Milford Sound is a staple on any New Zealand itinerary. Visitors most often travel to this majestic spot on a day tour from Queenstown, which is what I did. In this article, I’ll walk you through what to expect on a Milford Sound day tour, then go through some practical tips.
What is Milford Sound?
The first thing to note is that, despite its location in Fiordland National Park, Milford Sound is not a fiord. It’s a “sound”. Apparently fiords are shaped by glaciers scraping down the rock and making for very steep edges, whereas sounds are created by rivers flooding and are usually connected to the sea.
This information won’t make much difference to your experience of Milford Sound but you might as well be aware of the geographical context!
Where is Milford Sound?
Milford Sound is on the southwest side of New Zealand in Fiordland National Park. The nearest town is Te Anau – you can’t actually stay within the national park unless you’re camping. Most people visit Milford Sound from Queenstown, about four hours’ drive away.
What to expect on a Milford Sound day tour
The first thing to know about a Milford Sound day tour is that it’s long. The travel time is four hours each way, plus the boat trip in Milford Sound. You’ll therefore need to set aside a whole day for a Milford Sound day tour.
Now I’ll whizz you through how the tour pans out.
Pick up from Queenstown
Your tour guide will collect you in a bus from Queenstown first thing, probably at around 7am or 7:30am. On the road out of Queenstown you’ll travel along the one main road through this area, flanked by shallow hills, passing tiny villages and lots of farmland.
Te Anau
The first stop on a Milford Sound day tour is Te Anau. Te Anau is about two hours’ drive from Queensland. It’s the closest town to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound (the only people that live close to Milford Sound are the people that work there).
On my Milford Sound day tour, we only stopped briefly in Te Anau for a coffee and a toilet break. However, there are lots of nature-based activities to do there such as hiking, kayaking and birdwatching so you could spend a few days staying in Te Anau. In fact, the day tour I was on had the option of being collected from Te Anau for the Milford Sound tour.
Up the winding road into Fiordland National Park
This next part of the trip is the main reason I recommend doing a tour rather than self-driving. The road from Te Anau into Fiordland National Park is narrow, winding and often wet. It’s a long way (another two hours) and I can imagine it would be very tiring to drive if you’re not used to it, especially having to do it again in reverse on the way back. However, the bus driver on our tour drove this route nearly every day so was an expert at navigating the twists and turns of this road, meaning we could relax and look at the scenery out of the window.
This stretch is more wooded, and its wet climate means that you’ll see numerous waterfalls gushing down the tall slabs of rock which frame the road. These tall rocks are a feature of the drive – the road winds through a narrow passage between them, making you feel tiny in comparison. And at one point, you travel through a 1.2km-long single-track tunnel carved through rock (controlled by traffic lights at either end) – yet another reason not to self-drive!
Boat tour of Milford Sound
Now this is the reason you’re on the tour in the first place: the boat trip in Milford Sound.
Let’s do the practicalities first. The boat trip takes about an hour and a half. You can walk around the boat and go out on the deck. When I did this tour, there was a café on board which provided food and drinks, and a lunch pack was included in the price of our tour (something worth checking if you’re not sure). It was slightly windy but the water was calm.
Now for the scenery. It’s not easy to get a sense of the scale of Milford Sound from pictures alone. The only telltale signs of how enormous it is are the boats looking miniscule against the high rocks and waterfalls.
Milford Sound has the esteemed claim of being one of the world’s rainiest locations so you might see low clouds draped over the rocky peaks like blankets. The rainier it is, the more abundant the waterfalls are – high rainfall even creates new thin waterfalls to add to the permanent ones pulsing water into the Sound.
Keep an eye out for wildlife in Milford Sound. There is a population of seals there and you might see them basking on the rocks. If you’re very lucky, you might see bottlenose dolphins. They swim alongside the boat and occasionally leap out of the water to the delight of the passengers. I felt very privileged to see dolphins on my tour!
Return to Queenstown
After the boat tour, we returned to Queenstown with a toilet/snack stop at Te Anau. We arrived back in Queenstown at about 7pm.
What to bring on a Milford Sound day tour
A Milford Sound day tour is a long trip so you’ll want to ensure you’re comfortable. Remember that Milford Sound also gets high levels of rainfall so there’s a good chance it’ll be wet on the day you visit.
I suggest bringing:
- Raincoat
- Jumper
- Comfortable shoes
- Insect repellent
- Camera
- Snacks – check if you need to bring lunch though as mine was served on the boat
- Travel sickness pills – not so much for the boat but, if you’re susceptible to travel sickness, bring medication for the bus journey down the winding road into Fiordland National Park
Is Milford Sound worth it?
A Milford Sound day tour is long and it’s not especially cheap. Being completely honest, it wasn’t the best thing I did in New Zealand – but that’s probably because I loved New Zealand so much that my standards were extremely high. My verdict is that it would be a shame to stay in Queenstown and not do a Milford Sound day tour – so I think you should go for it.
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