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Milford Sound Tours
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From: US$323,31
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4 hours 30 minutes (Approx.)
Pickup from select hotels
Offered in: English and 8 more
Keeping you safe during COVID-19
What you can expect during your visit
Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitized between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
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Overview
See Milford Sound by air and water, flying round-trip from Queenstown for a small-craft boat cruise through the famous fiord. Save time on this half-day tour as you soar over the World Heritage-listed landscape of Fiordland National Park. Landing at Milford Sound, trade your wings for watercraft and a sightseeing journey with experienced naturalists. Learn about the wildlife and geology of the scenic waterways at one of New Zealand’s top natural wonders. Includes round-trip hotel transfers and a boxed lunch.
- Half-day Milford Sound tour from Queenstown by air and water
- Enjoy great views of Milford Sound during a scenic flight
- Appreciate the grandeur of UNESCO World Heritage–listed Fiordland National Park, part of Te Wahipounamu
- Wind through the waterways of the sound on a smaller boat that provides an up-close look at cliff walls
- Taste pure glacier water at one of the waterfalls
- Learn about the region from the pilot and boat crew
- Includes hotel pickup and drop-off in Queenstown
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Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Milford Sound, one of the South Island’s top destinations. Your half-day tour begins with hotel pickup in Queenstown and a transfer to the airport for check-in and a safety briefing.
Taking off to Milford Sound, your pilot narrates the natural wonders located within Fiordland National Park, part of the UNESCO-listed region of Te Wahipounamu. Peer through the aircraft’s large windows for optimal viewing of the unfolding scene below, including blue waterways that cut through the dramatic, snow-dusted Southern Alps.
After a gentle landing at the airstrip in Milford Sound, swap your plane for a boat, which carries a maximum of 75 passengers compared to a typical 300. The smaller-sized craft allows your captain to bring the boat up close to majestic cliff faces and cascades.
Expert naturalists inform you about Milford Sound’s geology and any wildlife sightings including fur seals, bottlenose dolphins, and Fiordland crested penguins. Snap photos of Mitre Peak and taste pure water from the glacial melt at Stirling Falls.
You have the option to pre-order a boxed lunch to be served during your cruise (sample menu below); otherwise, purchase a meal or snack from the onboard cafe. Complimentary tea and coffee are provided to warm you throughout the cruise.
If you’re interested in learning about boat operations firsthand, be sure to visit the captain’s bridge during the return voyage. Then disembark on shore for the scenic flight back to Queenstown, where you’ll make a ground transfer back to your hotel.
Sample boxed lunch menu (subject to change):
• Ham and cheese roll
• Chicken drumstick
• Seasonal salad with dressing
• Soup and bread (winter only)
• Cheese and crackers
• Packaged biscuit
• Chocolate bar
• Juice, tea, and coffee
Taking off to Milford Sound, your pilot narrates the natural wonders located within Fiordland National Park, part of the UNESCO-listed region of Te Wahipounamu. Peer through the aircraft’s large windows for optimal viewing of the unfolding scene below, including blue waterways that cut through the dramatic, snow-dusted Southern Alps.
After a gentle landing at the airstrip in Milford Sound, swap your plane for a boat, which carries a maximum of 75 passengers compared to a typical 300. The smaller-sized craft allows your captain to bring the boat up close to majestic cliff faces and cascades.
Expert naturalists inform you about Milford Sound’s geology and any wildlife sightings including fur seals, bottlenose dolphins, and Fiordland crested penguins. Snap photos of Mitre Peak and taste pure water from the glacial melt at Stirling Falls.
You have the option to pre-order a boxed lunch to be served during your cruise (sample menu below); otherwise, purchase a meal or snack from the onboard cafe. Complimentary tea and coffee are provided to warm you throughout the cruise.
If you’re interested in learning about boat operations firsthand, be sure to visit the captain’s bridge during the return voyage. Then disembark on shore for the scenic flight back to Queenstown, where you’ll make a ground transfer back to your hotel.
Sample boxed lunch menu (subject to change):
• Ham and cheese roll
• Chicken drumstick
• Seasonal salad with dressing
• Soup and bread (winter only)
• Cheese and crackers
• Packaged biscuit
• Chocolate bar
• Juice, tea, and coffee
Itinerary
After your safety briefing, take your seat and set off to Milford Sound, located within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed regions of Te Wahipounamu and Fiordland National Park. Marvel in the spectacular scenery as you leave Queenstown behind for a while.
Large picture windows allow for optimal viewing throughout your flight as your pilot provides informative details about the terrain below. Marvel at gorgeous mountain landscapes cut with blue waterways, dusted by snow and framed by dramatic clouds and light.
After a gentle landing at the airstrip in Milford Sound, trade your wings for watercraft. Board your small boat nature cruise, which provides a more intimate experience and allows your captain to get within touching distance of cliffs and waterfalls. This boat is purpose-built for viewing with 360º viewing decks and full length windows. You can even taste pure glacier-melt water from the 15,000-year-old Stirling Falls as the bow of the boat goes underneath.
Expert Nature Guides aboard your boat share details about the geology of this glacier-carved region and any wildlife that you might see, such as birds, seals, dolphins and the rare Fiordland crested penguin.
You are welcome to visit the captain’s bridge to learn about boat operations firsthand during the return voyage. At the end of your boat tour, enjoy a second chance to soak up the scenery as you fly back to Queenstown.
Duration: 30 minutes
Admission Ticket Free
Milford Sound is a fiord in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s known for towering Mitre Peak, plus rainforests and waterfalls like Stirling and Bowen falls, which plummet down its sheer sides. The fiord is home to fur seal colonies, penguins and dolphins. Milford Discovery Centre and Underwater Observatory offers views of rare black coral and other marine life.
Duration: 2 hours
Admission Ticket Free
The Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it.
The range includes the South Island's Main Divide, which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast.[1] Politically, the Main Divide forms the boundary between the Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago regions to the southeast and the Tasman and West Coast regions to the northwest.
Milford’s second-highest waterfall is the Stirling Falls, a staggering 151m in height – three times the height of Niagara Falls, but the 1,300m mountain behind displaces this incredible height. This is the famous waterfall that Hugh Jackman ‘jumped off’ in the movie Wolverine. The sheer drop of the Stirling Falls allows boats to get right underneath – it’s an incredible feeling to have the power of 151m worth of glacial water falling so close to you.
Nestled behind the world famous Mitre Peak, the Sinbad Gully is characterised by extremely steep glacially carved walls punctuated by near vertical granite cliffs. These walls slowed pest invasion into the gully and as a result a number of unique native species remain in the Sinbad.
Southern Discoveries is passionate about preserving Milford Sound’s beauty for future generations which is why it’s a key partner in a major conservation project – the Sinbad Sanctuary Project.
The aim is to see the valley of New Zealand’s most photographed mountain (Sinbad Gully is at the base of Mitre Peak) become a sanctuary for native species.
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Product code: 3960MSNAT
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