Campervan or car plus B&Bs

Hi N,

I'm going to vote for the campervan. There are pros and cons for both arguments but as you say you do have complete freedom with the van. You can pull up and have a cuppa whenever you like - you aren't living out of a suitcase you can unpack once and that's it - you can prepare your own meals, when you want.

I'm not sure if it's legal to camp just anywhere but generally camp sites are quite inexpensive, especially in national parks.

I'm thinking that most of the campervans will run on diesel fuel and thereby being much more fuel efficient than a petrol engine and you should get good economy.

Question number 4 - never! It's only two weeks you won't have time to even think about being bored or jaded. I spent 12 months in a mobile home travelling around Australia and never had that feeling. I've done a number of big trips with a campertrailer and it's all just a big adventure, most enjoyable. We camp a bit rough - not everybody's cup of tea - but oh what a wonderful feeling being in a big, open,panoramic, quiet space that you have all to yourself...mmm mmmm mmm heaven on a stick!

There is definitely merit in a hire car and B & B option but you will be dragging your suitcases in and out each day and the additional costs of buying meals instead of being able to prepare your own.

I also find that when you're travelling in a van and stopping at van parks and national parks etc you meet up with like minded people and you pick up a lot of travel tips - things to see and do etc which you may tend to miss out on staying in a motel or b&b.

I second the Campervan idea. You will save money on food and flexibility. Speed wise they are a bit slower to get going but once going will cruise happily at the speed limit. Extra time will be only a few minutes. I've used my wife's Aatra and my van to do the same trip up to the mountains and the van was five minutes slower over a 90 minute trip. This is a small two person van. The bigger ones might take a minute or two longer.

Vans are generally fuel efficient for their size. My VW Transporter gets about 750km to an 80 litre tank of Diesel.

We spent ten days in NZ in a van and never paid for camping except for one night that was $2 per person at a Water Board park. So yes, you can stay almost anywhere. Crowds are not usually a problem as most people stay in camp grounds. Campervans are a great way of avoiding people. It also means that you wake up at lookouts etc and can get going before the crowds arrive.

Costs can vary. A cheap car plus B&B might be a bit cheaper but then you will have to buy all meals rather than cook for yourself, and you have to find somewhere each night.

B&Bs are usually quite social places where you get to meet the owners as well as other guests. Often the owners are really good cooks, too. I have enjoyed those that I've stayed in.

Another option if you WANT to cook is to stay in a motel or one of the hostel options that have kitchens. The BBH network is pretty good and they have a ratings system.

I don't recommend just parking by the wayside but rather in an official campsite. There have been a few unfortunate but well publicized attacks on tourists that have done "freedom camping" even in out of the way spots where you would think no one would ever be.

I have never done the camper van thing myself as it wasn't really cost effective for me, but my boss (who normally drives a big car) turned his in after one day. He decided driving something oversize on the "other side" of the road wasn't for him.

Stormbird & PeterSale, thank you for your insights. Definitely a worthwhile option.

mlgb, luckily(or unluckily) , in India we drive the same side as the Brits/NZ, so that is not a problem at all!

But we definitely don't want to be cooking at all on our Honeymoon or even eating out all nights.. So, maybe that limits our freedom..

Though, I agree that if we get a camapervan at a throwaway price (competitive to a sedan), we would very happily opt for that, experience a few B&B nights/ cabin stays in holiday parks..

So it would be wonderful if you could let us know if some campervan steal deals can be found and if so, where?

Thanks a lot!!

We spent two months touring the North and South Islands in June/July 2008 and absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone. We stayed at a mixture of DOC sites, commercial campsites and free camped in quite a few places.
The DOC sites are cheap and are usually in amazing locations. The commercial sites are a bit more expensive and have great facilities, showers, wifi etc.

More details and photos are on our blog (entries 39 on cover the SI:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html

The DOC site :http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/ has lots of great info.

Now getting a fab deal on Jucy campervan, quite comparable to Apex sedan rates.. and am opting for the campervan.. At this price, I can still opt for B&Bs almost every night, without busting our budget!! I am loving it!!