Milford Sound Flight and Cruise ex Queenstown
Description
Air Milford hosts you on an intimate experience, combining two incredible scenic flights into Fiordland National Park with a Nature Cruise through the fiord itself. Enjoy reserved seating for Air Milford passengers aboard the cruise and commentary from the passionate skippers while exploring the nooks and crannies along the edge of the fiord, nudging into sheer rock faces to examine flora and fauna in detail. Enjoy return flights to Milford Sound so you can experience its beauty from all angles.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Each tour begins with a complimentary pick-up from your centrally located Queenstown accommodation. After check-in completion, your pilot will give a thorough pre-flight briefing on the route and scenic highlights likely to be encountered, before embarking on your Scenic Flight to Milford Sound. The flight time to Milford Sound is 35 minuets.
After takeoff, view Coronet Peak, one of New Zealand's premiere ski fields.
Fly over the Shotover river and Skippers canyon, this is where gold was discovered in the 1860's. This river became the world's 2nd highest gold bearing river in the world, next to the Klondike in Alaska.
Fly over the small settlement of Glenorchy, located at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Here you enjoy wonderful views of two braided river mouths joining the lake. The two rivers are the Dart and the Rees, both glacial fed, display wonderful colors as they mix with the lake.
Fly over the dense beech forest of the Routeburn and Hollyford. valleys. One of new Zealand 'great walks' traverses the Routeburn valley, its a 3-day hike through the valley and over an alpine pass into Fiordland National Park.
Fly over the main divide of the Southern Alps and into Fiordland National park. One of the first sights you will encounter on arrival in Fiordland National Park is Mt Tutoko, at over 8,900ft / 2,700meters it is Fiordland's highest peak. There are two main glaciers to view here, the Donne and the Age.
Fly the full length of the fiord, right out to the Tasman sea where you will turn and descend, before coming into land. This part of the flight really makes you appreciate the sheer size of the towering cliffs of the fiord, which rise over a mile high in some parts!
View the highest peak in Milford Sound, Mitre Peak. It impressively rises directly out of the water of the fiord, to it's summit at 5,560ft / 1,690 meters, which is just over a mile of vertical gain!
Fly from Queenstown to magnificent Milford Sound
After landing in Milford Sound, your pilot will escort you to the boat docks to board your Milford Sound Nature Cruise.
During your cruise, view the Bowen Falls, it is one of Milford Sound's two permanent waterfalls and at 530ft / 162 meter is it's highest. After rainfall, there are hundreds of waterfalls to be viewed in the fiord!
When your cruise returns, your pilot will meet you and escort you back to the airport. If time allows, the pilot will take you on a short bush walk through the native beech forest. The flight time back to Queenstown is 35 minuets.
After taking off in Milford Sound the flight path first takes in another view of the fiord, before tracing south, down the Arthur valley. At the head of this valley, the Sutherland Falls can be viewed, this is New Zealand's highest waterfall, falling impressively 1,900ft / 580 meters to the valley floor below.
On your cruise, numbers are capped at 150 passengers and on this intimate experience, nature guides offer a personal commentary. The boat explores nooks and crannies along the edge of the fiord, nudging into sheer rock faces to examine flora and fauna in detail. The boat traverses the full length of the fiord, right out to the Tasman Sea, allowing guests to relax and take in the stunning scenery. when the boat returns your pilot will meet you for your return flight.
After once again crossing the main divide of the Southern Alps, taking in stunning views of small alpine lakes and jagged snow capped mountains, the route then traverses the densely forested Greenstone and Caples valleys.
After emerging from the Greenstone valley, fly over Lake Wakatipu. Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand's longest lake at 46 miles / 75 kms, it is also incredibly deep, up to 1,250ft / 380 meters at some points! Queenstown is nestled on the lake's shores, so some great views of the town are enjoyed before landing.
View the Walter Peak high country station, which is one of New Zealand's largest merino sheep farms.
View the Remarkable mountain range and Queenstown, before landing back at the Air Milford base for your drop-off back to your accommodation.
The flight path then begins to track east over the Southern Alps and back towards Queenstown. New Zealand's second largest lake, lake Te Anau can be viewed stretching out to the south.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We provide a pick-up/drop-off service from all centrally located Queenstown accommodation, please update us with your details. If your accommodation is not centrally located, please let us know and we will send through parking directions.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Subject to favorable weather conditions. If cancelled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund
- Do not forget to bring a jacket and your camera
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Infant rates apply for 0 - 1 years of age, when the infant is sat on a parents lap, with an infant lap belt
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
Reviews(204)
We absolutely LOVED our trip with Air Milford to Milford Sound! What an experience! We felt so safe with our experienced and super lovely pilot Cory. Highly recommend this trip! We even saw Dolphins right alongside the boat!! A truly unforgettable trip.
wow!! What an unforgettable experience, making lifetime memories. Tom our pilot made us feel very safe and comfortable as we flew high above the Mountain ranges between Queenstown and Milford Sound, with a spectacular bird's eye view of Mt Earnslaw and others. Landing into the sound was spectacular, Milford Sound is surrounded by some of the steepest, most vertical mountains in the world, true fjord country. Don't mis this, it's truly a once in a lifetime jaw dropping experience.
Was very hesitant to fly in small plane. We had cloud cover and our flight was delayed until it cleared. The staff were very organised, friendly and professional. Our pilot was Emma. From the moment she got us airborne I was totally at ease. Enjoyed the flight both ways - just amazing. Smooth landing. Got to do nature walk to the kiosk to board boat. Boat ride was really good. This is a must do! The beauty and landscape from the air is mind blowing.
We could not have been happier with this trip. From the outset the communication from Air Milford was brilliant. Clear instructions on contact in the lead up made life easier and gave us realistic expectations. Steven/Stephen in the office on the “day before” call was extremely helpful and kind. On the day of travel the staff that drove us as well as reception staff were really lovely to deal with. Then we met Thom our pilot. He really is a truly kind gentleman who not only treats his customers with the utmost respect but his knowledge of the area, his guidance and commentary throughout were excellent. The cruise itself being a smaller group makes it such a better experience. Little things like reserved tables a warm muffin and the commentary from the skipper were excellent. The staff on return to Queenstown continued the great service, took time to chat and did not rush to get rid of us. Safety throughout was to the highest standard.
I cannot recommend this tour more highly. I have been twice now and have loved it both times. I have travelled with different people each time and they have been blown away. The scenery is amazing and the tour is one of the best things you can do when visiting Queenstown. The plane was comfortable and our pilot (Tom) was excellent with his flying skills, commentary and general all round friendliness.
Professional, knowledge and commentary first class, and a safe caring environment was provided… great value and comfort… and a beautiful day!
We did the Milford Sound fly–cruise–fly tour yesterday and honestly loved it. We were originally booked for the 9:30am trip so called Air Milford at 8am for a weather check - but due to rain, it was a no go. As instructed, we called again at 10 (weather still dodgy) and then again at 11 when we where told the weather had lifted and the trip was on! The flight down was amazing, super scenic and a bit of a thrill. Such an iconic South Island experience. Our pilot (I think her name was Emma—sorry if that’s wrong!) was deeply impressive. She made everyone feel comfortable and shared some great info along the way. We were bussed from the airport to the waiting boat that had all other passengers already boarded and tucking into their lunch. The cruise was beautiful. Only small thing was we were under the impression we were on a smaller boat than the one we ended up on. But all good - the crew were lovely and the commentary from the Captain was facinating. Milford Sound is just stunning. We’ve been to the fjords in Norway and this definitely holds its own. The flight back was somehow even better, taking a different route so it felt like a whole new experience again. Would 100% recommend—such a memorable day.
We were in Queenstown for our honeymoon and one of the things we most looked forward to was our flight to Milford Sound and cruise. We were worried about the weather, as there was a lot of cloud cover on the day of our flight. Air Milford was amazing at working with everyone who was booked for this tour and trying to find a way to get us to Milford Sound. While we did not get to partake in our cruise due to the small window for a safe flight return, the pilots did their best to get us as much time on the ground to walk the shoreline and visit the gift shop at Milford Sound. We still got to see the impressive cliffs, waterfalls, and some wildlife- personally we saw a Milford Sound Weka, which I was later told is incredibly rare. The flight itself is unreal. The views you get of the mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, etc. while heading out to and back from the sound are incredible. It is hard to choose between taking photos to remember it all and just taking it in. Our pilots were great about pointing out major landmarks and geographical points along the way. While a sunny day you would have been able to see a lot further at any given time, there is something about the mountain tops coming up through the clouds that was really special. Make sure to pack bug spray! The sandflies at Milford Sound are relentless and will eat you alive if you don't have something.
Loved this experience! Air Milford provided excellent service, and our pilot, Tom, was extremely informative. He pointed out what we were seeing from the air all along the way. Boat trip along Milford Sound was beautiful. Highly recommend!
We we're nervous going into this experience, but it turned out to be our FAVORITE thing we did on our trip to New Zealand! You CANNOT miss this - it is one of the most breathtaking things we have ever done! The Pilot was amazing and extremely experienced. He made us feel at ease, and knew his way around the mountains and fjords with his eye closed. He took us a different way there and back so we got to see different scenery, and flew us to see the top of the Glacier and the largest waterfall in New Zealand. The take off and landing felt easy, and the cruise was awesome as well. We had to reschedule this experience 3 times because of weather - so definitely leave wiggle room in your travels plans so you can get the opportunity to go ! We originally had it schedule for Monday morning, and ended up going Thursday afternoon. It was well worth it though, because the rain let us see tons of waterfalls and rainbows on the cruise.
