It’s a great Kiwi tradition – chucking the tent into the back of the car and heading off to spend the summer holidays under canvas in some utterly gorgeous location.

As a child, I felt deprived of this experience because my grandparents and close family friends owned baches so we invariably stayed with them. Still, I’ve made up for it in recent years, visiting some of New Zealand’s most amazing camping spots, sometimes tenting and other times in a campervan.

Nothing beats waking up next to stunning beaches, lakes, rivers, mountains and bush, and spending days exploring or simply lazing around relaxing. What’s more, camping is also cheap.

As a rule, you can choose between two main types of campsites: commercially run camping grounds, and Department of Conservation (DOC) campsites. The DOC campgrounds are often in incredibly beautiful, unspoilt spots and there are three types: serviced, standard and basic.

Serviced campsites have many facilities and services, including flush toilets, tap water, kitchen/cooking benches, hot showers and rubbish collection. They cost from $8 to $14 per adult, per night.

Standard campsites have fewer facilities. Toilets are normally the composting or pit type and water supply can be from a tap, stream or lake. If you’re lucky, there may be cold showers, a cooking shelter and rubbish bins. Cost is $3 to $12 per night.

Basic campsites have very limited facilities – usually just pit toilets and water from a tank, stream or lake. The good thing is that they are free.

Fees for DOC campsites are usually collected by a camp warden at serviced campgrounds or you self-register at standard campsites, leaving the fee in a special honesty box.

You can book for serviced campgrounds at the nearest DOC visitor centre but standard and basic camping areas usually operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Commercially-run campgrounds can vary hugely from small operations with basic facilities like communal toilets, showers, kitchens and barbecues to huge holiday parks with swimming pools, restaurants, motel units and tennis courts.

Prices also vary depending on the kind of site you want and the time of year. Non-powered sites range from about $16 to $40 per night for two people, while powered sites cost from about $18 to $50 per couple, but at peak times you can pay $70 or more per night for a family of four.

Many campgrounds also have caravans and basic cabins for hire, and occasionally even fully equipped motel-type units. You should book well ahead if you want a spot during peak times such as summer and during school holidays, but even if you have left it quite late, it’s still worth ringing around to enquire about cancellations.

Free guides are available from some campgrounds or you can order them online from companies such as Jasons and the Automobile Association. The AA has just published a book, Let’s Go Camping by Sarah Bennett and Lee Slater, which lists 66 great places to pitch your tent or park your van. It also suggests activities in these places and has handy hints for those who are new to camping.