New Zealand Car Hire

Car Hire in New Zealand

New Zealand promises expansive national parks bursting with epic scenery, an abundance of Maori culture and history to explore, and the thrill of world-class surfing and skiing to experience. And car hire in New Zealand places it all within easy reach.

In a country just a tad bigger than the UK, you’ll be surprised to find endless amounts of open space. There are under five million people living here, compared to the UK’s 65 million. You’ll also be pleased to find out that fuel costs are a fraction of what we pay at the pumps back home. The roads offer scenic drives aplenty, and you’ll very rarely find anything like heavy traffic on them.

So, what are you waiting for? Arranging to hire a car in New Zealand makes perfect sense, and it couldn’t be simpler to do.

Hire a Car in New Zealand With Expedia

Expedia partners with a number of car hire specialists to offer you the chance to rent a car in New Zealand from its airports, major towns and cities. And when you can arrange to hire a car in New Zealand in advance, your vehicle will be there waiting for you when you arrive.

Simply plug in the dates you need the car for and select where you wish to pick the car up from. Expedia will show you all the latest deals on cheap car hire in New Zealand. This allows you to compare prices available on the type of car you need, whether you are looking for a small, economical run-around or a large SUV for the family to travel in comfort.

You can arrange for booster seats, child seats and other accessories to also be waiting for you when you arrive.

Car hire is available from New Zealand’s four international airports – in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown – so you can pick up your car as soon as you arrive in the country. And if you are planning something of an epic road trip, it’s always possible to pick your car up from one location and drop it off at another. So you can take in the Maori culture of the North Island, cruise the Marlborough Sound on the south and drive yourself to the adventure capital of Queenstown, without needing to double back on yourself.

What To See When You Rent a Car in New Zealand

New Zealand is blessed with natural splendour and scenic diversity. There are sublime forests, majestic mountains, cracking glaciers, reflective lakes, beautiful beaches and dramatic fjords. Your hire car can place you at the head of trails that allow you to walk – or tramp, as the locals call it – right through the heart of all these epic landscapes.

While cities like Christchurch can feel almost quintessentially British, Maori culture remains a palpable presence in contemporary New Zealand, and the North Island offers the best opportunities to explore its influence and history. Join in a hangi (Māori feast) or catch a cultural performance with song, dance and, of course, a haka (war dance) that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum and art gallery, based in Wellington, offers more Maori culture and artefacts to explore than you could hope to take in on your whole holiday, so make sure you leave at least a day to sample the rich exhibits of Maori tattooing and the exquisite sculptures carved delicately from bone, shell and pounamu (greenstone).

Auckland is a city that is framed by two stunning harbours and surrounded by fertile farmland. The City of Sails is embraced by the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and it is blessed with surf beaches and hundreds of islands to explore in the Hauraki Gulf. Fine dining, lazy harbour strolls and an easy-going but hip nightlife are all just an hour’s drive from rainforests, geothermal springs, wineries and wildlife reserves.

If Auckland is a city that offers the easy life, over on the South Island Queenstown promises all the thrills and spills you can imagine. This is an adrenaline-junkie’s paradise. The birthplace of bungee jumping offers thrill-seekers plenty to raise their pulse: fantastic skiing and snowboarding, ziplining, whitewater rafting, jet boating and much more besides. If you need to relax after all that excitement you can drive out to the fine wineries for a civilised sip of something calming.

Where Will Your Car Hire in New Zealand Take You?

From surreal lunar landscapes, gushing geysers and bubbling mud pools in Rotorua to the shock of stumbling upon colonies of albatross, sea lions and rare yellow-eyed penguins that reside a short drive from Dunedin, New Zealand never fails to delight and surprise.

Arranging your car hire in New Zealand is easy – it’s deciding where it will take you that’s the hard part!