Premium Milford Sound Tour, Cruise & Lunch from Te Anau
Description
Premium small group tour including boutique Milford Sound cruise onboard a Milford Sound Cruise, and picnic lunch from Te Anau. There is no better way to see this famous attraction. Highlights: • Milford Sound Cruise • Fiordland National Park • Lake Te Anau, Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Hollyford River, Homer Tunnel and Mitre Peak • Wildlife Spotting While the destinations you will be visiting are truly spectacular, Cheeky Kiwi Travel believe it is our small groups, guides, the journey and the little details that set our tours well apart. Secret stops, wildlife viewings, specially designed vehicles and many other pleasant surprises ensure our tours are an experience to remember. Our tours are led by our famously passionate tour guides, notorious for bringing your journey to life by sharing their stories and rich background knowledge, and run in modern, comfortable minibuses packed with extras ensuring your comfort and safety.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your tour starts in stunning idyllic town of Te Anau, after maybe meeting some of the local animals or wildlife we continue along the lake. Stopping at Te Anau Downs the starting point for the Milford Track you will be able to hear the stories and admire the views.
Leaving Te Anau and entering Fiordland National Park we stop in Eglinton Valley. With views worthy of Lord of the Rings this valley follows the path of an ancient glacier through Fiordland, one of the first major attractions as you enter the park. It really sets the scene for a journey that only get more impressive the deeper you get.
Our next stop on this epic adventure is Mirror Lakes for a short stroll to see the famous reflections of the Earl Mountains. Get the right day, take a good picture and no one with be able to tell which way is the right way up for the photo.
Named after a famous explorer and popular for fishing, often we will stop at Lake Gunn for some photos and to enjoy the peace. Hollyford River & Falls Creek – A short drive away we start passing the Hollyford River, a gorgeous and powerful river full of large boulders and rapids. Feeding into the river at Falls Creek is the first of our extremely impressive waterfalls of the area, one of many to come.
A short drive away we start passing the Hollyford River, a gorgeous and powerful river full of large boulders and rapids. Feeding into the river at Falls Creek is the first of our extremely impressive waterfalls of the area, one of many to come.
Next we pull over to admire the elevated amazing views of the divide in the Southern Alps, close to the start of the Routeburn Track. While here the guide will tell you the stories of ancient Maori explorers.
Climbing in altitude we go deeper into the Darran Mountains where the views require another stop to admire and take photos. We are also entering the area where Kea (the world largest alpine parrot) likes to live. Start keeping an eye out for these large, cheeky and colourful birds that never fail to thrill and entertain when found.
To make our way back down towards the sea we enter the mind-blowing, hand-built Homer Tunnel while hearing the incredible history and stories. Emerging from the tunnel the valley descends sharply down towards Milford Sound and on a rainy-day hundreds of waterfalls can be seen cascading down the mountain side.
Following the valleys to the sea we arrive at Milford Sound where you will board your cruise! The smaller boat means you get closer to the wildlife and nature (including the New Zealand fur seals basking on the rocks), massive rock faces rising for hundreds of meters out of the sea and the waterfalls cascading from the ancient rainforest high in the mountains. This cruise is unbeatable.
While on the boat cruise you will be able to marvel at the awe-inspiring Mitre Peak, the iconic Milford Sound mountain, with its steep triangular peak rising high up above the reflective waters of the Milford Sound.
Sadly we must start to head back to Te Anau but your day is not over with a fully guided return trip and many stops and breaks along the way.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
*If no pickup is selected at time of booking, you will be allocated our default meeting point. You are welcome to update this at any time. If your location isn’t listed, please choose your nearest available option & meet us there. *Pick-ups can begin up to 15 minutes before the tour departure time, depending on location. To ensure a smooth start, please be ready and waiting outside 5 - 10 minutes prior to your specific pickup time. *Pick-up locations are carefully planned for each tour and may vary by day. If your pick-up location changes, kindly inform us in advance. *Our guides make multiple stops and may arrive within a 10-minute window. We are unable to wait for late guests.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A moderate amount of walking is involved. Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
- Please advise any dietary requirements per person at time of booking
Reviews(931)
Absolutely recommend. Jeremy our guide was full of knowledge and passion about the area and conservation. He made sure we were all looked after, showing us amazing parts of the fjordlands and allowing us time to observe and enjoy.
Thanks so much for the feedback! Jeremy is an awesome guide and totally passionate about the fjordlands and conservation on the Milford Sound Tour. We're stoked you loved it and hope to see you back again :)
Hannah was wonderful and super informative. The stops were lovely, loved that we were part of such a smaller group. The boat tour was amazing!
Sounds like you had a lovely day out. Milford Sound is definitely worth a visit that's for sure. A real hidden gem that more people need to see. Thank you for joining us on the tour.
Great tour guide, she had loads of cool knowledge. Smooth journey, comfy bus and the most amazing views.
Sounds like a great time. Thank you for travelling with us and we hope to see you again one day.
Shura was an awesome, friendly and info packed guide. The trip, drive, scenery to the boat was great. The trip out on the sound was incredible. Great experience for the family and no hassle, issues at any stage. Wonderful day, not adding photos as don’t want to ruin any of the adventure ahead for those about to book!
Shura loves to share with our visitors our wonderful landscape and make it come alive. We are so pleased you had a great day. Thank you for travelling on our tour.
Great experience and visit of Milford sound. Small group a plus and our guide who I believe was named Barry was also great. He was very friendly and informative
Excellent experience! Our guide, Andy, was brilliant from the start; welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. From the outset, Cheeky Kiwi’s communication was great. We travelled from Te Anau and on the day of pick up Cheeky Kiwi WhatsApp’d to let us know they would be ten mins late due to traffic from Queenstown. We were picked up from our accommodation and the vehicle was very comfortable with spacious leather seats and large windows to aid the views. The company faded even thought of providing squeeges and cloths even to help clear windows in case they steamed up during the drive - great forward planning! The seats all had our packed lunches on the seat when we arrived, including the various dietary arrangements annotated on luggage labels - nice attention to detail. The lunches themselves were great too. The journey to Milford Sound was smooth and informative with well timed photo stop opportunities. On arrival at Milford Sound, Andy collected the boat tickets and escorted us to the boat ensuring we all got there with zero stress. We were lucky with the weather but the boat trip was super. Informative and beautiful. The skipper and boat host were really helpful. It’s worth taking plenty of warm kit because it can be VERY chilly (if you go on deck) when you turn around to head back to port. Free tea, coffee and biscuits on the boat were great. Similarly, we had an efficient and interesting road trip back after the boat journey. I would highly recommend this company and also their guide, Andy.
Amazing! Our tour guide, Jess, provided lots of informative commentary about Milford Sound and New Zealand as the bus made its way to what is tagged as one of the eighth wonders of the world. We were so fortunate to experience snowfall and to make fantastic family memories. The sun came out as we arrived at the dock for our cruise on the Sound. Just breathtaking beauty. It was magical to spot rainbows in the waterfalls. This is a definite must do on any New Zealand itinerary.
Amazing experience, Danny the guide was awesome and very entertaining. Excellent soundtrack! The smaller cruise ship was not cramped or overcrowded so we could enjoy the outdoor experience more.
Danny and Nicky were great guides (Nicky’s first day and she was already incredible!) and made the trip much more special. We left from Te Anau at 9:30am and were back by 5pm - definitely the way to go. We had a group of about 14, everyone was introduced to each other and we all chatted for a bit on the way to Milford. We made some great friends, it was definitely refreshing from the standard tours going around. The cruise was also great (about 2 hours in length), and the views and sights on the drive towards the cruise itself were spectacular. Would highly recommend for anyone and everyone wanting to experience Milford Sound.
Our tour with Jeremy was amazing. The tour itself was lovely, but how could it not be driving from Te Anau to Milford Sound: Jeremy being our driver made it that much more special. Having a guide with such rich and varied experience in the region is an absolute asset to the trip, and his personal stake in the area, its biodiversity and conservation took the whole package to the next level. 10/10
