The Best Things To Do In Milford Sound, New Zealand

Last Updated on 3rd January 2023

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Visiting Milford Sound has been at the very top of my travel bucket list for many years now. When we started planning our trip around the world and talked about travelling to New Zealand first, it was always the one thing that I absolutely couldn’t wait to explore and see in real life for the first time.

Milford Sound truly is one of the most spectacular and breathtakingly beautiful places I’ve ever seen; not just the Sound itself, but the whole of Milford Road and the rest of Fiordland National Park.

If there’s one thing that I aim to do with this post, it’s to ensure that you make visiting Milford Sound a top priority when it comes to your own travel bucket list. Here’s a list of the best things to do in Milford Sound!

The best things to do in Milford Sound

As I previously mentioned, Milford Sound has been somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for such a long time now and I was so excited when we finally planned to go!

Take a look at my extensive guide below to find out everything there is to know about visiting Milford Sound!

How to get there

Milford Sound is situated in Fiordland National Park, in the southwest of the South Island, New Zealand.

It’s renowned for being a bit of a pain to get to, primarily because it’s so bloody mountainous around the entire area! However, after hearing horror stories about how shockingly bad the roads can be, Matt and I were delighted to discover that it’s really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

The roads can often close due to extreme weather conditions, heavy snowfall and even avalanches (!!!), but aside from that, they’re perfectly fine 😉

It is important to check the weather forecast well in advance of your trip in order to ensure that it’s safe to drive along Milford Road.

Top tip: The Met Service website is great for checking road closures and weather forecasts in New Zealand.

There is only one road to get to Milford Sound and that’s State Highway 94 (or the New Zealand State Highway or Milford Road as it’s often referred to).

You can get to Milford Sound via the State Highway either from Queenstown (approximately a 4 hour drive without stops) or Te Anau (2 hours 30 minutes without stops).

Matt and I drove from Te Anau as we’d stayed there the night before and then spent most of the next day driving along the Milford Road. The approximate driving times above are without any stops at all; which will be impossible not to do as I can guarantee you won’t be able to not stop; everything is just too beautiful!

The drive from Te Anau was remarkably pleasant, especially compared to what we’d been told about the conditions of the road. While some stretches are a little windy and steep, the overall conditions are perfectly fine pretty much right up until you make it to Homer Tunnel (see below).

With there being so many stops along the way, we decided to spend the full day driving along Milford Road, spend the night at Milford Sound Lodge and then get up nice and early the next morning to embark on the cruise.

Before we get to that, however, here are all the incredible stops that you’ll want to make along the way!

Things to do in Milford Sound

When I first thought about Milford Sound (and I’m sure many other people make this mistake as well!), I only ever thought of Milford Sound itself, not all the other surrounding areas.

It turns out that Fiordland National Park and Milford Road are home to some of the most spectacular stretches of scenery that I’ve ever seen!

From Lake Gunn to the Mirror Lakes, to the numerous waterfalls that punctuate State Highway 94/Milford Sound Highway, there are so many incredible places to visit in and around Milford Sound.

1. Milford Road

While all these places are technically on Milford Road anyway, the road itself deserves its own special shoutout and thanks to the picture above, I don’t think it really needs an explanation as to why…

I genuinely think the picture above might be one of my favourite pictures of all time and as soon as we rounded the corner and came into view of this magical scene, I was truly lost for words.

Thankfully, there are dozens of rest stops and ‘scenic photo opportunities’ punctuating the road pretty much all the way from Te Anau to Milford Sound so you’ll have ample opportunity to snap a pic (or 20!).

2. Mirror Lakes

Mirror Lakes is without a doubt one of the most beautiful stops along the Milford Road.

While they can be known to be a rather touristy hotspot, we were lucky (like with many other things while in New Zealand) to experience them almost all to ourselves.

On a clear day, the lakes perfectly reflect the mountains above, giving it a ‘mirror-esque’ look. It’s just an outstanding place to visit along Milford Road and one that you definitely need to schedule into your road trip itinerary!

3. Lake Gunn

We were actually going to stay at a DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite called Cascade Creek that’s right next to the start of the Lake Gunn Nature Walk but we decided against it as the toilets (long drops) were ~questionable~ and we wanted to head more towards Milford Sound (which in hindsight was the best idea!).

We did however stop off at Lake Gunn so we could embark on the 45-minute return Nature Walk.

The Lake itself was so tranquil and quiet and it really made for a beautiful stop-off along Milford Road.

The walk takes you through the bush until you reach the lake’s edge where you can enjoy the view from the nearby benches, or go right up to the water and admire the spectacular scenery.

4. Falls Creek

We almost missed Falls Creek as we were driving along but thankfully there’s a lay by on the opposite side of the road where we parked up and walked just a few metres over the road to see the Falls.

You can actually go on a bush walk right up to the top of Falls Creek but we weren’t too bothered about doing this (especially as it takes around 2 hours!).

The view of the waterfall from the bottom was absolutely stunning though and Matt managed to snap a long exposure shot of them which makes them look like silk!

5. The Chasm

The Chasm was on our list of places to visit along Milford Road as we’d heard so many great things about its impressiveness; it’s safe to say that we weren’t disappointed!

The extreme force of the waterfalls has caused huge erosions in the rocks, leaving it resembling something out of Lord of the Rings!

The waterfalls themselves are incredibly impressive, especially with the speed at which they gush down the hill, but the water-sculpted rocks are what makes The Chasm a notable stop on the way to Milford Sound.

It’s only a short 10-minute walk each way to get to the top of The Chasm and the small footbridges provide spectacular views of the gushing water, as well as the eroded rocks.

6. Homer Tunnel

The Homer Tunnel is a 1.2km long tunnel made out of solid rock that’s been carved into the Darran Mountain range. While it is simply just a tunnel, it seems so much more mysterious and enigmatic than most other tunnels I’ve ever seen and the fact that it’s the only road entrance to Milford Sound makes it all the more impressive!

Before the Homer Tunnel opened in 1954, there was no road access to Milford Sound, so we have every thanks to give to this solid rock tunnel and the people who built it!

It also took 19 years to build and while it is wide enough for tour buses and large coaches to pass through, a traffic light system is in place to ensure that all road users can access it safely.

While there’s not exactly much to see when driving through the tunnel, you will be greeted with a steep downhill gradient when driving towards Milford Sound and an uphill incline when driving back towards Te Anau/Queenstown.

7. Milford Sound Lodge

With prices for a powered campervan site starting at $30NZD per person, a night at Milford Sound Lodge certainly isn’t the cheapest option but it will make for a truly remarkable and memorable experience while you’re travelling to Milford Sound.

As I mentioned above, Matt and I planned to drive straight to Milford Sound but after just a few minutes on the road from Te Anau, we realised that there were just too many things to see along Milford Road to not stop and enjoy them all.

So after staying in Te Anau the night before, we spent the whole day driving towards Milford Sound and checked into the Lodge at around 5 pm. It was already getting quite busy at that time and it’s renowned for booking up very quickly during the summer months so it’s imperative to book ahead if you know you want to stay there.

I’m going to write an entire guide to the best campsites around the South Island once we’ve finished our road trip but I will say that I was thoroughly impressed with Milford Sound Lodge.

While I don’t think it’s necessarily the best paid-for campsite we’ve stayed at so far, you’re paying more for the location and mountainous surroundings as opposed to anything else. Still, it was a great place to spend the night and came equipped with excellent facilities and it also meant that we were right next to Milford Sound ready for our 9.55 am departure for the cruise the next day!

Which cruise should I choose for visiting Milford Sound?

There are so many different cruise companies all claiming to offer the ‘best’ Milford Sound cruise for the best possible price (I think there are at least seven companies in the cruise terminal when you go to catch the boat alone!).

While I haven’t experienced all the different cruise options myself (that would be very greedy!), I have done plenty of research into the best cruises around Milford Sound and rounded them up for you below. I’ve also written my full experience of cruising through Milford Sound with Mitre Peak Cruises as they were the ones we went for!

Milford Sound Nature Cruise

Milford Sound Waterfalls, Wildlife & Rainforest Cruise

Milford Sound Fly Cruise

Milford Sound Flight & Cruise

Mitre Peak Cruises

Mitre Peak Cruises take you all around Milford Sound, showing you some of the greatest highlights including Bowen Falls, Mitre Peak itself as well as Stirling Falls and Seal Rock.

We were also treated to free tea and coffee throughout the two-hour cruise, as well as an excellent captain who told us when to look out for dolphins and seals (which we saw numerous times!!!) and a brilliant first-mate/marine biologist who does so much great work around Milford Sound, including bringing a sea snail back from extinction!

Arguably one of the best things about Mitre Peak Cruises is that their vessels are so small (I think there were around 30 people on the entire boat!) which made the whole experience much more enjoyable.

It’s so annoying when you’re on a tour like that and you’re packed in like cattle; however, with this particular Milford Sound Cruise, we had ample opportunity to move around the boat, go up and down the levels as we pleased and there were more than enough seats for everyone.

I truly loved our Milford Sound Cruise and while I can’t speak for the other cruise offerings, I would highly recommend the Mitre Peak Milford Sound Cruise as it was affordable, full of friendly staff, had plenty of free tea and coffee and covered all the most important cruise highlights!

Milford Sound Cruise Highlights

Bowen Falls

Lady Bowen Falls are the first highlight that you come to on your Milford Sound Cruise; they’re on the right-hand side as you set off down the fiord and then you’ll come up pretty close to them on your left as you sail back towards the Milford Sound terminal.

This particular waterfall is also over three times the height of Niagara Falls, which seemed totally astounding to me as I always think that Niagara Falls is the ultimate waterfall!

The 162m high falls are an incredible sight to see and a perfect first stop as you cruise through Milford Sound.

The elephant and the lion

Another great thing to spot on your Milford Sound Cruise is the ‘elephant and the lion’ as pictured above.

While I definitely couldn’t see the ‘lion’ (on the right – I can just about see it now, although you really do have to try to see the crouching lion!) that the captain kept referring to, I could just about make out the ‘elephant’ (on the left).

Essentially, these nonexistent animals are huge, towering mountains with the ‘lion’ standing at 1302 metres and the ‘elephant’ triumphing at 1517 metres.

Even if you can’t make out the animal shapes of the mountains, they still make for a very Instagrammable picture!

Seal Rock – things to do in Milford Sound

The aptly named Seal Rock is home to, you guessed it; seals!

We were told when we first started on the cruise around Milford Sound that we might not get the chance to see any seals but we certainly lucked out as we saw at least half a dozen!

We even saw a dolphin at one point but it dashed away as quickly as it appeared so I didn’t get the chance to take a picture of it!

Most of them were sleeping so they weren’t quite as interesting as the ones we saw at Shag Point a couple of weeks ago, but they were still adorable to look at.

I never used to be an animal person at all, but since housesitting for a vast array of animals in the North Island, as well as encountering wild penguins and seals, plus numerous other species while we’ve been in the South Island, I seem to have developed a new-found love for animals!

Bridal Veil Falls and Fairy Falls

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a great picture of these two waterfalls but you can just about make them out in the picture above.

They’re known to be much more impressive after heavy rainfall, with Fairy Falls cascading right into Milford Sound.

Mitre Peak

The towering height of the Mitre Peak mountain is something that’s sure to blow you away, regardless of whether you’re an outdoorsy person or not.

Standing at 1692 metres above sea level, the mountain provides an imposing authority to the rest of the Sound. Named after the fact that its peak looks like a Bishop’s hat (also known as a mitre…), Mitre Peak is one of the most photographed mountains in New Zealand and it’s really not hard to see why!

While I do believe that it’s possible to reach the summit, the best way to see the impressive mountain is from a Milford Sound cruise.

Stirling Falls

Edging out towards the Tasman Sea, Stirling Falls are incredibly beautiful and photogenic.

Many of the cruises (including the Mitre Peak Cruise we embarked on) actually drive the boat right under the falls so that the front viewing platform is partly submerged under the cascading water!

While almost everyone dashed inside the boat at that point due to how cold it was outside and the fact that we didn’t want to get drenched in freezing cold water (apart from a couple of young American lads), it was still remarkable to almost see underneath the waterfall!

Book your Milford Sound Cruise here!

Top tips for visiting Milford Sound

Check out my top tips for visiting Milford Sound below!

• Pack warm clothing – it gets bloody freezing around Milford Sound (especially when it’s the middle of winter and you’re living in a campervan…)!
• Check the Met Service website for live and up-to-date weather and road closure updates.
• Book your Milford Sound Cruise online to benefit from great discounts!
• Fuel up before you travel; there are no petrol stations on Milford Road and only one petrol station once you actually get to Milford Sound (and it costs a fortune!). Use Gaspy to find the cheapest and nearest petrol stations around Queenstown and Te Anau before you drive!
• Make sure all your camera and phone batteries are fully charged as there are so many photo opportunities in and around Milford Sound!
• Pack plenty of food with you, especially if you’re staying in a campervan as there are no supermarkets along the road or in the Sound itself!
• Consider your accommodation options before you go. Thankfully we’re travelling in a campervan so we have the “luxury” of freedom camping (which is legal here in NZ) but there are few and far between accommodation options along the Highway so check before you go!

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Have you ever been to Milford Sound? Is it somewhere you’d like to visit one day? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @imjustagirl_16.