Milford Sound Flight and Cruise ex Queenstown
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Queenstown, New Zealand
- 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See the sheer cliffs of Milford Sound from the air and water on this half-day tour from Queenstown by sightseeing plane and catamaran. Fly over Fiordland National Park, part of a UNESCO-listed landscape, then touch down at Milford Sound for a nature cruise. This tour is perfect for photography and wildlife watching, and hotel pickup and drop-off from centrally located Queenstown hotels is included.
- See native wildlife in a pristine environment
- Avoid the discomfort of the long, winding road journey to Milford Sound
- Reserved seating on the cruise ensures your comfort and a good view
- Ideal if you're short on time in southern New Zealand
What's Included
- Live pilot commentary on board
- Reserved Seating aboard the Nature Cruise
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (centrally located hotels)
- Coffee and/or Tea
- Lunch
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Operating hours.9:30 am
Itinerary
Start with pickup at your centrally located accommodation in Queenstown, then head to the airport for a scenic flight to Milford Sound. The pilot points out key landmarks and topographical features on the way, before you land at the head of the glacially carved fjord.
Board a catamaran boat for a cruise on Milford Sound. The catamaran is smaller than many Milford Sound boats, so you can get closer to the cliff walls and waterfalls, including the spectacular Stirling Falls. Wilderness guides are available during the cruise, and you’re welcome to head to the bridge of the boat to get a captain’s view of the dramatic fjord. Keep your eyes on the water throughout the tour as it’s common to see fur seals, dolphins, and many kinds of birds along the way, plus the rare Fiordland crested penguin can be spotted in spring and autumn.
Following the Milford Sound cruise, meet the pilot for the return flight to Queenstown, with spectacular views of the landscape in the constantly changing light. This tour concludes with drop-off at your Queenstown hotel.
Board a catamaran boat for a cruise on Milford Sound. The catamaran is smaller than many Milford Sound boats, so you can get closer to the cliff walls and waterfalls, including the spectacular Stirling Falls. Wilderness guides are available during the cruise, and you’re welcome to head to the bridge of the boat to get a captain’s view of the dramatic fjord. Keep your eyes on the water throughout the tour as it’s common to see fur seals, dolphins, and many kinds of birds along the way, plus the rare Fiordland crested penguin can be spotted in spring and autumn.
Following the Milford Sound cruise, meet the pilot for the return flight to Queenstown, with spectacular views of the landscape in the constantly changing light. This tour concludes with drop-off at your Queenstown hotel.
1
Air Milford
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Coronet Peak Ski Area (Pass By)
Skippers Canyon (Pass By)
Glenorchy-Queenstown Road (Pass By)
Routeburn Track (Pass By)
Fiordland National Park (Te Wahipounamu) (Pass By)
Milford Sound (Pass By)
Mitre Peak (Pass By)
2
Milford Sound
Admission Ticket Free
3
Milford Sound Airport - NZMF
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Bowen Falls
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Milford Sound Airport - NZMF
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Sutherland Falls (Pass By)
6
Cruise Milford
1 hour 45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Greenstone and Caples Tracks (Pass By)
Lake Wakatipu (Pass By)
Walter Peak Station Wharf (Pass By)
7
Air Milford
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Lake Te Anau (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- 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
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Linda_W
What a great flight and boat ride. This was the highlight of our trip to New Zealand! Highly recommend!
Reviews
4.9
based on 193 reviews
Katrina_C, Mar 2026
Wonderful experience. The team was knowledgeable and courteous. The trip is well worth your time and money.
Linda_W, Mar 2026
What a great flight and boat ride. This was the highlight of our trip to New Zealand! Highly recommend!
Marzena_M, Feb 2026
The highlight of our stay in NZ! Milford Sound is a must but Air Milford contributed significantly. Very knowledgeable pilots, friendly staff answering the questions. What I value also was a small boat and no crowd
Moira_A, Dec 2025
Fantastic experience. One of the highlights of our tour of New Zealand. Experienced and knowledgeable pilot who made the trip more memorable.
If you can afford it far better than sitting on the bus, a real treat.
Highly recommend.
Susan_Z, Dec 2025
I thought Milford Sound visit would be the highlight of my trip. It turns out it wasn’t part of my trip at all.
I booked the flight/cruise trip to Milford for my family even though we could drive there. The tickets were quite expensive but it’s Christmas, we would like to get the best out of our time there. When we arrived at the Air Milford office at 8:20 a.m. on the flight day, they postponed the morning departure due to bad weather and asked us to call at 11:30 a.m. for the afternoon departure at 1:30 p.m. When I called them at 11:31 a.m., they asked us to be at their office by 12:00 p.m. We rushed there and did an air tour over Milford Sound for an hour. Apparently, the cruise was cancelled without any explanation!
The team claimed that they had told all passengers the flight/cruise had changed to flight only. Obviously, I wasn’t informed.
What made me feel bad was when I saw other flights gliding as usual around Milford and cruises operating as usual in the afternoon. The decision to cancel the cruise was just slack. Again, no official reason has been given, they can push everything to weather anyways.
They refunded 30% of the payment due to my strong request, compared to their initial willingness to refund only 13.5%.
So this is my experience, I am sure there are ones had amazing experience too. I just feel like they should highlight the chances of cancellation on the booking page so the ones who plan to visit Milford Sounds can have a better understanding of the situations and make more suitable choices.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Dear Susan,
I trust you had a safe return to Hong Kong and have had a wonderful start to the new year.
I am sorry to read your review as I felt we had resolved your concerns in our discussion post flight, with regards to the communication breakdowns and cruise refund percentage.
More than happy to explain in detail here, in fact we appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight so our future flyers have confidence in their booking with us.
Below is an exchange from our Flight Coordinator who managed the whole booking through the Viator platform. For context, the flight departed at 1200pm and shutdown at 1310 (as the Chief Pilot I have access to the flight records). This message from the customer was received at 1300 which clearly states they didn't follow Pilot instructions to have cell-phones in flight mode, which is a safety concern to us.
"Kia ora Susan,
Are you on the aircraft at present? We are a little confused with this
message.
It was stated on the phone before you confirmed your booking that this would be an overhead flight of Milford Sound today, as we are unable to align to the cruise portion of your original tour as hoped today. On the phone, our staff discussed that this would be an overflight option only at 12.00pm, and you confirmed that you would be okay with this and continued to make your way to our office. At checkin, our office team additionally confirmed with you that this was an overflight, and remember discussing with you that you would be recieving a partial refund for the cruise portion of the tour.
Your pilot from here performed a briefing in our office about your flight, showing you on the map what you would be seeing this afternoon on
your 1-hour scenic flight.
Therefore, we are a little confused on this message as it was very clearly
presented by our team from the beginning that you would be joining a
one-hour overflight of Milford Sound this afternoon, and stand behind our team for delivering this message clearly to all guests. All guests onboard the aircraft this afternoon were all also supposed to join the same fly/cruise/fly departure for this morning before it was cancelled due to weather, and were therefore also presented this alternative 1-hour scenic flight departure in the same way that you were presented this information."
On departing our office, you had requested the exact amount that would be refunded which I promised would be emailed to you the following day. Sara, who is our Front Office Manager did so, with a very clear breakdown of the cruise portion amount. So we have complied with all that you were asking of us.
We take situations like this very seriously, all staff are aware of the situation and we use this to help improve our communication with customers especially where trips are altered from the original or where english is not the first language to the customer. For this we must remain mindful, because our ultimate goal remains exceeding customer expectations and providing unforgettable, awe inspiring experiences.
Yours Kindly,
Antony Sproull
Operations Manager/Chief Pilot
rob6267bellsouthnet, Jul 2025
Awesome smooth flight to Milford sound followed by a lovely boat ride !
All very informative
Feels very safe
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience! We're so glad you had a smooth flight and a great time out on the water. It's really important to us that our guests feel safe and well-informed, so it’s great to hear that came through. Hope to have you join us again someday!
Catherine_K, Feb 2025
My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this stunning tour of Milford sound and the mountain views on our flight to and from the cruise. Just absolutely gorgeous mountain scenery, the pilot told us we were lucky to have blue skies as the weather does not always cooperate. The cruise was comfortable with both inside and outside seating and great narrative by the crew. It had rained the day before so we had some beautiful waterfalls. Total time to and from Milford Sound was a little under 5 hrs and perfect for our family. Thank you so much for a wonderful experience!
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for such a lovely review! We're so glad you and your family had such a fantastic time on the Milford Sound tour. It sounds like you were lucky to experience the stunning mountain views and clear blue skies, and we're glad the weather cooperated for the waterfalls too! We’re also happy to hear that the cruise was comfortable and informative. We really appreciate you choosing us for this special experience, and we hope to welcome you and your family back for another amazing adventure in the future!
Susannah_J, Jan 2025
What an incredible experience! Highly recommend - outstanding views, everything was timed and planned to perfection. Fantastic!
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you so much for your amazing review! We're so glad to hear that you had such an incredible experience. It's wonderful to know that the views and the timing of the trip met your expectations. We really appreciate your recommendation and are thrilled that everything went perfectly for you. We hope to welcome you back for another unforgettable adventure soon!
Joanna_C, Jan 2025
Wonderful trip. Such incredible landscapes both from the air and on the water. Very much reliant on the weather as to the ability to do the trip in full. We were extremely lucky with perfect conditions on the day.
Flying high above the mountain peaks was breathtaking.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're so glad to hear you had such an incredible trip and were able to experience the stunning landscapes both from the air and on the water. We agree—weather plays a big role, and we’re thrilled that you had perfect conditions to fully enjoy the experience. Flying above those mountain peaks truly is breathtaking, and we’re happy you were able to take it all in. We hope to welcome you back soon for another unforgettable adventure!
Simon_B, Jan 2025
Fantastic flight over amazing terrain. Saves so much time in getting to Milford Sound. Boat trip was great and the guides on board really knew their stuff.
I'd advise bringing lunch or buying the lunch option on board (oddly that wasn't an option for my booking)
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your great review! We're so glad to hear you enjoyed the scenic flight over such amazing terrain and that the boat trip lived up to your expectations. It's wonderful that you found the guides knowledgeable and the experience so efficient. We appreciate your feedback about the lunch options and will certainly look into making that clearer for future bookings. Thanks again for sharing your experience, and we hope to welcome you back for another fantastic adventure soon!
Russ_F, Dec 2024
Had a great time. Beautiful views and experiences. This is an amazing part if the world. Did have a bit of turbulence on the way back, pilots did a great job at minimising the effects. Got us home safe and sound.
Leah_A, Dec 2024
The views from flying over to and from Milford were breath taking! Our pilot going was Emma and returning was Hank. Both did an amazing job! The cruise was nice and smooth, really enjoyed the scenery!
Jeffrey_S, Mar 2020
Memorable trip led by superb pilot Tom Watson. Stunning aerial views followed by a wonderful cruise on a boat small enough to approach the waterfalls. Highlight of our time on the South Island. Worth every penny.
Response from Host, May 2020
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for taking the time to review your experience with Air Milford on Viator.
We 100% agree with you Tom is a superb pilot and passionate guide, he loves sharing his knowledge about our local area with his guests as they soar above the snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps.
On behalf of both the cruise and scenic flight providers, thank you for choosing to fly with Air Milford and for your high recommendation to future travelers.
All the best,
Mary,
Guest services,
Air Milford.
Adam_B, Feb 2020
I still have yet to receive my refund as my trip was canceled due to the weather..... Growing very impatient. I put 5 stars as my friend used this tour and loved it. Still, I would like my money back considering I was approved for a refund 10 days ago.
Response from Host, Jun 2020
Hi Adam_B,
Thank you for your review.
We are sorry to hear that bad weather caused us to be unable to host you on a trip to Milford Sound during your visit and that your refund through your third party booking agent has not been as swift as you, or we would expect.
Usually a re-fund through Viator takes 5 - 10 business days to show up in your account, please contact us directly at info@airmilford.co.nz if these time frames have not been met and we will reach out to Viator on your behalf to determine what is going on and expedite the re-fund.
Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in the world, with on average, 7 meters of rain falling annually. This high rainfall makes Milford a spectacular destination, but also means that on some days we are grounded due to bad weather. We fly about 70% of the time and the other 30%, it is either raining or very windy and so we do not fly.
For future guest's benefit it is worth noting that we recommend booking in for your first available day in Queenstown, so that, should poor weather intervene on the first day, you have maximum flexibility to switch to a following fine weather day.
To finish on a high, we are really pleased to her that your friend loved the tour and we hope that you are able to visit Queenstown again in the future, so we take you on a stunning trip to Fiordland National Park.
All the best,
Mary,
Guest services,
Air Milford.
Mark_R, Feb 2020
No Boat only view of the sound and surrounding area. Pilot could have gone closer down in the Milford sound
Akash N, Nov 2019
Excellent flight and cruise to Milford sound - well organised, beautiful sceneries and explanations.
RichardS3332, Jan 2019
Loved the flight, not quite as good on the boat. Jim our pilot was excellent, reassuring for those with a weak stomach or of nervous disposition flying in a small fixed wing plane. Sadly, part of the trip was ruined by the rudeness of a Chinese passenger - enough said.
Matthew Y, Mar 2018
Amazing experience. More than just a taxi ride to Milford Sound, the views were stunning and managed to see some seals and dolphins along the way.
Ramsey S, Jan 2018
we enjoyed our flight there thanks to the amazing scenery and great pilot. the cruise was just as good and got us up close and personal with the waterfalls. much to our surprise the flight back to us on a different route to take in even more scenery. great day!
Peter_D, Feb 2017
The beauty of the scenery is beyond description. NZ is an amazing country and this region is spectacular. The pilot was cordial and professional as well as the rest of the staff. In general, everything was exceptional. Thank you for such a great service.
Colleen B, Jan 2017
Our flight was breathe taking! We did not get to do the cruise due to getting socked in by clouds. They refunded us in full for the cruise which was a very professinal thing to do considering it was a weather caused cancellation. Our pilot was very knowlegable and safe. We would definitely reommend this tour!
Matthew U, Sep 2016
We lucked out with a beautiful day. This was totally awesome!!!!
Dirk_G, Feb 2017
Wegen schlechtem Wetter ausgefallen! Da kann man natürlich nichts machen. Absage lief aber nicht gut, Rückzahlung des Geldes hat extrem lange gedauert. Das liegt aber wohl an Viator.
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