Plan your New Zealand caravan or motorhome road trip

From Cape Reinga to the Catlins, Aotearoa rewards travellers who plan a little. The right run between Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty, a well-timed ferry across Cook Strait, the scenic loop through Arthur's Pass and the West Coast, the long sweep down to Te Anau and Milford — each leg has its own weather window, its own road realities, and its own perfect overnight camp. Touring Brain pulls all three together: real NZ road routing on Mapbox, three-day weather forecasts pitched at people in tall vehicles, and a campsite finder that blends DOC, holiday parks and freedom-camping spots.

Three ways to start, depending on what you already know about the trip. Pick the loop if you've got a home base and want a circular journey through the country's best touring towns. Pick the destination flow if you know exactly where you're heading and want the route, weather and camps for that leg. Or let us help you find a place — tell us your starting point and how far you want to drive, and we'll surface the best-weather spots within range. It's free, ad-free, and built specifically for caravans, campervans, motorhomes and tent campers.

Pick a mode below to get started.

How the New Zealand route planner works

Touring Brain's route planner is built specifically for caravans, campervans, motorhomes and tent campers travelling around Aotearoa. Rather than treating you like a car driver looking for the fastest line, it plans practical legs, factors in 3-day weather along the way and surfaces overnight camps so you can stop where it suits a tow rig — not where the satnav drops you in a back-country gravel cul-de-sac.

Pick a mode that matches the trip you want. Loop trip takes a single starting town (your home, say, or wherever the caravan is parked) and lays out a circular route with several scenic stops along the way, finishing where you began. A → stops → B works when you have a definite end point but want to nominate the towns to visit on the way — perfect for "Picton to Wānaka via Kaikōura, Hanmer and Lake Tekapo." And destination mode is the simplest: type where you're going and we'll show you a route, weather and camps for the run.

Routing uses real New Zealand road data via Mapbox, so the line you see is the line you'll actually drive — sealed roads, the right turns onto state highways, no shortcuts down forestry tracks. Weather forecasts come from Open-Meteo (commercial tier in production for reliability) and are scoped to each leg of your trip, three days out. Campsite results blend Department of Conservation data with OpenStreetMap contributions so you see DOC sites, holiday parks and freedom camping options together.

The whole thing is free, runs in your browser, and never asks you to install an app. If you give us your email when you plan a trip, we'll email a recap so you can re-open the route on the road, and (if you opt in) a daily morning briefing while you're travelling.

Frequently asked questions about the NZ route planner

Why is it specifically for caravans, campervans and motorhomes?

Most generic mapping apps are tuned for cars. They don't know your rig is 7 metres long and 3 tonnes. Touring Brain shapes the planning experience around tow drivers and motorhome owners — sensible daily distances, NZ touring towns rather than backwaters, and weather alerts pitched at people for whom 90 km/h crosswinds are a real problem rather than a curiosity.

Can I save my route or come back to it later?

Yes — when you provide an email address, we send a recap with a shareable link to the plan, so you can re-open it on your phone later, share it with a travel companion, or forward it to family back home as a "this is where we'll be" itinerary.

Does it avoid roads that are unsuitable for big rigs?

Mapbox's NZ road graph is what consumer mapping apps like Strava and Foursquare use, so you'll get state highways and main sealed routes by default. We don't currently solve every nuance (some narrow alpine passes, the Skippers Canyon road, etc.), so always sense-check the line if you're towing a wide caravan and read your handbook for vehicle limits.

Does it work for tent campers and roof-top tents too?

Absolutely. Tent campers, RTT setups and tear-drop trailers all benefit from the same weather and camps data — wind matters even more when you're under canvas — and the route logic doesn't care what's behind the tow ball.

Why does it ask for my email?

So we can send you the trip recap, and (only if you opt in) a daily 6am briefing while you're travelling. We don't sell or share email addresses, the unsubscribe link in every email works in one click, and the only marketing we'll ever send is news about Touring Brain itself.

Does it work for visitors renting a campervan in NZ?

Yes — a meaningful share of our users are travellers from the US, UK, Europe, Australia and Asia planning a NZ road trip with a rental campervan. The planner works identically whether you're driving your own caravan from Auckland or picking up a Britz / Maui / Jucy / Apollo rental at Auckland or Christchurch airport. Pop in your collection city as the starting point, pick the towns you want to visit, and the planner will lay out a sensible route with weather and camps along the way.

Does it cost anything?

No. The planner, weather briefings, camp search and all the safety calculators are completely free. Touring Brain is a personal project run by a Kiwi caravanner — no ads, no premium tier, no app upsell.

More tools for New Zealand touring

• 3-day weather briefing — wind, rain and gust forecasts with smart alternate destinations.
• Find NZ campsites & holiday parks — DOC and OpenStreetMap data on a map.
• Towing calculator — check tow rating, ball weight and ATM against NZ legal limits.
• Motorhome GVM check — make sure your payload is under gross vehicle mass.
• Tyre safety check — read your DOT code for tyre age and get correct pressures.
• Pre-departure checklist — nothing forgotten before you hit the road.