Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: Queenstown, Queenstown, Otago Region, South Island
Your tour starts in the stunning city of Queenstown. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventure today but also point out and guide you past some of the area’s top highlights.
Stop At: Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown New Zealand
Departing Queenstown we wind our way around Lake Wakatipu, with amazing views of ‘The Remarkables’ Mountain Range and the lake, stopping for photos is a must.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Devil's Staircase Lookout Point, 2911 Kingston Road, Kingston 9793 New Zealand
Continuing around the lake we will pass through Devil’s Staircase. This elevated windy part of the road is famous for dramatic photos and setting the scene for the day to come.
Stop At: Lake Te Anau, Te Anau, Fiordland National Park New Zealand
After more amazing mountain, river and farmland views we arrive in Te Anau, home to Lake Te Anau, New Zealand’s second largest lake. While in this idyllic town we will stop for a break and maybe meet some of the local animals or wildlife. Continuing along the lake we stop at Te Anau Downs, the starting point for the Milford Track, to hear the stories and admire the views.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Eglinton Valley, Milford Sound New Zealand
Leaving Te Anau and entering Fiordland National Park we stop in Eglinton Valley. With views worthy of Lord of the Rings, this valley follows the path of an ancient glacier through Fiordland. One of the first major attractions as you enter the park, it really sets the scene for a journey that only get more impressive the deeper you get.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Mirror Lakes Walk, Milford Road,, Fiordland National Park New Zealand
Our next stop on this epic adventure is Mirror Lakes for a short stroll to see the famous reflections of the Earl Mountains. Get the right day, take a good picture and no one with be able to tell which way is the right way up for the photo.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Lake Gunn, State Highway 94, Fiordland National Park New Zealand
Continuing along the Milford Road we come across Lake Gunn. Named after a famous explorer and popular for fishing, often we will stop at Lake Gunn for some photos and to enjoy the peace.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Hollyford River, Southland 9382, New Zealand
A short drive away we start passing the Hollyford River a gorgeous and powerful river full of large boulders and rapids. Feeding into the river at Falls Creek is the first of our extremely impressive waterfalls of the area, one of many to come.
Stop At: Darran Mountains, Southland 9679, New Zealand
Climbing in altitude we go deeper into the Darran Mountains and these views require another stop to admire and take photos. We are also entering the area where Kea (the world’s largest alpine parrot) like to live. Start keeping an eye out for these large, cheeky and colourful birds that never fail to thrill and entertain when found.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Homer Tunnel, 94 S.h., Milford Sound New Zealand
To make our way back down towards the sea we enter the mind-blowing hand-built Homer Tunnel, hearing the incredible history and stories. Emerging from the tunnel the valley descends sharply towards Milford Sound and on a rainy-day hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the mountain side.
Stop At: Milford Sound, Te Anau, Fiordland National Park 9679 New Zealand
Following the valleys to the sea we arrive at Milford Sound where you will board your cruise with Cruise Milford (the No. 1 Cruise operator in Milford Sound on TripAdvisor).
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Milford Sound, Milford Sound, Southland Region, South Island
The Cruise Milford experience offers a boutique cruise on a smaller boat which is less crowded and a crew that offers a much more informative and personal tour of Milford Sound. The smaller boat means you get closer to the wildlife and nature including the New Zealand fur seals basking on the rocks, massive rock faces rising for hundreds of metres out of the sea and the waterfalls cascading from an ancient rainforest high in the mountains. This cruise is unbeatable.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Pops View Look Out, Milford Sound New Zealand
Next we pull over to admire the elevated amazing views of the divide in the Southern Alps, close to the start of the Routeburn Track. While here the guide will tell you the stories of ancient Maori explorers.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Queenstown, Queenstown, Otago Region, South Island
Sadly we must start to head back to Queenstown but your day is not over with a fully guided return trip and many stops and breaks along the way.
Duration: 5 minutes
Pass By: Mitre Peak, Fiordland National Park New Zealand
While on the boat cruise you will be able to marvel at the awe-inspiring Mitre Peak, the iconic Milford Sound mountain, with its steep triangular peak rising high up above the reflective waters of the Milford Sound.
See Availability.
The Station - Home of Adventure in Queenstown, Corner of Shotover & Camp Streets, 25 Shotover Street, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
Traveler pickup is offered
Pickups are from the below hotels only. If your hotel is not listed, please select your closest alternative and meet us there. If you are not sure where your closest alternative is, please contact us in advance so that we can advise you.
If you have not yet booked a hotel then please select The Station (Home of Adventure) as your pickup location. You can update this once your hotel is booked by contacting us or amending your pickup directly through Viator.
Note: our pickups begin 15 mins before tour start time so please check your confirmation for the exact pickup time from your chosen location as these will vary.
Kamana Lakehouse 06:15 AM / 07:15 AM
Mercure Queenstown 06:16 AM / 07:16 AM
Heritage Hotel 06:17 AM / 07:17 AM
Rydges Lakeland Resort
QT Queenstown 06:20 AM / 07:20 AM
Hotel St Moritz 06:21 AM / 07:21 AM
Crowne Plaza 06:23 AM / 07:23 AM
Novotel 06:27 AM / 07:27 AM
Nomads Hostel 06:28 AM / 07:28 AM
Flaming Kiwi Backpackers 06:26 AM / 07:26 AM
Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel 06:25 AM / 07:25 AM
Pinewood Lodge 06:24 AM / 07:24 AM
The Station - Home of Adventure (default central pickup point) 06:30 AM / 07:30 AM
LyLo Queenstown 06:30 AM / 07:30 AM
Sofitel 06:30 AM / 07:30 AM
Aspen Lodge Backpackers 06:31 AM / 07:31 AM
Ramada Queenstown Central 06:34 AM / 07:34 AM
Heartland Hotel 06:32 AM / 07:32 AM
Scenic Suites 06:32 AM / 07:32 AM
Holiday Inn Express 06:33 AM / 06:33 AM
Millennium Hotel 06:36 AM / 07:36 AM
Copthorne Hotel & Resort Lakefront 06:35 AM / 07:35 AM
Copthorne Hotel & Apartments Lakeview 06:37 AM / 07:37 AM
Swiss Belsuites Pounamu 06:38 AM / 07:38 AM
Oaks Shores Resort 06:39 AM / 07:39 AM
The Rees 06:40 AM / 07:40 AM
Holiday Inn Frankton Road (Bus stop on Frankton Road) 06:42 AM / 07:42 AM
Sherwood Hotel (Bus stop on Frankton Road) 06:42 AM / 07:42 AM
Frankton Bus Interchange (near Queenstown airport) 06:44 AM / 07:44 AM
Wyndham Garden 06:45 AM / 07:45 AM
Hilton Queenstown 06:46 AM / 07:46 AM
Ports
13 hours(approx.)
Returns to original departure point
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infant seats available
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Most travelers can participate
Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
A moderate amount of walking is involved.
Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair.
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
Children aged 7 years and below are required by law to travel in a child safety car seat. If you don't have a car seat one can be provided (See Exclusions) Please advise at time of booking.
Scenic flight weight restrictions are 116 KG
Dietary requirements for picnic lunch to be noted at time of booking
Scenic flights cannot be confirmed without full names and weights of all travellers
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Posted By : Michael B
The staff were friendly and informative. Nicely paced tour with loads of amazing scenery and photo opportunities. Our guide Hannah was excellent
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-05-02
Posted By : 636christinav
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour. Our tour guide, Abi, was great. He was friendly, informative, very punctual, and played great music. The van was comfortable and the rest stops were nicely spaced out. Also, I had informed the staff at the time of booking that my sister gets car sick particularly on winding roads, and they let Abi know, and he was very thoughtful and took care of her. Milford Sound itself was lovely; we took a cruise with Cruise Milford, and the boat was the perfect size, the captain was hilarious, and the scenery was perfect. The packed lunch was a chicken sandwich, crisps, apple, chocolate bar, blueberry muffin, mints, apple/orange juice.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-05-02
Posted By : Azila_R
We enjoyed the small tour group even though the van feels a bit squishy. Our tour guide Dannii was fantastic 🩷🩷.
The view along the trip to Milford Sound was surreal.
Absolutely absolutely recommended.
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Posted On : 2024-05-02
Posted By : Rachel_C
the tour to milford sound has amazed with the beauty of nature in new zealand. our guide, hannah was a very pleasant person sharing her knowledge and stories about the new zealand, queenstown and milford sound. we loved how we can see such breathtaking sceneries and also know about the stories and conservative measures of new zealand. we also traveled in a small group of roughly 15 people which we could comfortably mingle around. the vehicle which we ride on was very clean and spacious. we would recommend this tour to our friends and family!
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Posted On : 2024-05-01
Posted By : Jessalexie_A
It was a beautiful place a must to see when in queenstown.
Thanks to our driver Bryan for making our tour memorable and informative. Very well recommended.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-27
Posted By : 200leighj
The tour ran smoothly and on schedule. Milford Sound and the drive there were both must-sees. Had to knock two stars off due to the guide. The amount of absolute nonsense he delivered with full confidence was shocking. Honestly I spent the whole day waiting to hear what was going to come out of his mouth next. My partner and I are going to be laughing about him and his “facts” for years to come. The best one was that apparently we’re due for an unspecified global catastrophe (but brought up in the context of NZ earthquakes and tsunamis), and he said he’d “worked it out” that 50% of humanity is going to die but it’s fine and we shouldn’t worry about it because that’s just natural selection and it needs to happen. It was all great fodder for in-jokes with my partner but because he was so insanely, absurdly wrong about so many things, I can’t credit him as a tour guide - just as a driver.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-27
Posted By : Suezzzzzzzzzz
What an amazing day. Callan our driver and Jonathan gave us a fabulous day to Milford Sound stopping at some beautiful lookouts both ways. They were informative and entertaining. We were fortunate to experience it snowing as we drove through the National Park but sunshine when we arrived for our boat tour of Milford Sound. The waterfalls were everywhere. The bottlenose dolphins came to show off too.
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Posted On : 2024-04-26
Posted By : leanneculinapenza
We had a fantastic day trip with Cheeky Kiwi. From pick up to drop off we never felt rushed. We enjoyed sitting back and relaxing while our trusted driver took us on our very long journey. There were ample stops along the way to ensure we always remained comfortable, well fed and got to enjoy some of the stunning views. Our guide was also extremely helpful to keep us on track for our cruise, without rushing us along. The cruise was fantastic also. The entire day was a super long one but we all enjoyed it thoroughly.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-25
Posted By : Wendy_D
The tour is reasonably organized and our tour guide Danny was very helpful and friendly, we had a great time despite the rain, the only shame was we couldn’t fly back to Queestown due to the weather but we had a stunning view of waterfalls in Milford Sound thanks to the rain, highly recommended!
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Posted On : 2024-04-25
Posted By : 857shivshankarn
Excellent customer service & updates for our trips. The Staff & our drivers were great people engaging us in concessions & giving us required breaks and perfect trip planning. They picked us from our hotel n on return gave options if someone wanted a different drop off location. This small group of 14 in the Comfortable mini bus was great.
Keep up the good work
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Posted On : 2024-04-25