustation dinner at Amisfield for $350.

You can choose to go on a Milford Sound boat cruise for $59, or take a scenic flight for $299.

There’s almost always a way to upgrade your experiences, but there’s often free alternatives (like hiking to glacier viewpoints on the West Coast instead of taking a heli hike).

Having said that, the cost of living in New Zealand is high. Basics such as groceries from the supermarket are expensive, so there are some costs it’s hard to trim down.

The cost of living in New Zealand is comparable to the United Kingdom or Australia, but cheaper than countries like Finland or Norway.

Whether or not you think New Zealand is expensive depends on your perspective.

I’ve heard people from the US say that coffee in New Zealand is great value at around $5 for a flat white ($3) that is much better quality than Starbucks, for example.

However, what can hike the price of a New Zealand trip is some of the logistics involved.

As well as an expensive international flight to get to New Zealand, getting around the country isn’t cheap.

While public buses do exist, they are somewhat limited. If you want to get the most out of your trip, a rental car is almost essential and the daily cost can be anywhere between $35-100.

Trains are more for scenic journeys than for the purpose of providing low cost transport, and a single trip from Christchurch to Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island can cost $170.

If you’re travelling alone, the costs of rental cars and accommodation can be even more expensive.

Budget breakdowns

A budget weekend in Waiheke (2 days 1 night)

On a recent (January 2024) weekend spent on Waiheke Island, I spent:

$55 on a dorm room at Waiheke Backpackers Hostel
$20 on wine tasting at Casita Miro
$50 return ticket for Island Direct ferry
$22 on cafe food — coffees and lunch/snacks
$10.70 on public buses
$18 on supermarket food

Total: $175.70 for the weekend

Family of 2 adults & 2 teens for 16 nights

Here’s a breakdown of costs from a member of the New Zealand Travel Tips Facebook group:

“We stayed in mostly Airbnb’s ranging $250-350/night with 1 splurge Milford Sound Lodge $700/night

Kids’ highlight was the canyon swing, the luge Rotorua & learning to snowboard.

Mine was Paradise Ziplines in Glenorchy.

$5000 Flights Brisbane-Queenstown + Auckland-Sunshine Coast
$1k Flight Christchurch-Auckland
$800 Hire car 16 nights Apex Queenstown-Christchurch
$5500 Accommodation
$1800 Snow board 4 days just for 2 teens plus food (Cardrona 2 Coronet 1 Hutt 1)
$3200 Activities
$850 Groceries
$1600 Eat out
$700 fuel
$550 other

Total $20K”

My most recent car hire was $35 a day with Snap Rentals for a station wagon (a level up from their smallest model as I needed space for 3 adults and a car seat).

However, I had to add $24 a day to that for the excess reduction as I don’t have a credit card, only a debit card. So the total cost of my rental for 5 days was NZD $314.06.

How much money do you need to travel New Zealand for two weeks?

How much does a meal cost in New Zealand?

Meals in restaurants cost between NZ$25 and NZ$40 for a main course, or up to $NZ65 for a higher end meal. For breakfast or lunch at a cafe, a meal can cost roughly NZ$15-NZ$29.