Milford Sound | New Zealand
Milford Sound is a fiord located in the beautiful Fiordland National Park on the south island of New Zealand. It’s breathtaking to see the vertical cliffs, mountain peaks, and waterfalls crashing down into the beautiful water below. It’s no wonder Rudyard Kipling described it as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’.
Because it is one of New Zealand’s top tourist destinations there are plenty of options for visiting Milford Sound. You can take a bus, helicopter or plane tour from Queenstown or drive on your own. Once you arrive in Milford you can choose from day and overnight cruise options, multi day hikes, and sea kayaking. The New Zealand Tourism website is a great place to get started planning your trip.
We chose to drive from Queenstown to Milford (285 km/177 miles), stay two nights at the Milford Sound Lodge, then drive back to Te Anau for one more overnight before driving north through Queenstown and up to Wanaka.
This is one drive you really need to plan for and allow plenty of time (4.5-5 hours one way from Queenstown to Milford). Plan to drive slowly on the twists and turns through the mountains (so as not to terrify your passengers), and allow time for stopping to take in the beauty all around you. Navigating to Milford Sound is half the fun so leave early and enjoy!
One other vital tip about the drive. The halfway point is Te Anau. This is the place to fuel up – yourself and the car. There is NO gas station between Te Anau and Milford Sound so be sure you fill your gas tank in Te Anau because you need enough petrol to drive to Milford Sound and back! Te Anau is also a great place to take a break from the windy roads, have a nice lunch, and stock up on snacks for your time in Milford – you are heading to a very remote area. It’s an amazing, pristine wilderness with no phone service.
Click here to see the driving guide we used along the way to plan for some of our stops on the way there and then more on our return drive a couple of days later.
You’ll wind through valleys, up and around the edge of mountains and even drive through a mountain at Homer Tunnel.
The Homer Tunnel at 1270m is the highest point on the Milford Road. Opened in 1954 it is hard to comprehend how they were able to complete this part of the road.
If you stop at the parking bays on the Eastern side of the tunnel you will probably meet a friendly and inquisitive Kea (native mountain parrot). They often hang around this area, but be careful. They are cheeky, highly intelligent, and sometimes help themselves to visitors belongings so remember to shut the car doors if away from you vehicle.
If you’re lucky you’ll find a great roadside cup of coffee to take down the road.
Drive to a pullover by a beautiful stream to enjoy your coffee.
With a view like this and the sound of rushing water and singing birds.
Here are a few more of our favorite stops along the way.
Mackay Creek
The Eglinton Valley – From Lake Te Anau, the Milford follows the route of a huge glacier. The river of ice carved the Eglinton Valley.
We live at Latitude 45 degrees north so it was pretty cool to see this sign – we really are down under
Lower Hollyford Road (known as Marian Corner to the locals). It is a 22km no-exit road, but well worth the drive. There are two waterfalls and “Gunn’s Camp” along the way. We did this stop on our way back from Milford Sound so we had more time.
About 8 kms down the road you will find Gunn’s Camp – “The home of legends and tall stories”. During the 1930s the camp accommodated road workers and their families during construction of a road from Hollyford through to Haast and the West Coast. World War II interrupted the road and the camp was abandoned. Davey Gunny purchased it in 1952 as a base for his tourist adventure guiding people out to Martin’s Bay on horseback. The historic cabins are now available for rent. It is a quite a unique stop.
From Gunn’s camp it is 16kms to the end of the road and the Hollyford to Martins Bay track.
Humboldt Falls – one of the most impressive and tallest Fiordland’s waterfalls is a 20 minute walk from the end of Hollyford Road to the viewing platform.
Bridge on the Hollyford Track. There are a lot of swinging bridges in New Zealand – all with amazing views!
We enjoyed all of the roadside stops along the way and everything seemed absolutely perfect until …. we met the notorious native resident of Milford Sound, Te Namu, the sandfly. We were very happy we had some bug spray. And because it was all natural they appeared to really like it ;). Our BugsAway Jackets were awesome – all we needed were pants and gloves to cover every inch of our bodies.
Here’s a link to where I got my jacket. It’s light weight, easy to pack, and really helpful in the face of a barrage of sandflies. ExOfficio Women’s BugsAway Damselfly Jacket
There are not many choices for accommodations in Milford Sound so if you plan to stay you should book early. We stayed two nights at the Milford Sound Lodge which was perfect for us. They also have accommodations for camping on the property.
One of the best ways to take in the incredible site of the fiord’s cliffs rising vertically from the dark waters is on the water. We chose the 2 hour Encounter Nature Cruise with Southern Discoveries. It was nice because it was a smaller, more intimate cruise with a lunch provided. It was a lot of fun getting up close and personal with the waterfalls, spotting some jumping fish, and seeing the cute seals sunning on the rocks along the shore.
The Milford Sound is one of the wettest areas in New Zealand with 182 days of rain per year! We got lucky had a beautiful sunny day. However, I almost wished for some rain and mist to see how it looks on most days.
One of the perks to being on our honeymoon – yum!
For those not wanting to overnight in Milford or do it all in one day, you can stay in Te Anau for a night. It’s a cute little town with some great food options. We especially enjoyed The Fat Duck and Redcliff (you may need to make reservations the night before for this one).
Final tips for your journey to Milford Sound:
Leave early and give yourself plenty of time for the drive
Follow a driving guide to plan your stops along the way – we saved the longer stops for our return trip.
Bring snacks
Sunblock (in case you do get lucky and its sunny)
A rainjacket (in case you’re not)
Bugspray and/or a bugs away jacket
A camera
Have a great time!
