Did the Milford Sound bus & cruise tour with 'Real Journeys' from Queenstown. Be prepared if going by bus as it's a 5 hour journey there and 5 hr's return. Stay at Te Anau overnight to break journey if you can, as it's a very pretty spot on the lakefront and there's plenty of accommodation. It just shortens the journey. If you have plenty of $$$, you can fly back from M/ford Sound, the views must be spectacular on a fine weather day and it's so much less time than the bus, but of course, it costs, probably around $300 plus each. Also if you go by bus & have not prepaid for the buffet or picnic lunch on board beforehand, there's nowhere to buy lunch or even a souvenir shop at the M/ford Sound cruise terminal, which is sadly lacking in a top tourist destination. Best to buy a sandwich at Te Anau where the bus has a rest stop before going on. Anyway, the cruise itself is just breathtaking, huge cliffs either side & waterfalls. Also saw fur seals but no dolphins that day. Cruise takes 1 & half hr's, with free tea/coffee on board. It's worth seeing.

Toured Milford sound by ship with Holland america Line. It was cloudy and foggy but the scenery was fabulous. The many waterfalls and the mountains plunging directly into the sound was unlike any other scenery I had ever seen. pr stewart

Milford Sound is well worth the day trip!! We stayed in Queenstown and in a rental made the drive to Milford. We'd read in some stupid guide books (2 separate ones, in fact) that it was 2.5 hours there. Okay, that is NOT TRUE. Plan for 4.5-5 hours one way drive. (Total drive time 9-10 hours)

That is a lot for one driver, but splitting it up between two worked out fine, and its such a gorgeous drive that it's not bad at all. Really!

Leave early, obviously. THe halfway point is Te Anau. Stock up on snacks there (there is a grocery store on the main strip...really, while there is a little restaurant at Milford Sound, grab some sandwhich fixings. You'll be happy you did.) and fill up the gas tank! There is NO gas station between Te Anau and Milford Sound so you have to have a full gas tank to get between Te Anau and the sound and back.


Driving into the Park is a beautiful drive, view wise!! It's pristine (ie no towns, no people, just one road in the middle of all this wilderness headed towards the ocean). There are a lot of little scenic view and picnic spots you can stop along the way, so leave a little extra time in your schedule for that). Driving wise, aside from the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road in NZ , there are only a couple of spots where I white knuckled the steering wheel from the sheer...twists and turns through the mountains, but overall, it's a neat drive.

You can park right at the Sound and from there choose your tours if you haven't booked already. You can book these from your hotel, but if you're driving, schedule one for a time you're sure you'll be able to get there for. Some of the mid afternoon ones are less full of tour bus people but if you want to be 100% you've got your reservation you can make it from the hotel. I simply called from the hotel to a Milford Sound charter boat company (888 number so it was free) to assure that the times I thought we'd get there weren't looking like they would be sold out. They weren't and we walked in and looked over our options and chose a tour right when we arrived.

We did a 2.5 hour tour on milford sound in one of the smaller cruise boats (i am so sorry I can't recall which one). It was lovely, and we did luck out with the weather. It's cool on the sound so bring a jacket!

It was gorgeous and sunny but our guide said 90% of the time its cloudy and rainy. So expect rain and then be pleasantly surprised if there's not.

I will admit that if its raining nearer the sound driving might be tiresome and if there are any concerns on that front there are a zillion tour busses that make this trip for you.

Cost wise, there were four of us, and I think despite the price of gas being high (we spent over 200 NZ in gas) we saved a bit of money. If it is just a couple of you then tour bus may be more economical depending on what gas prices are like. But you do give up the freedom of stopping along the side of the road whenever you want and have to put up with a busfull of eager strangers trying to fight for the window seats.


My words to wise. Leave early and give yourself plenty of time for the drive. Bring snacks, sunblock (in case you do get lucky and its sunny), a rainjacket (in case you're not), umbrella, and have a great time! For those not wanting to do it all in one day, you can stay in Te Anau for a night. It's a cute little town.

We thought that after Fox Glacier and Queenstown, Milfor Sound would have to be something pretty special to beat the scenery and features of thos places.

Milford Sound fulfilled that.

We chose the cruise that left mid-morning and arrived back early afternoon before all of the tour buses arrived.

The scenery is spectacular. We experienced all of the subtle differences of weather throughout the cruise from calm to very windy, cold to mild.

The crew were very knowledgeable and great fun.

Thoroughly recommend Mildford as a must see.

If we were to do things differently we would fly in from Queenstown as we spent a day driving to Te Anau, a day in Te Anau to see Milford and the Glow Worms, and a day driving from Te Anau to Dunedin. For the cost of petrol, and accommodation we would probably fly in from Queenstown if we were to do it again.