The South Island of New Zealand has so many amazing campsites! Some are just a beautiful piece of land and others have lots of amenities such as bathrooms, laundry facilities and a kitchen area or hang out space. We found so many that are low cost or free that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on! Here are our top 5 campsites to visit in the South Island of New Zealand including where they are, how much they cost and what you’ll find at each one!
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Traveling around New Zealand in a van is the best way to see this incredible country! Every single drive we did, no matter if it was 30 minutes or 3 hours, was absolutely gorgeous! Plus it gives you so much flexibility to change your plans if you find a place you want to stay longer. Because odds are you’ll be tempted by quite a few places to extend your stay!
How to Find Campsites in New Zealand
We used the app CamperMate for our entire road trip around the South Island and it never let us down! It’s a free app so you don’t even have to pay for it. Driving around parts of the South Island you will find dead spots where you don’t have any phone service. So make sure to download the offline map for the region you are going to be visiting.
- You can download it by clicking on the menu icon in the top left corner and select offline map. There are 6 regions you can choose from or you can download them all if you’re planning on visiting the entire island.
One of the best features of the app is the filter system. You can filter by campgrounds either for self-contained vehicles or non self-contained vehicles. You can also filter the map to find other things such as public toilets, wifi, ATM, dump stations and so much more.
Read More: Ultimate 2 Week Itinerary for the South Island of New Zealand
Self-Contained or Non Self-Contained?
Self-contained vehicles have a few things which enable passengers to travel for a few days without needing additional facilities. In order to be classified as self-contained a vehicle must have a freshwater tank, a grey water tank, a toilet and a few other small things. Non self-contained vehicles don’t have at least one of those things and therefore cannot stay at campgrounds for self-contained vehicles only.
We originally booked a non self-contained vehicle because it’s less expensive. We ended up getting an upgrade to a self-contained vehicle and it was the best thing to happen to us! It allowed us to stay at so many more free campsites because we had that self-contained sticker. So while it costs a little more money up front, it’s worth it in the end because we spent less money paying for campsites.
1. Lake McGregor
This was the first campsite we stayed at with our van and it completely sold us on how amazing the South Island of New Zealand really is! This campsite sits on the edge of Lake McGregor, which is a small lake near the famous (and much larger) Lake Tekapo.
From the main town area it’s about 10 kms to the Lake McGregor campsite. The drive is beautiful as you drive parallel to Lake Tekapo! We stopped quite a few times because the scenery is just amazing.
The campsite sits on the edge of the water giving you views looking out onto Lake McGregor. It’s pretty remote so it’s very quiet and relaxing! We arrived around 8 PM and had no problem getting a spot. There were plenty of other vans as well as people camping in tents. It is so incredibly peaceful to wake up to in the morning!
- A lot of vans quickly left early in the morning but we stuck around until the middle of the day and pretty much had the place to ourselves!
Amenities: drop toilets, sinks, amazing views!
Cost: 10 NZD per person, paid in cash to the box at the entrance
Getting There: gravel road off of Godley Peaks Road
GPS Coordinates: -43.938477, 170.466856
Read More: 10 Tips for Renting a Campervan in New Zealand
2. Lake Pukaki Reserve Overnight Campervan Parking: Self-Contained ONLY
This campsite is right on Lake Pukaki providing you incredible views looking out onto the milky blue waters of one of the most famous lakes on the island! We still can’t believe this campsite is free!
There is a small area to park near the toilets. If you continue driving there is a section of spots where you can park facing the lake and then there is a larger upper area where a lot of larger vans parked. It is a fairly large campsite but because it’s free and well known it does get crowded. So if you’re going to go don’t wait too late in the day or you won’t have a lot of options.
- This campsite is for self-contained vehicles only because there are no sinks or running water. There are also no trash cans so you’re instructed to take all trash with you.
- There are 4 toilets which all had toilet paper and we’re fairly clean. If you park at the upper level it is kind of a walk to the toilets so make sure you have a headlamp with you!
Amenities: drop toilets, lake access for a (cold) swim
Cost: FREE!
Getting There: gravel road off of Tekapo-Twizel Road
GPS Coordinates: -44.184220, 170.150780
Read More: Guide to Visiting Milford Sound in New Zealand
3. Bendigo Campsite
Bendigo Campsite is a beautiful campsite on Lake Dunstan. It’s about an hour north of Queenstown so it’s a good spot to stop if you’re heading there but don’t want to drive the entire way.
The Bendigo Campsite is quite long so you have options for where to stay. On one end there is a building with flush toilets and sinks and then there are also drop toilets throughout the rest of the campsite. We used the drop toilets simply because they were closer.
Even though it’s located right off the highway it really wasn’t loud at all. We planned to spend 1 night here but ended up staying for 2 because we didn’t want to leave. If you’re lucky you can get a spot with views looking out over the lake and it’s so beautiful!
Amenities: drop toilets and flush toilets, sinks, trash containers
Cost: FREE!
Getting There: right off of Tarras-Cromwell Road (Highway 8)
GPS Coordinates: -44.940331, 169.287394
Read More: Complete Guide: 7 Days on the North Island of New Zealand
4. Lake Pearson Campsite
Lake Pearson Campsite is another lakeside campsite with amazing views! It’s located 1.5 hours from the West Coast as well as 1.5 hours to Christchurch. This is a good campsite to stay at either your first night leaving from Christchurch or your last night before returning your van back to Christchurch.
It’s not quite as large as some of the other campsites on this list so you don’t want to arrive too late. This is a DOC campsite so payment is checked. Take a card from the registration stand. Fill out your information and rip off the side part. That part gets hung in your vehicle to show you paid. The larger part and your payment gets inserted into the box.
This campsite is located right off the road but it’s not that heavily traveled so it was not loud at all! We enjoyed a really quiet morning in our van and were greeted when we woke up by a group of ducks!
Amenities: drop toilets
Cost: 8 NZD per adult, paid in cash at self-registration stand
Getting There: right off of West Coast Road
GPS Coordinates: -43.091910, 171.781340
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5. Kidd’s Bush Reserve Campsite
To reach Kidd’s Bush Reserve Campsite you need to drive about 6 kms down Meads Road. It’s a thin, gravel road that follows Lake Hawea. Make sure to drive slowly as there are points where you can’t see if there are oncoming cars but we only passed one other vehicle so it’s not very busy. You do, however, need to keep an eye out for cows! We literally drove past cows laying down on the road!
This campsite is so worth the gravel road to get to it! It is so quiet and peaceful because it’s so far off the main road. It’s another DOC campsite so make sure to put your money in the self-registration stand as the park rangers do check.
The views from this campsite are incredible and we couldn’t recommend it enough! You can sit with your feet in the lake and watch the sunset while surrounded by mountains!
- The wind near the water can get strong so we actually recommend parking a little farther back. We got a really good spot towards the back where theres a clearing looking out onto the lake.
Amenities: flush toilets, sinks with running water
Cost: 8 NZD per adult, paid in cash at self-registration stand
Getting There: 6 km gravel road to reach camp site
GPS Coordinates: -44.441320, 169.261790
6. White Horse Hill Campground
Honorable mention goes to White Horse Hill Campground near Mount Cook. This is a beautiful campsite nestled in the middle of the mountains! It is very popular because of it’s location. If you’re looking to do some hiking within Mount Cook National Park you can park here just for the day or also camp in the overnight parking area.
- We spent the night here before hiking the Hooker Valley Track because it starts from the parking lot which made it so convenient!
- Because so many hikes start from this campsite it does get very busy! The day parking area as well as the overnight parking area are both pretty large.
You will find a lot of amenities at this campsite so while it is the most expensive one on this list, it does offer you the most. There is filtered drinking water as well as an inside kitchen area.
Amenities: flush toilets, sinks, sheltered kitchen, trash containers, potable water
Cost: 15 NZD per adult, paid in cash at self-registration stand
Getting There:
GPS Coordinates: -43.719010, 170.093450
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