This calculator works out what a New Zealand road trip will really cost, bringing fuel, the Cook Strait ferry and accommodation together into one total and splitting it fairly between everyone in the car. A Kiwi summer is built on road trips, but the petrol bill is only part of the story. Fuel depends on how far you drive and your car's economy, the ferry between Wellington and Picton is a sizeable one-off if you are crossing between the islands, and a night or two of accommodation can quietly become the biggest line item of all. This tool pulls those pieces together so there are no surprises. You enter the one-way distance and choose whether it is a one-way or return trip, your car's fuel economy in litres per 100 kilometres and the price you pay per litre, the total ferry cost if you need it, and the nights and nightly rate for accommodation. You also set how many people are sharing, and the calculator returns the total trip cost plus a clean per-person figure, which is perfect for settling up with friends or family. Sharing a car and a room is where the savings are: doubling the travellers roughly halves the cost each. Use it to compare destinations, decide whether to fly or drive, or simply set a realistic holiday budget before you go. The fuel figure uses your real economy if you enter it, so for the best estimate use the litres per 100 kilometres from your last few tanks. Food, activities and tolls are not included, so add a buffer for those. This is a planning estimate, not a quote.
Food, activities and tolls are not included. Use your real L/100km for the best estimate. A planning estimate only.
Total distance is the one-way distance times two for a return trip, or times one for one way. Fuel cost is the total distance times your economy divided by 100, times the price per litre. Accommodation is nights times the cost per night. The total adds fuel, the ferry and accommodation, and the per-person figure divides that total by the number of travellers.
A 500 kilometre return trip is 1,000 kilometres. At 7.5 L/100km that is 75 litres, and at $2.85 a litre the fuel costs about $213.75. Add one night of accommodation at $150 and no ferry, and the total is $363.75. Split between two people, that is about $181.88 each. Adding a $300 ferry would lift the total to $663.75, or about $331.88 each.
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