If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand, you need to download these travel apps. I’ve rounded up the 19 most useful apps that will help you find accommodation, get around, and find things to do while in the country. These will help make your trip planning much easier and more organized!
As they used to say in those original iPhone commercials, “there’s an app for that!”
⇉ The ultimate guide to traveling New Zealand
Trip planning with New Zealand travel apps
Here are the best apps to use when searching for flights or rental cars before coming into the country.
Air New Zealand
As New Zealand’s national airline, you’ll most likely fly Air New Zealand if you’re traveling into or around the country. Their app is useful to check on your current reservations and see how many AirPoints you have. There is a button to book flights on the app, but it will take you to your phone’s browser to actually complete it.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is simply the best app to find cheap flights. If you have flexible travel dates, use the “Everywhere” feature to find the cheapest flights from your airport to anywhere in the world. They also have a new feature when looking at particular flights that tells you all about the airline’s COVID-19 precautions.
Kiwi.com
Kiwi.com is another great app to search for cheap flights, hotels, and car rentals. It also has an “Anywhere” feature to find the cheapest flights and you can set up alerts for when a flight drops below a particular price. You can access all of your bookings right in the app, making it super convenient as well.
Transportation
These are the apps you want to use when trying to get around the country.
Google Maps
As an Apple stan, I’m sad to say that Apple Maps is pretty bad in New Zealand. Google Maps is much more reliable and accurate for driving directions and business hours. I also love using Google Maps to save a location, restaurant, or hike I’m interested in onto a list. The lists can be organized by country, trip, or any way you want. You can then use your lists to help you plan trips! (Here’s an example of one of mine.)
Uber
Ahh, where would we be without ride sharing? Uber is great to use in New Zealand, although there aren’t always cars available everywhere. You’ll have the best luck using it in bigger cities like Auckland and Christchurch.
Lime
If you’re tired of exploring a city on foot, you can use the Lime app to unlock and pay for a scooter! In bigger cities, you’ll see them laying around every couple of blocks. Once you’ve scootered around to your heart’s content, simply lock it up with the app and leave it for the next person to unlock. (To be honest, we use these less for transportation and more for joy-riding. Weee!)
Accommodation + camping
These will help you find accommodation (whether it be a hostel, a hotel, or a campsite).
HostelWorld
HostelWorld is my favorite app for finding hostels and guesthouses. After entering your location and dates, it shows you a list of available spots based on several different factors, including location, cleanliness, atmosphere, and more. I always check a hostel’s reviews on this app (whether I book through it or not!).
Airbnb
If you want something nicer than a hostel but don’t want to stay in a hotel, Airbnb is great! I love using it for longer stays because you can filter by spots that have a full kitchen (cooking is one of the easiest ways to save money on a trip). Airbnbs in New Zealand often offer a really unique experience as well — there are tons of treehouses, bungalows, and glamping options!
Rankers Camping
This is a must-have app if you’re traveling New Zealand by campervan. Rankers shows you campsites all around the country, filtered by type, price, whether you need to be self-contained, etc. You can also find and book activities, walks, roadside stalls, and more! One of the best features is their Quality Free Wifi map, which is exactly what it sounds like. Check this app for any and all camping or roadtrip information!
CamperMate
CamperMate is essentially the same concept as Rankers Camping, but it includes information for Australia as well. This app would be great if you’re knocking both countries out in one trip. You’ll find tons of information about nearby campsites, activities, restaurants, and more.
NZMCA Travel
This app is super handy if you’re a member of the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association. It will help you find NZMCA-only campsites and parking spots around the country, as well as keeping your membership information handy. You can also pay your NZMCA park fees directly through the app.
Food + Activities
These apps will help you find restaurants, event tickets, outdoor activities, and other fun things to do around New Zealand.
Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is a great app to use when (you guessed it!) going on a road trip. You enter your point A and point B, and the app tells you anything interesting along the way. It has restaurants, bars, attractions, historical points, and more. If you create a new trip, you can save your route and things you want to see all in one handy spot.
GrabOne
GrabOne is a local app and website that lets you book experiences, activities, and event tickets for a steep discount. There are also hotel stays, restaurant meal deals, and physical items on sale. It’s kind of like the Kiwi version of Groupon!
New Zealand’s Great Walks
This app is great for finding information about all of New Zealand’s Great Walks (the most popular DOC-maintained, multi-day hikes). It gives you directions to certain trailheads and describes the kinds of terrains and huts you’ll encounter. You can save all of the information about a particular walk for offline viewing as well.
Great Rides
The Great Rides app is helpful if you’re planning on doing any cycling or biking around the country. It details all of the most popular cycling routes, with information about terrain, incline, and sights to see along the way. Just like the Great Walks app, you can download the information to your phone to access offline.
AllTrails
I love AllTrails for anything hiking-related. You can browse for hikes near you, see how other people have reviewed them, and save your favorites into organized lists. When you’re out on the trail, there is an option to record your hike to see your route, altitude, and other fun stats. If you know you won’t have reception where you’re going, there’s also the option to save a map of the trail offline.
Useful New Zealand travel apps
These are going to be the miscellaneous useful apps that don’t fit into any of the other categories.
NZeTA
If you’re coming from a country that needs an electronic travel authorization, you’ll want to download the NZeTA app. You can use it to apply for authorization and pay the fee (it’s $9 on the app versus $12 online!). You can also check the status of your application and use the reference number provided when going through customs.
MetService
This is the most accurate weather app I’ve found (again, Apple’s weather app isn’t the greatest in New Zealand!). It will show you daily, weekly, and monthly forecasts, as well as radars for rain or snow. My favorite features are the ones that tell you how many layers you should wear and how much sun protection you need that day.
XE Currency Converter
This app is great and super user-friendly. You can enter a few different currencies and compare them all at once on one screen. The market rates update about once a minute, so you know you’re getting the most accurate conversion. You can also check out a currency’s chart to see how the rate has been the past week, month, or year. There’s an option to send or receive money directly through the app as well!
Hopefully this list of New Zealand travel apps has helped you in planning your trip! There is tons of information out there, so getting it all organized in one spot is usually the most difficult part. With so many resources at our disposal, knowing which apps are the most useful is super helpful.
xoxo Niki
