Fiordland Milford Sound tours put you on the only fiord in the park you can reach by road, for a cruise of under two hours. You choose how you get there: by coach, by plane, or by driving to the terminal yourself.
One hour 45 minutes on a boat that sails about half full, from a counter inside the terminal. Coffee, tea and biscuits are free; no food is sold, so bring lunch. Wheelchairs and strollers can board.
From $110 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Thirteen hours from Queenstown with 15 guests at most: stops at the lakes and in the valley on the road in, two hours on the fiord for the cruise, and a picnic lunch. Booster seats come free for children 7 and under.
From $215 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The longest day cruise from the terminal: two hours, out past St Anne's Point into the Tasman Sea, then back in close under the falls. Hot drinks are free, food is not sold, and the Deepwater Basin car park costs nothing.
From $96 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pickup in central Te Anau, a nature guide at the wheel and 15 guests at most. Short walks of 5 to 30 minutes on the road, a two-hour small-boat cruise to the sea, and a packed picnic lunch.
From $157 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Coach from Te Anau, a cruise of up to two hours, then a water taxi to the start of the Great Walk. You walk 11 km return to Giant Gates Falls on your own; lunch can be added on board.
From $219 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Fly from Queenstown over two national parks, land at the fiord, cruise it for two hours and fly back a different way, about five hours in all. Passengers up to 150 kg; bring your own food.
From $428 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Twelve seats at most on the plane, a map briefing before take-off and 35 minutes each way. Between the flights comes a 1 hour 45 minute small-boat nature cruise; morning tea is in the fare, lunch is not.
From $482 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The road in by coach with stops, a two-hour cruise out to the Tasman Sea and a picnic lunch, then a 40-minute flight back to Queenstown. If weather grounds the plane, you ride home by coach with part of the fare refunded.
From $540 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Check in at the terminal between 2:30 and 3pm and spend the night at anchor: kayaks, a tender-boat trip, dinner, the hot tub on the top deck and an ensuite cabin. Adults book in pairs, and there are no refunds.
From $847 per person, bookings of two
Non-refundable and cannot be changed.
Thirteen hours, 15 guests at most, a picnic lunch and two hours on the fiord for the cruise, with hotel pickup or The Station at 6:30 or 7am.
See this tourA Milford Sound tour is whatever gets you onto the water in Piopiotahi and back again. The cruise is the same short thing on every one: 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours on a fiord 16 km long, under Mitre Peak and past the waterfalls. What you are choosing is everything around it.
There are four ways to reach that cruise. You can ride the Milford Road by coach from Queenstown or Te Anau, fly in from Queenstown, drive yourself and board at the terminal, or stay the night on the water. The fare, the length of your day and what you see on the way all follow from that choice.
Fiordland has fourteen fiords, and a road reaches only this one. That makes it the fiord you can visit in a day from anywhere in the south, and the one with the most ways in. If you have one day for the park, this is the day.
The coach days stop along SH94 at the lakes and in the Eglinton Valley, and pass through the Homer Tunnel. The walks day from Te Anau builds in short walks of 5 to 30 minutes. You see forest, river flats and mountain walls before you ever board.
The drive is 120 km each way from Te Anau, with no fuel on the way and snow and ice from May to September. DOC advises taking a bus if you are not confident in winter conditions. On a tour, you watch the road instead of driving it.
From Queenstown the road trip is about 600 km return. A plane covers the same ground in 30 to 40 minutes each way, so the whole day fits into four and a half to five hours.
The other famous fiord has no road at all. Here is how the two days compare, from DOC's figures and the tours' own terms.
| Milford Sound | Doubtful Sound | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get there | Road, plane or overnight boat | Boat across a lake, then a coach |
| Length of the fiord | 16 km | 40 km |
| Deepest point | 265 m | 421 m |
| Cruise on a day trip | 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours | 3 hours |
| Day from Queenstown | 11 to 13 hours by coach; 4.5 to 5 by air | 13 hours |
| Day from Te Anau | About a full day | 8 hours 30 minutes |
| Lowest fare | $96 at the terminal | $205 from Manapouri |
See the boutique cruise from $110
Pick Milford Sound for the famous peak and the choice of ways in. Pick Doubtful Sound for three hours on quieter water. Our guide to Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound weighs the two in full, and the Fiordland boat tours include the day on the quieter fiord from Manapouri.
The longest day cruise from the terminal, out past the point into the Tasman Sea and back in close under the falls. Hot drinks are free; bring your own food.
Check availabilityDriving yourself? Our guide to visiting Milford Sound without a tour covers fuel, the tunnel lights and where to park. The drive from Te Anau, stop by stop walks the road stop by stop.
Rather see the quieter fiord? Every trip in the park is compared on Fiordland Tours.