Milford Sound Full-Day Tour from Te Anau

Te Anau, New Zealand

Depart Te Anau, the "Gateway to Fiordland" and enter the Fiordland National Park, to be mesmerized by the grandeur of this region. As you pass through the Eglington Valley, you will see ancient alpine beech forest, stunning waterfalls, and the famous Mirror Lakes where the coach pauses for photo opportunities.

From here the tour progresses through the Upper Hollyford Valley, past the stunning Christie Falls and enters the 1.2 kilometer (0.75 miles) long Homer Tunnel, drilled through the solid rock of a mountain. As you exit the Homer Tunnel, prepare yourself for the breathtaking impact of the Cleddau Valley and the descent into Milford Sound.

Here you will take a spectacular Milford Sound Red Boat cruise on the majestic Milford Sound, where you will see the wonders of Mitre Peak, glacier scarred rock walls that rise 1200 meters (3937 feet) vertically from the sea and waterfalls that tumble from hanging valleys and crash into the sound far below. After your cruise, reboard your coach for the return journey to Te Anau.

USD $119.00

Review by:   Denise A,    March 2018
Fantastic day trip. Even though it rained the benefit was the extra waterfalls created on the mountains.

Review by:   cj.d,    March 2018
Great day trip, but the weather was not good. Enjoyed the stop at mirror lake and the falls. Our trip was spoilt as the coach driver/tour guide picked us up in Te Anau with an already coach load from Queenstown, and forgot to give us our boat tokens. We were therefore refused entry onto the boat for our cruise and had to track him down to assist. We did manage to go on a different much larger boat, not what we had booked. The buffet on the boat was ok but nothing special.

Review by:   Christina M,    March 2018
Awesome tour. Coach trip to Milford was most interesting with great stops. Boat was clean and spacious and easy to move around. Lunch on board delicious. Milford Sound was beyond awesome. A wonderful day out.

Review by:   CARLOS E G,    January 2018
maravilloso viaje, inolvidable. !!

Review by:   patricia s,    November 2017
We were picked up from our campsite at Te Anau and dropped in town. There we were transferred to a coach. The driver stopped at various places on the way to Milford Sound. The scenery was spectacular all the way. When we arrived at Milford Sound we climbed aboard a boat. The trip out on the water was fabulous and although it rained and was misty I loved every moment. Well worth doing

Review by:   William R,    November 2017
An excellent trip made even better by Greg the coach driver who gave us so much information about the area and who took the trouble to find parking spots where other coaches didnt stop so that we could see extra views. The boat was very smooth and the buffet lunch was tasty. Again the captain gave us plenty of information so that we could appreciate the magnificent scenery. Luckily for us the weather was perfect so the whole day was a wonderful experience.

Review by:   James W,    March 2017
Trip is good, although partially spoiled by the rain. Lunch on the cruise was not good--it was a very disorganized buffet , with bits of unidentifiable food everywhere. Run and get your food before it disappears! Better to hand everyone a sandwich.

Review by:   Danamihai,    February 2017
The coach driver was fantastic, the road is difficult, the views are incredible, it will always stay in our mind how beautiful the nature can be and how blessed we are to be able to see these wonderful places.the company is Great Sights and took us a while to find as we had to contact them to pick us from the hotel.

Review by:   Natasha S,    August 2016
The missing star is for the food, it was ok. Otherwise the trip was great, we had a cloudy, rainy day but it was still a sight to see. I haven't seen what we got to see on the cruise in pictures. waterfalls everywhere. the pilot was great too, telling us the little stories and where we were and what was coming up. the boat had some awesome spots up front and in the back to take advantage of. they had an upper deck too but i didn't venture up there b/c of the cold weather and rain.

Review by:   Angela U,    March 2016
A wonderful day trip, the coach driver was very helpful, informative and amusing. Lunch was delicious, but the only criticism I could find was that we missed the first 20 mins of the trip, because we were inside eating Lunch! All in all I would thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone visiting the area, stunning!

Review by:   Ronald M,    March 2016
We saw this place at its very best although it took a lot of heavy rain to achieve that but it was so worth it. The waterfalls were magnificent and our driver brian was so knowledgeable.

Review by:   Julie W,    March 2016
I thought the bus driver was brilliant. He was very informative and was also very good with all the passengers. I did this tour 24 years ago. The main difference was the huge number of coaches and boats involved. This year the there ware a large number of Chinese tourists visiting over their new holiday increasing the numbers of world tourists in a normally busy month. When we were let off the coach to visit sites such as the Mirror lakes it felt a bit like being on a conveyer belt. The buffet lunch on the boat was excellent. However not being near a window meant we felt we may be missing out on the scenery. Although, certain sites to look out for were not pointed out until after our lunch. The commentary on the boat was also very good. My first visit was during sunny dry weather. Although I knew it was more likely to be wet I hadn't realised that a light waterproof doesn't work. If you can afford the luggage weight take a good long waterproof! We got drenched taking photos outside in the heavy rain. All in all Milford sound is one of the world's greatest wonders and is really worth seeing. I would recommend a coach trip just so you don't have to worry about driving and get good information at the same time. I would also recommend getting the coach from Te Anau as it isn't such a long journey.

Review by:   Russell A,    February 2016
A very relaxing and great day out, coach driver was excellent and very helpful. So glad that we didn't drive ourselves as we were able to relax and take in all the scenery.

Review by:   C T Saul S,    January 2016
We had bad weather but the upside was seeing all the temporary waterfalls in addition to the regular ones at Milford sound. Knowledgable and informative coach driver. We enjoyed the boat trip.

Review by:   Therese W,    January 2016
bus trip very informative . Had a misty day so not a great view, but still an enjoyable day

Review by:   Torbjorn S,    January 2016
Very nice tour with a fantastic male busdriver drive the bus and guidad at the same time. _br/_ The tour on Milford sound also fabulus, but not so good quality of the buffetlunch on the ship with we had paid 32 NZD for and nothing to drink exception water!!

Review by:   Michael W,    October 2015
Enjoyable and did everything expected, good food

Review by:   Patrick L,    October 2015
Really excellent from start to finish. We had wonderful weather which probably made a huge difference.

Review by:   dfossa,    September 2015
Recommend

Review by:   H T,    March 2015
An extremely well organised tour

Review by:   Lin,    March 2015
The best of all the Sounds in our opinion, great views, nice waterfalls, a great way to see the sound.

Review by:   Joseph R,    March 2015
Beautiful day to sail the Milford Sound. Loved the trip and would recommend to everyone.

Review by:   Julie D,    March 2015
We were lucky with the weather and the tour was fabulous. Bruce, our driver was very friendly,informative and had a brilliant sense of humour. A magical place to visit and all ran smoothly..

Review by:   bart v,    March 2015
Tour was well organized. Kind bus-driver with knowledge about content of the trip._br/_ Negative point: when we returned with the bus the driver seemed to be in a very rush resulting in very fast driving, passing by others on two-lane ways in the mountains and pushing cars away from the bus by driving very near to those cars.

Review by:   Christopher C,    January 2015
Our Milford Sound day trip was a joy from start to finish. We were picked up from our campsite and transferred to the coach at Te Anau for the onward journey. The driver was informative, witty and welcoming and the scenery just spectacular. The boat cruise was a highlight of our honeymoon - I'd recommend it to anyone. Chris and Sarah, UK.

Review by:   Geoffrey N,    December 2014
Fantastic day. Great bus driver, very comfortable bus, all in all a relaxing day which was well worth the money.

Review by:   MRS E U,    October 2014
This tour is a "must" however I would honeslty not recommend anyone driving to this attraction, in case you want to save some money. The road is intense and by the time you get to the point where you can board the boat, you are exhausted.

Review by:   petgen,    September 2014
Everthing was just perfect including the weather.Brian our tour guide and Driver was outstanding nothing was a problem.Boat trip was very interesting and would do it again. The only problem was inconserate people sharing their cigarette smoke with us. Thanks for the wonderful experiance.

Review by:   matthew d,    August 2014
This tour was amazing!

Review by:   Kerrie H,    August 2014
We had the advantage of being picked up from Te Anau, would not have liked the extra travel from Queenstown. Had a wonderful day, there had been rain overnight and a few showers during the day, but this made the waterfalls all the more spectacular. Our guide was excellent with great knowledge of the area and plenty of stops for photos. The boat trip was great with good commentary and excellent buffet food. Have now seen Milford Sound in the Autumn and the Winter and loved both times but I think the Winter is breathtaking. Would definitely recommend the tour and cruise and Te Anau was a beautiful place to stay.

Review by:   cilia,    May 2014
Highly recommended indeed

Review by:   Barbie,    April 2014
Wonderful! Nothing was too much trouble for the driver/captain to explain.

Review by:   ELIZABETH S,    February 2014
The trip on the bus was fine and the scenery was beautiful. The boat provided a great view of Milford Sound and it's sites. I wish we hadn't booked the lunch on the boat as it was hot in the cabin and people were cranky and fighting for seats. The food was very tasty and had a good variety but we couldn't enjoy it because of being so uncomfortable. I would recommend the tour but maybe take some sandwiches and sit up top if you can, weather permitting.

Review by:   Keith E,    February 2014
Just awesome

Review by:   Gita K,    February 2014
Good! Relaxing. Worth the money. Good Guide!

Review by:   Mrs M W,    February 2014
We really enjoyed the coach trip along the Milford Road to Milford Sound. Our driver, Dion, was excellent - he was enthusiastic about the area and very well informed. We thought the road trip was every bit as good as Milford Sound itself. As for the boat trip on a Milford Sound that was good, although we wouldn't advise the lunch as you miss the best bit of the trip, Mitre Peak, as you leave the quayside. We were surprised how short the boat trip was as Milford Sound isn't that long, much smaller than we expected.

Review by:   Sheila J,    February 2014
If joining the trip at Te Anau, you are likely to end up on the worst seats at the back of the coach._br/_ Be aware that the coach journey back might be frightening._br/_ Otherwise wonderful scenery and cruise . Food was only fair- would have preferred to bring my own.

Review by:   Juliana H,    January 2014
Great tour, the cruise is just spectacular! If you have a car, I wouldn't bother with the bus ride and just book the cruise. Stop along the way at the marked stops and you wont miss a thing. That being said, the tour was fantastic and is highly recommended.

Review by:   Julie M,    January 2014
The glowworm cave was amazing - much better than we expected.

Review by:   Bryan Moore,    January 2014
Great tour, the cruise is just spectacular! If you have a car, I wouldn't bother with the bus ride and just book the cruise. Stop along the way at the marked stops and you wont miss a thing. That being said, the tour was fantastic and is highly recommended.

Review by:   Marc L,    June 2013
Trip was awesome, weather brilliant and food very good. Due to the low rainfall over summer the waterfalls are a bit lacking in water but it did mean that the whole trip was spent out on the deck getting some great views of the Sound

Review by:   Cassandra T,    May 2013
My husband and I absolutely loved this tour. On the way the bus stops at various locations which is great to not only break up the trip but to see more great sights. The boat tour itself was great, we had rain the day before the trip so we could see many waterfalls, one which the boat went very close to (stay inside if you don't want to get wet!). We did both doubtful and milford sounds and would recommend doing both, however do this one first. More fun, but scenery not as spectacular.

Review by:   Philip D M,    March 2013
We enjoyed the tour especillly our driver who was entertaining . the drive into Milford was awesome and showed us a lot about the formation of the land._br/_ I am disapointed that your price was not the cheapest as we were charged $A302.82 wheras Southern discoveries ( the boatowners of the tour we when on ) brochure shows the same trip priced at $NZ149 each, Awesome NZ shows a cost of $nz149 after allowing for lunch you need to pay me $A16.00 to honor your guarantee.

Review by:   jproctorealm,    February 2013
Do not miss this tour. I've never seen anything like Milford Sound. Absolutely breathtaking.

Review by:   moongazy,    December 2012
Tour was great. Weather not so good!

Review by:   Gopal,    October 2012
We joined the coach from Te Anau. The drive to Milford Sound was spectacular and the coach driver was brilliant. He has provided more information with a sense of humour making the trip more intresting. The meal on the boat was good. The boat trip was full of breathtaking scenery the whole time with plenty of opportunities for photos. Seen many water falls all along. It was a fantastic and memorable experience. Love to spend at least a week at Milford Sound.

Review by:   Mark W,    June 2012
We went to Milford Sound by Coach from Te Anau. The drive to the Sound was actually as spectacular as the Sound itself. It was a rainy day and there was a light dusting of snow on the mountains. Visiting Milford Sound when it is raining does not disappoint as the many waterfalls are spectacular. Make sure you dress very warmly. When we left Te Anau it was sunny and quite mild but it was raining and absolutely freezing at the Sound. The Coach Driver was brilliant. The information he provided was excellent and his sense of humour was great. If I did this tour again (and I would), I wouldnt bother with the lunch on the boat. If you do have the lunch make sure you get yourself a table (so you have a window seat while you eat), and then queue up for your meal. It takes a long time to get through the queue!_br/_ Overall a great day with many wonderful photo opportunities.

Review by:   Shruthi R,    April 2012
Really enjoyed the tour and will definitely recommend it. The Drive was really great and Cruise was amazing . Everything was well organized.

Review by:   John T,    March 2012
A most enjoyable day with an excellent driver/guide, he was very informative and helpful.The scenery was magnificent and the excursion on the sound was great. The food on the boat was also very good _br/_ . I highly recommend this trip

Review by:   Gerard H,    November 2011
wonderful Scenic trip with amusing and informed driver/guide. Most enjoyable.