Milford Sound Tour, Cruise & Helicopter
Spectacular Milford Sound day experience from Queenstown, including a cruise and scenic helicopter flight with an alpine landing.
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Experience Milford Sound by road, boat and helicopter!
Experience Milford Sound with Altitude Tours on a top-rated small group day tour. Departing from Queenstown, explore the magic of Fiordland that encompasses the road, water, and a helicopter flight with alpine landing—all in a single bucket-list day.
Your Adventure Begins
Start your day by meeting our friendly local guide at or near your Queenstown accommodation. You’ll travel in style in a premium Mercedes van designed for touring with only 16 seats onboard. The first leg of our journey to Milford Sound transports you from Queenstown through the picturesque Southland farming country and the charming town of Te Anau, where we’ll make a brief stop by the lakeside for refreshments.
Welcome to the Fiordland National Park
From here, we welcome you to the Fiordland National Park and the renowned Milford Road. This corridor to the fjord unveils a different side of New Zealand, with its majestic mountains, winding rivers, and the cheeky Kea bird. Throughout the journey, your guide will make multiple stops for photo opportunities, and short walks, and will entertain you with fascinating local facts and stories.
Milford Sound Adventure & Cruise
Upon reaching Milford Sound, embark on a 1hr 45min nature cruise that takes you beneath the towering peaks of the fjord. This small boat cruise, accompanied by a knowledgeable onboard nature guide, allows you to explore the edges of the fjord, revealing its impressive waterfalls and unique wildlife, which may include dolphins, penguins, fur seals, and native birdlife.
A Helicopter Flight to Remember
After your cruise, you will be introduced to your pilot who will take you to the skies on a truly incredible scenic flight back to Queenstown. Travelling by helicopter, this flight is approximately 45 minutes, offering aerial views of Milford Sound and Queenstown, along with the impressive snow-capped mountains, glaciers, and braided rivers in between. During the flight, enjoy descending on top of one of the many peaks for a snow landing in the remote alpine wilderness.
Choose your departure from Queenstown:
- 6.30am, returning 4:30pm (Glass Roof Upgrade)
- 7.30am, returning 5:30pm
Please note that a minimum of 4 passengers is required to operate the helicopter. In the event of adverse weather conditions, helicopter operations may be affected. In both instances, we will make efforts to arrange a fly-back to Queenstown, should this be of interest to the guest. If fly-backs are not feasible, the journey back to Queenstown will be by road, and a partial refund will be provided for the helicopter portion of your tour.
7:30am Departure
Spectacular Milford Sound day experience from Queenstown, including a cruise and scenic helicopter flight with an alpine landing.
6:30am Departure (Glass Roof Upgrade)
Spectacular Milford Sound day experience from Queenstown, including a cruise and scenic helicopter flight with an alpine landing. Glass roof van upgrade.
TRANSPORT
Travel in premium Gold-class.
Our Mercedes vans are fully equipped with panoramic windows extended legroom, leather interiors, and panoramic windows.
Our 6:30am departure includes a Glass-Roof upgrade maximising your views on this incredible day tour.
Milford Sound Tour FAQ's
Our Milford Sound Day Tours travel in premium Mercedes Sprinter vans with only 16 seats onboard. These vans have been designed for long-distance touring with extended legroom, modern interiors, and those ever-important panoramic windows for amazing views!
Glass Roof Upgrade
The 6:30 a.m. departure guarantees travel in custom-built glass-roof top vans that have superior viewing at all angles. Choose this time slot to travel in these vehicles.
The full-day trip takes approximately 10 hours from Queenstown. This allows us to make plenty of stops en route to ensure you enjoy the journey as well as a 2-hour boat cruise in majestic Milford Sound, followed by a scenic helicopter flight back to Queenstown.
If unfortunately you cannot fly back to Queenstown due to weather you will be able to travel back to Queenstown on our comfortable van, we’ll put on a movie and you can kick back and relax!
Our vehicles are 16 seaters, so this will be your maximum group size on the van, making for a more personal, small group experience.
We connect with small boat cruise operators, who take 60-75 people depending on the weather.
The helicopter typically seats 5-6 people depending on weight.
We can provide a pre-booked packed picnic lunch for $30 per person which will include a sandwich, fruit, and a range of snacks.
If you don’t choose this option we suggest bringing your own lunch. We do stop in Te Anau on the way, however, we cannot guarantee their lunch supplies and there is no food in Milford Sound or on the boat.
We partnered with two cruise operators, who are both small boat experiences in Milford Sound. They’ll provide a 2-hour cruise through the sound, getting up close to the towering waterfalls and providing informative commentary.
We make multiple stops enroute for coffee, at a cafe and bathroom stops, and there are bathroom facilities in the terminal at Milford Sound and on the boat.
We don’t want to give too much away! You’ll make a couple of cafe stops before getting to Fiordland, and along the Milford Road we’ll make multiple stops at scenic points. Our guides know the best spots on the day and will choose these based on being away from the crowds.
The road is very well looked after so is always in great condition. The conditions can change per season, in winter there will often be snow around at points that don’t see the sun – making it even more beautiful!
Due to this being one of our most popular tours and wanting to be fair to all who join us we do not offer reserved seating. If you have a request we will do our best to accommodate but we cannot guarantee.
