Should you rent a car in New Zealand
New Zealand is a vast country and therefore hiring a car to travel around is a popular choice, as it means you don't have to rely on public transport or pay out on expensive taxi fares. New Zealand has plenty of car hire locations all over New Zealand including Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch. Whether you are travelling for business or pleasure, car hire is never far away and competitively priced.
Most popular locations to hire a car in New Zealand
Minimum Age Requirements for Car Hire in New Zealand
Generally speaking the minimum age to rent a car in New Zealand is 21, however there are some car hire companies that will rent a car to under 21 year olds. If you are between the ages of 21-25 and wishing to hire a car in New Zealand, please bear in mind that a young driver surcharge will sometimes be added. These can vary between car hire companies with more details shown in the table below:
Rental Agent
Min Age
Young driver surcharge ($NZD/day)
New Zealand Mini Guide
New Zealand can be found sitting in the Pacific Ocean and is made up of two separate islands, North Island and South Island, along with a number of much smaller islands. In a similar fashion to Australia, New Zealand has been almost entirely isolated geographically since the beginning of the world. This has led to extremely different varieties of plant and animal life than are found around the rest of the globe, making New Zealand something of a nature lovers dream. The indigenous people are the Maori, and still maintain their traditions and practices through to modern-day, with very little change.
The capital city of New Zealand is
Wellington, although it is only the second largest urban area in the country. It is also the most highly populated capital city in the entire Oceania region as well as being the most southern capital in the world. The overall shape of Wellington is defined by the mountainous terrain which surrounds it, which has forced the city to develop in a way which has had to take advantage of terrain features, and exploit almost every area of flat land available. Wellington is served by Wellington International Airport, which is a few miles outside of the city itself and makes an excellent place to pick up a hire vehicle if you are intending to use one to explore the surrounding area.
Movie and fantasy buffs can indulge their tastes by taking a tour of many of the areas and places in which the blockbuster movie trilogy Lord of the Rings was filmed. Situated to the north of Wellington about an hour's drive away is the Rimutaka Forest Park, this is an extremely popular mountain biking area.
The city of
Auckland is New Zealand's second city, although the area of Greater Auckland is in fact the largest and most highly populated urban area in the nation, and is home to almost 1.5 million people, which is over a quarter of the entire population of New Zealand.
A short distance and an easy drive from Auckland are the Waitomo Caves and Rotorua. The caves are populated by glow worms, feature stalactites, mud pools and bubbling geysers. The caves have been formed over thousands of years by the water which slowly filters down from the surface. Throughout most of the year visitors can also take a boat ride through the caves and the glow worm grotto, an area of the caves where glow worms cluster upon the cave roof.
Close to the caves is the Agrodome, an entirely different experience where visitors can watch sheepdogs being trained to herd sheep and experience first-hand how it is to shear one of these woolly animals. All in all a visit to New Zealand is sure to give you a holiday experience quite unlike any other, it's two primary towns exhibit characters widely apart, almost two holidays in one if you choose to visit both locations.
Other New Zealand car hire locations:
New Zealand Factfile
- The Maori culture first evolved in New Zealand back in 1250-1300 AD when Polynesians settled there
- People from New Zealand are often referred to as Kiwis
- Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand which translates as 'land of the long white cloud'
- New Zealand is one of the top five dairy exporters in the world
- The world's first commercial bungee jump took place in Queenstown in New Zealand in 1988
Why rent a car in New Zealand
New Zealand has without a doubt some of the world’s most dramatic and spectacular scenery and is best explored from the comfort of a rental car. If you're going to New Zealand on a well deserved holiday then don't be restricted to the confines of your hotel or public transport, take to the open roads and discover some of the more remote and less visited areas.
When it comes to finding the cheapest price for your car hire in New Zealand, we do the hard work so you don't have to. By comparing hundreds of car rental prices from trusted rental agents such as Alamo, Hertz and Avis as well as local suppliers, we provide you with the cheapest price possible.