Milford Sound is known as being the “8th wonder of the world” and once you experience it for yourself, you’ll understand why.
I visited Milford Sound for the first time at the beginning of this year when I went on a 7-day road trip around the South Island of New Zealand with my parents and partner. Our experience was so incredible that I knew, when we decided to visit Queenstown for our Girls’ Getaway, that Milford Sound is definitely someplace that my friends and I had to experience.
Milford Sound is nestled deep in the Fiordland National Park and is one of New Zealand’s most stunning natural attractions. Milford Sound has an extraordinary combination of mountain peaks, ink-dark waters, and superb dramatic forest-clad cliffs, and as the Milford Sound website describes the area,
To get to Milford Sound, there is a wide range of different options available. You can either drive yourself, fly there, take a cruise or book a tour. If you’re traveling from Queenstown as we did, the trip to Milford Sound is about a 4-hour drive each way, but well worth it!
Some of the roads traveling to Milford Sound are very windy and it’s, undoubtedly, a long drive, so I highly recommend booking a tour when visiting Milford Sound.
When searching for Milford Sound tours, we stumbled upon Altitude Tours and I’m so glad we did.
Our Wandering Mind was lucky enough to partner with Altitude Tours, but as always, all opinions are completely my own.
Altitude Tours features a wide range of New Zealand tours such as Wine & Craft Beer Tours, Best of Queenstown Tours, and Glenorchy Scenic Tour. With a name like Altitude Tours, as you’d expect, they also offer amazing options for both flight and helicopter return rides back from Milford Sound.
We opted to explore Milford Sound on the Coach Cruise Tour, once known as the BBQ Bus Tour. As with most Queenstown Milford Sound tours, this tour is a full-day experience. Departing around 7 am, Altitude Tours picked us up from our hotel in the Mercedes Sprinter Van to start our day of adventure.
A lot of Milford Sound tours are on large coach buses. However, with Altitude Tours you get a more intimate and customizable experience due to traveling with a smaller group.
There were 18 guests on the Milford Sound Coach tour the day we went but, instead of making everyone fit into one van, Altitude Tours split up the group in half which allowed us to have a lot more room and space in the van which definitely made the journey more comfortable for all.
The van itself is very nice, comfortable, and featured large windows which was excellent for viewing the gorgeous scenery along our 4-hour ride each way. To make the drive even more comfortable, along with the comfortable chairs and spacious interior, there was complimentary WiFi and waterbottles onboard as well.
A full 12 hour day may seem a little bit daunting at first, but the drive is definitely worth it.
New Zealand is absolutely stunning and with the Milford Sound tour, it’s definitely not just about the destination, but the journey to get there as well.
Along the way, we stopped at many breathtaking lookouts and landmarks. Another great aspect of having a smaller group is that we were able to make more stops than what a normal coach bus could due to not having to spend time having large numbers of people get in and out of the bus.
The way to Milford Sound takes a bit longer than the way back due to stopping quite a bit at all the landmarks, but, at the same time, the stopping and taking in the sites is what made the drive go by so quickly.
We stopped multiple times for bathroom breaks and a cafe break at Te Anau at a cafe, shop, and rest stop. At this stop, we were able to grab some New Zealand Suvineors, stretch our legs, and grab a coffee. It was great having a good number of bathroom breaks throughout the journey so you definitely don’t need to stress about that with Altitude Tours.
Having a smaller group is not only great for maximizing our site seeing experience but to have a more personal experience with our driver Roland. Roland was absolutely amazing. He was incredibly nice and outgoing (especially for starting the day at 7 am) and was very knowledgable about the area and all that we saw along the way.
Throughout the journey, he told us the history of Queenstown and the landmarks we passed along the way. As I mentioned, I traveled around New Zealand with my parents earlier this year. However, having someone knowledgable about the area and the incredible spots to stop really made the experience that much more amazing!
Altitude Tours is a smaller company and you can tell from everything about the booking process to the tour itself that everyone in the company is really passionate about what they do and the company itself. This attitude and level of service is not always something you find with larger franchise companies.
With the Milford Sound Coach tour, a BBQ lunch is included. However, with it being a full day, packing snacks is definitely a smart idea. We packed some fruit and picked up a bite to eat on the way there and back at the cafes we stopped at.
Around 1 pm we arrived in Milford Sound and got ready to board our 1:20 pm cruise through Milford Sound. The cruise itself is 2 hours and this is where you get to take in the incredible views of Milford Sound and all of its beauty from the best vantage point.
On the cruise, there was only the 18 people on the Altitude Tours along with a couple of crew members. There was tons of room for sitting, huge windows to take in the views inside and with the two levels, we were able to have an intimate experience with Milford Sound without having to make our way through crowds.
This was definitely ideal for capturing all the amazing photos of the area.
Lunch was served fairly quickly once getting on board. The lunch is advertised as a BBQ lunch and, if you have dietary requirements or restrictions, you can specify during the booking. That being said, there were tons of vegetarian options in the BBQ lunch. I was definitely impressed with the lunch as there was plenty of food in a buffet-style presentation. The Milford Sound cruise I went on before we all received a paper bag lunch with a sandwich roll and some fruit so this was definitely a more upscale lunch experience.
The buffet lunch options included salads, roasted potatoes, beef ribs, BBQ chicken, mussels, rolls, and other veggies. There was also cake and coffee and other drinks available throughout the cruise, along with a bar if you wanted to purchase alcohol.
After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon taking in all the Milford Sound views, waterfalls, and wildlife. Not only were we able to see seals, but we also got to see multiple penguins which was definitely a highlight for me.
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the area and gave us the history, along with pointing out popular landmarks along the way. She was also on the deck with us explaining and pointing out the sites to see instead of just talking on the loudspeaker, which made it feel more personal as well.
At the point where the boat turns around in the Tasmanian sea, you get the most unbelievable, picture-perfect views of Milford Sound!
After my previous sailing experience with Freycinet National Park Wineglass Bay Cruise in the Tasmanian Sea, as a precaution, I took motion sickness pills as I knew that the Tasmanian Sea could be really rough. However, unless you’re extremely prone to seasickness, you don’t need to take any sort of motion sickness medicine for this tour as the waters are very calm throughout the whole cruise.
Milford Sound is full of waterfalls and one of the unforgettable parts is going straight under one of Milford Sounds’ largest waterfalls.
All in all, the cruise itself was amazing and is definitely the perfect way to see Milford Sound.
Once the cruise was done, we made our way back to the van to head back home. We were told that there were options to actually fly back to Queenstown on a 40-minute flight at $400 per person instead of riding back in the Sprinter Van if that’s something you’re interested in doing. I bet the views would be absolutely breathtaking on that flight.
On the way back, we didn’t stop as much so it definitely took less time than on the way there. Although it was still light outside so we could enjoy looking outside at the New Zealand scenery, I found it nice to take out some headphones and listen to music or a podcast on the journey back home.
At the end of the day, we were delivered back to our hotel. We were staying in Arthurs Point, about a ten-minute drive outside Queenstown. at the Park Residence, so we were the last ones to be dropped off around 8 pm.
The Milford Sound Coach Tour was definitely a full inclusive experience.
From pick-up and drop-off at our hotel, the journey to Milford Sound and the cruise and lunch, truly made the Milford Sound experience one-of-a-kind, well-thought-out, and definitely a tour you should consider if visiting New Zealand.
Milford Sound is definitely my #1 must-see spot when visiting New Zealand and Altitude Tours did an incredible job throughout the whole journey.
If you’re traveling to New Zealand South Island, you really need to add Milford Sound to your itinerary. It’s a place that you definitely don’t want to miss and with Altitude Tours, you can experience all of Milford Sound and some incredible places on the South Island of New Zealand along the way.
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