From coastal beach towns to remote and mountainous National Parks, the variety of scenery across New Zealand is simply outstanding. You can start your day with a coffee by the ocean and finish your day with a walk to a glacier thanks to just a few hours of driving. What better way to explore the incredible range of nature than by road trip? Find the perfect caravan to be your home on wheels and hit the road!
Across the caravans listed on Camplify you will find everything from a compact two-berth for a couple to a six-berth set up for a family holiday. You are hiring from a fellow adventurer who knows every quirk of their caravan and hands over the local tips with the keys. A caravan has to be towed, though, so read the tow ball size and the weight your own vehicle is rated to pull before anything else. Most of the caravans below want a 50mm tow ball and an SUV or 4×4 behind them, while the lighter ones follow a sedan happily. Expect to cruise at no more than 90km/h, the legal limit for towing here, for a slightly slower-paced road trip.
1. Bailey Unicorn Hotel on Wheels, Whangaparāoa
This one is calling out for the beach, and it already lives in the right place. The Whangaparāoa Peninsula runs into the Hauraki Gulf north of Auckland, with sheltered bays and Shakespear Regional Park at the tip. The owner calls it a hotel on wheels, and the layout earns it: a fixed double at one end, and a lounge that converts into a double or two singles. Inside there is a shower and toilet, a gas oven and hob, heating for the colder months and solar on the roof. Towing it takes a 50mm high-rise tow ball and a vehicle of at least 1750kg, though no electric brake controller. The listing records it as self-contained, and pets sit this one out.
2. Lets Xplore, Tauranga
The Bay of Plenty gives you long flat beaches, hot pools and the climb up Mauao at Mount Maunganui, all within a short tow. Lets Xplore is a 2014 Elddis Xplore sleeping three, with a front lounge that becomes a double and a side dinette that folds into a single. There is a full kitchen, heating and a shower with a separate toilet. The owner supplies the 50mm hi-rise tow ball and asks only that your vehicle is rated to tow 1250kg, so a family sedan manages it. With no solar or awning it suits powered sites, and it is pet friendly, towed away or delivered, and an easy way into caravan and campervan hire around Tauranga.
3. WILDER the caravan, Pukekawa
If you have always wanted a taste of retro caravan life, this is the one to book. WILDER is a 1976 Anglo Capri, kept in the farmland of north Waikato and restored for a second life on the road. At 15 feet and around 1200kg it is the lightest caravan here, with its own braking system, though the owner asks for an SUV or 4×4. Two seating areas convert into large double beds, so four of you sleep in a van built when caravanning meant enamel mugs and a transistor radio. Inside there is a fridge, stove, sink, awning and heating, with linen made up. Pets are welcome, and you can tow it away yourself or have it delivered.
WILDER runs on mains power, and the listing says plainly that it is not suitable for freedom camping. A caravan needs its own self-containment certificate exactly as a campervan does. Since June 2026 the green warrant is the only certificate that counts, and it calls for a toilet fixed to the floor rather than a portable one. The certificate belongs to the caravan rather than the car towing it, so the owner’s warrant card decides where you may legally stop. Freedom camping without one carries an infringement fee starting at $400, which follows the vehicle home to its owner. Every listing states whether the caravan is certified, so read that line before planning a night beside a lake.
If you would rather not tow at all but still want that unforgettable New Zealand road trip, look at campervans for hire on Camplify instead.
4. NZ4u2u two-berth, Christchurch
There is nothing quite like rolling up to a campsite and being able to un-hook. Perch your caravan in the perfect spot and explore the local town in your car, a perk that only caravans offer. This two-berth from the NZ4u2u fleet is a tidy 2023 van whose lounge converts into two single beds, which makes it a good base for a couple. In 5.18 metres you get a full-sized shower, a separate toilet, a proper kitchen, gas heating and an awning. Solar panels let you stay off-grid, and at 1200kg a sedan can tow it without an electric brake controller. Pets are considered on request, the minimum hire is four days, and it is a sound start to caravan and campervan hire in Christchurch.
5. Sun Chaser, New Plymouth
Imagine exploring the North Island in this, with the cone of Mount Taranaki filling the rear window. The Sun Chaser sleeps five, with front sofas that convert into 1.8 metre singles and a rear dinette that becomes a double under an overhead bunk. Double glazing, full insulation and ducted heating keep you warm when the Taranaki weather turns, and there is a gas oven, grill and hob, a shower, a toilet and a fold-down basin. At 6.1 metres and 1322kg unladen it wants a 50mm tow ball, though a sedan, SUV or 4×4 will pull it. The listing records self-containment for three people even though it sleeps five, so a full party needs a campground rather than a freedom-camping site. There is no awning, pets stay home, and you can book it as a stay as well as a tow.
6. Koastal Kruiser, Whangārei
Northland is where the country softens into pōhutukawa and warm water, with the Tutukaka Coast and Whangārei Heads within a morning’s drive. The Koastal Kruiser is built for the whole crowd, with four berths inside and another four in the queen-size inner tents pitched under its annex. Indoors there are two fixed doubles and a third bed that converts into two singles, plus a separate toilet and shower. You get a gas stove, oven, microwave and fridge freezer inside, and an awning, barbeque and camping furniture outside. At 26 feet and 1600kg it is the longest caravan here, so the owner asks for an SUV or 4×4 and sealed roads only. Pets can come as long as they stay off the beds, and the listing records it as self-contained.
7. Ernie, Papamoa
The large awning and outdoor living set-up on Ernie makes a strong case for a summer of long evenings outside, with a Weber baby barbeque and camping furniture included. This 2016 New Age Gecko sleeps five, with a diesel heater, double glazing, a fixed toilet, a separate shower and a 169-litre fridge freezer. Underfloor tanks hold 180 litres of fresh water and 120 of grey, and 150W of solar keeps the lights on away from a power point. Ernie asks the most of your car, needing a 50mm tow ball, electric brakes and a tow vehicle braked-rated to 2.5 tonnes. It is pet friendly, tow-only, and recorded as self-contained, which suits the long run north towards the Coromandel.
Check out more caravans listed on Camplify in other locations all over New Zealand.
This article was created in paid partnership with Camplify.
