Premium Milford Sound Small Group Tour, Cruise & Picnic Lunch from Queenstown
Overview
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Milford Sound Tour & Cruise, this small group, fully-guided day trip combines the amazing return journey to Milford Sound with a boutique Milford Sound Cruise. 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 that are packed with extras, ensuring your comfort and safety.
Description
Highlights:
- Boutique Milford Sound Cruise
- Fiordland National Park
- Lake Te Anau, Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Hollyford River, Homer Tunnel & Mitre Peak
- Wildlife Spotting
Itinerary:
1. Queenstown - Your tour starts in the stunning city of Queenstown. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventure today but also point out and guide you past some of the area’s top highlights.
2. Lake Wakatipu & Devil's Staircase – Departing Queenstown we wind our way around Lake Wakatipu and through Devil's Staircase, with amazing views of ‘The Remarkables’ Mountain Range and the lake.
3. Lake Te Anau – After more amazing mountain, river and farmland views we arrive in Te Anau, home to Lake Te Anau, New Zealand’s second largest lake. While in this idyllic town we will stop for a break and maybe meet some of the local animals or wildlife. Continuing along the lake we stop at Te Anau Downs, the starting point for the Milford Track, to hear the stories and admire the views.
4. Eglington Valley – 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.
5. Mirror Lakes – 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.
6. Lake Gunn – Continuing along the Milford Road we come across Lake Gunn. Named after a famous explorer and popular for fishing, often we will stop at Lake Gunn for some photos and to enjoy the peace.
7. 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.
8. Darran Mountains – Climbing in altitude we go deeper into the Darran Mountains and these views require another stop to admire and take photos. We are also entering the area where Kea (the world’s largest alpine parrot) like to live. Start keeping an eye out for these large, cheeky and colourful birds that never fail to thrill and entertain when found.
9. Homer Tunnel – To make our way back down towards the sea we enter the mind-blowing hand-built Homer Tunnel, hearing the incredible history and stories. Emerging from the tunnel the valley descends sharply towards Milford Sound and on a rainy-day you will see hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the mountain side.
10. Milford Sound – Following the valleys to the sea we arrive at Milford Sound where you will board your cruise! Our Milford Cruise partners offer a boutique cruise on a smaller boat which is less crowded and a crew that offers a much more informative and personal tour of Milford Sound. 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 metres out of the sea and the waterfalls cascading from an ancient rainforest high in the mountains. This cruise is unbeatable.
11. Mitre Peak – 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.
12. Pop's View Lookout – 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.
13. Queenstown – Sadly we must start to head back to Queenstown but your day is not over with a fully guided return trip and many stops and breaks along the way.
Please note: Individual and total weight restrictions apply to specific aircraft and flights. Maximum weight limit 116 KG
Cancellation Policy
Terms: Tours will only run if at least 5 people have booked on the tour, we reserves the right to alter the tour due to weather or operational needs.
A full refund will be issued for cancellations made a minimum of 10 days prior to the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Small Group & Fully Guided Tour
Cruise Entry
Picnic Lunch
Water available & snacks provided
Picnic lunch for infants (0-3)
Pickup from hotels not listed
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
Options
Reviews
2,996 reviews
Milford Sound First Timers
Relax788522,,Jan 28, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Milford Sound is a must see and having a very knowledgeable guide in Andy made it even better. The day was very well planned and executed.
Fantastic trip with Danny!
SuffolkHappyholidays,,Jan 28, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Absolutely fantastic trip to Milford sound Danny was a brilliant guide and driver, he has clearly done his homework, very knowledgeable, brilliant music to add to the trip, nothingwas too much trouble and very well organised, great packed lunch. We stopped at some stunning locations along. The way. Would 100% recommend to my friends and family.
Milford sound cruise
yaelelbaz97,,Jan 28, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Had an amazing trip to Milford Sound with Cheeky Kiwi. Joe G was a great driver, he made the long drive enjoyable with beautiful view spots and interesting history. Thank you Joe!
Our Milford Sound tour...
T V,,Jan 27, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Our Milford Sound tour with Cheeky Kiwi was an amazing and memorable experience in a small group travelling in a comfy Mercedes van with air conditioning and music. Our friendly and knowledgeable guide shared interesting stories about New Zealand’s history, lakes, wildlife, and legends, while making regular stops for photos and breaks, including seeing keas near the tunnel. The Milford Sound cruise was awesome, with stunning views, seals, waterfalls, unique rock formations, and even getting wet near a waterfall. Overall, it was a long but very enjoyable trip with great organisation, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting New Zealand.
Highly recommend
L2247KCkateg,,Jan 27, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had a wonderful day in the Milford Sounds. Andy our tour guide from Queenstown to the Milford Sound was great and informative and the flight back with pilot Jake was amazing.
A spectacular day trip to Milford Sound
thomasbM3955TZ,,Jan 27, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had the most fantastic day on this bus tour. Pickup was directly from our accommodation in Queenstown, and we liked that it was a small group tour. Our tour guide/driver, Danny went above and beyond from the minute we were picked up to the very last drop off. He made an effort to not only get to know everyone, but also to introduce us to each other, which meant it was quite a pleasant and lively atmosphere in the bus. Although the bus ride was long, Danny found the perfect balance between letting us relax and also giving us amazing information about the day and Milford Sound. My whole family and I were very impressed by the music Danny played, which included theme songs from movies that were timed to specific parts of our day tour. This made us very engaged in the tour. The cruise was spectacular, we were lucky enough to see dolphins. The lunch was amazing, I thought for the advertised ‘picnic lunch’ it was a lot more generous than I would’ve expected. I honestly can’t fault this tour in any way. Danny was just fantastic, it is so clear when someone is truly passionate about their job and we really felt this with Danny. Offering to take photos, giving personalised tips that even extended into his recommendations for the rest of our time in Queenstown. I’d encourage anyone who wants to visit Milford Sound to do this tour, such a bucket list experience and having an enthusiastic tour guide made all the difference.
Amazing Tour and cruise !
Daydream59775776376,,Jan 26, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We did a Tour with a wonderful guide : Raghav !! Great sense of humour and information giver. The Tour was really well organized with a good schedule and good timing. It was amazing ! Merci ;)
An incredible experience to and from.
Johnna B,,Jan 26, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00It was such a great experience. We booked through Viator and got put with Cheeky Kiwi. Dean was the best guide. The small bus of 15 or so people was worth it. Less wait times and not as hectic getting to and from Queenstown. It was a windy drive so the pit stops to see all of the beautiful scenery made the trip awesome. I'd recommend this trip for anyone that's looking to do the touristy thing, with less people. I reckon with less people we actually got to make even more stops than the larger groups.
Worth every dollar
keithd897,,Jan 26, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Fantastic. Benny was fabulous. Informative, and so very kind. Made some beautiful stops for photography too.
Fantastic scenic sightseeing!
Travell Gal2,,Jan 26, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Excellent day. Well paced, plenty of rest and photo stops, and great commentary from Raghev. Fantastic scenery. High quality picnic lunch. Highly recommended.
From A$329.68
Queenstown, New Zealand
- Free cancellation
Reserve Now & Pay Later - available
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