Off the Kawarau bridge by ten, into Milford Sound by lunch.
Which Milford cruise justifies the four-hour coach. Whether the Shotover jet beats the Kawarau one. What a glacier landing above the lake really costs. Reviews of every Queenstown tour you can book.
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04Coach, plane or the Te Anau head start: the ways into Milford Sound.
Milford is the trip most Queenstown itineraries are built around, and the hard part is getting there. Four hours each way by road, under an hour over the Alps by air, or two hours less if you sleep in Te Anau first.
1★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Premium Milford Sound Small Group Tour & Cruise from Queenstown · from $216
Milford Sound, any way inCoach and cruise days, small boats under the falls, the long scenic drive.
Fly over, cruise, fly backSmall planes over the Main Divide, with the cruise timed to your landing.
Start from Te AnauHalf the drive, glowworm caves across the lake, Milford before the coaches.
Doubtful Sound insteadBigger, emptier, reached by boat and a bus over Wilmot Pass.
All 101 Milford Sound days →
The Queenstown bookings that go before anything else.
Every Queenstown tour reviewed →Fiord cruises, river jets and the lake steamer: the days out more visitors book here than any other, and why each one earns it.
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Premium Milford Sound Small Group Tour & Cruise from Queenstown
Ride from Queenstown to Milford Sound in a guided group of up to 15, stopping at places such as Mirror Lakes, Eglinton Valley and the Homer Tunnel. The price includes a two-hour cruise, picnic-style lunch, snacks, water and pickup from listed locations. Guides vary by departure, with names including Andy, Jess, Joe and Danny.
From · $216
Read our review →
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Cruise Milford NZ Small Boutique Cruise Experience
from $111
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Walter Peak Gourmet BBQ & Lake Whakatipu Cruise
from $95
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Te Anau: Glowworm Caves Guided Tour
from $77
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Milford Sound Coach & Cruise Full-Day Trip
from $144
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Milford Sound: 2-Hour Small Boat Scenic Cruise
from $101
7
Shotover River Extreme Jet Boat Ride in Queenstown
from $113
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Small Group, Award Winning Milford Sound Day Experience & Cruise
from $235
Queenstown sold the world its first bungy jump and never calmed down.
Jet boats through the Shotover canyon walls, a 134-metre drop at the Nevis, rafts down the Kawarau rapids, a tandem wing off Coronet Peak. These are the ones people queue for.
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3Wakatipu is eighty kilometres of cold blue water, and the 1912 steamer still crosses it.
The TSS Earnslaw burns coal on its run over to Walter Peak station, where lunch is a high-country barbecue and the sheepdogs work the paddock after. Faster boats loop the town bays in ninety minutes for a fraction of the fare.
- 1Walter Peak Gourmet BBQ & Lake Whakatipu Cruisefrom $95
- 2Lake Wakatipu Scenic Cruise (90 Minutes)from $49
- 3TSS Earnslaw Cruise of Lake Whakatipufrom $68
Gibbston pinot, poured half an hour out of Queenstown.
The world’s southernmost wine region starts at the Kawarau Gorge, where cellars are cut into the schist and pinot noir grows on terraces above the river. Somebody else drives; you taste.
Three Queenstown days you will not find anywhere else.
Lakes and mountains are easy to come by. A gold-rush road no hire car may drive, a helicopter set down on a glacier, and the valley that played Isengard are not.
Skippers Canyon
The road into Skippers was cut by hand for the 1860s goldfields and still clings to the canyon wall with a sheer drop on one side. Most rental-car contracts exclude it outright, so the way in is with a local driver in a 4WD or a jet boat up the Shotover below.
- 1Skippers Canyon Jet Boat Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 699 reviews
- 2Skippers Canyon 4WD Heritage half day Tour from Queenstown★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 204 reviews
- 3Skippers Canyon 4WD Tour from Queenstown★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 84 reviews
Helicopters onto the ice
Helicopters and ski planes leave Queenstown for the glaciers of the Southern Alps and set down on the snow long enough to walk around in it. Cloud decides everything: flights go when the tops are clear, so keep the morning free and stay flexible.
- 1Pilot’s Choice Helicopter Tour & Alpine Landing★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 291 reviews
- 2Glacier Explorer & Earnslaw Burn Helicopter Flight★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 175 reviews
- 3Half-Day Milford Helicopter Flight and Cruise from Queenstown★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 173 reviews
Lord of the Rings country
Glenorchy and the Paradise valley at the head of the lake stood in for Isengard and Lothlórien, and the Kawarau River played the Anduin. Guides carry stills from the films to hold up against the view.
- 1Lord Of The Rings Tour to Glenorchy★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 432 reviews
- 24WD Lord Of the Rings Tour Half-Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 314 reviews
- 3Half Day in Middle Earth – Lord of the Rings Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 263 reviews
What a Queenstown day out actually costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. A lake cruise costs less than dinner in town; the flights over to Milford are the splurge.
Lake cruises, the ice bar, zip lines, jet boat rides and the Arrowtown bike trail.
Coach and cruise days to Milford, winery tours, rafting and the Lord of the Rings drives.
Fly-cruise-fly to Milford, helicopter glacier landings, the Nevis bungy and overnight cruises on Doubtful Sound.
Four Queenstown bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this town can be booked from a cafe the night before. These four run on fixed sailings, small cabins and weather windows, and they fill first.
- 01Te Anau: Glowworm Caves Guided TourThe caves sit on the far shore of Lake Te Anau and the only way in is the operator’s boat, on fixed departures.
- 02Milford Sound Fly-Cruise-Fly Tour from QueenstownSmall planes cross to Milford only when cloud clears the passes. Book it early in your stay so a cancelled flight can move to another day.
- 03Doubtful Sound Overnight CruiseOvernight boats on Doubtful Sound carry a few dozen cabins at most, and summer departures go months out.
- 04TSS Earnslaw Cruise of Lake WhakatipuThe 1912 steamer comes out of service for its maintenance survey for a few weeks most years. Check the sailing dates before you build a Walter Peak day around it.
Fiordland takes close to seven metres of rain a year. Plan a Queenstown day for it.
Low cloud grounds the scenic flights and hides the peaks, but a wet Milford is the one with a thousand temporary waterfalls. Back in town, the cellars, distilleries and indoor rooms carry on regardless.
- 1Afternoon Wine & Beer Tour with Plattersfrom $158
- 2Indoor Putt ‘n’ Glow Mini Golffrom $17
- 3Hologate VR – Multiplayer Virtual Realityfrom $34
Arrowtown at twenty minutes, Milford at four hours: how far each Queenstown day trip goes.
Queenstown
Arrowtown
Glenorchy
Aoraki/Mount CookBy place: town, lakes and Fiordland
By kind of day: water, air, wine or trail
New on the Queenstown list this week.
Newer Queenstown reviews →
Gibbston Half-Day Private Wine Tour with Hotel Pickup
Read our review →
Private Full Day Photo Tour of Queenstown | Skippers | Glenorchy | Wanaka |Otago
Read our review →
Mt Cook Tour & Ultimate Alpine Experience Combo from Queenstown
Read our review →
New Zealand: Experience it ALL in 9 Days, 1st Class Custom Tours
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Mt Cook Small Group Tour & Heli Hike Combo from Queenstown
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Mustang V8 U-Drive – Highlands Motorsport and Tourism Park
Read our review →
Mt. Cook Fly Explore Fly ex Queenstown by Glenorchy Air
Read our review →
Ride Queenstown’s Stunning Trails on a Mountain Bike
Read our review →
Mt. Cook Private Day Trip From Queenstown with Lake Tekapo
Read our review →