MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
We've got 10 days in the South Island in January. Any experiences that'll help choose from the above?
Budget probably only stretches to a "sleeper" van rather than fully contained camper with toilet, so we'd have to stay in campsites either way.
Pros of a car seem to be:
- Cheaper
- Ease of driving (neither of us have driven anything bigger than a Golf for much time)
- Can spend a few nights along the way in hotels without feeling like we're wasting money
Camper van avoids the hassle of putting tent up and down on arrival/departure as well as having more space for living in for the duration.
Car for sure then, most campsites will have units or small pods and such like for reasonable costs which can be quite helpful if it's wet. Car will also get you into places a campervan won't.
You’re well covered for hostels (most of which are lovely and have private rooms as well as shared dorms) and cheap motels on the South Island. I wouldn’t bother with a camper - these days for anything that isn’t a proper site you need a “self contained” camper and sites are fairly pricey.
Car every time, use backpackers and hostels. Still cheaper than camper van.