From Queenstown
Queenstown is the base for this trip, and nine of the twelve combinations on this page lift off from its airport. The route is the same for all of them: out over Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables, across the Southern Alps, down into the fiord. What differs is the aircraft, the length of the cruise and whether anything lands on the way.
Quick answer
Nine combinations leave from Queenstown, from $431 for a five-hour fly-cruise-fly to $1,057 for the nine-and-a-half-hour version that drives one leg. Our top pick from here is $454 at four and a half hours. Most listings include a pickup from the town centre. The other three leave from Wanaka and Glenorchy.
Every trip, current fare
All twelve combinations, with the Queenstown ones the majority. The cost-per-hour column shows what the longer ones are actually charging for.
| Trip | Length | Price | How | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queenstown: Milford Sound Flight and CruiseFly in, cruise the fiord, fly out — four and a half hours | 4h 30m | $454 | Fly both ways | $100.89 | 4.9 · 322 |
| From Queenstown: Milford Sound Full-Day Trip by Plane & BoatThe cheapest way to fly both ways, 1,831 reviews | 5 h | $431 | Fly both ways | $86.20 | 4.9 · 1,831 |
| Wanaka: Milford Sound Glacier Flight & Scenic Nature CruiseFrom Wanaka, over the glaciers and Mt Aspiring | 4h 30m | $454 | Fly both ways | $100.89 | 4.9 · 86 |
| Queenstown: Milford Sound Cruise & Scenic FlightFour hours, award-winning operator | 4 h | $458 | Fly both ways | $114.50 | 4.8 · 128 |
| From Queenstown: Milford Sound Flight and Nature CruiseA small-boat nature cruise, family-run | 4h 30m | $486 | Fly both ways | $108.00 | 5 · 278 |
| From Queenstown: Milford Sound Coach, Cruise, Scenic FlightRoad in, fly home — nine hours | 9 h | $512 | Road one way | $56.89 | 4.7 · 141 |
| Glenorchy | Milford Sound Helicopter Tour & Scenic CruiseHelicopter from Glenorchy, both ways | 4 h | $777 | Fly both ways | $194.25 | New |
| Milford Sound Extended Helicopter Flight & 3 LandingsThree landings, including the beach at the Tasman Sea | 2h 30m | $806 | With a landing | $322.40 | 4.9 · 39 |
| Queenstown: Milford Sound Cruise & Helicopter Alpine TourCruise plus an alpine landing by helicopter | 4 h | $808 | With a landing | $202.00 | 4.9 · 196 |
| Queenstown: Milford Sound Cruise with Helicopter TransferHelicopter both ways with the cruise between | 4 h | $918 | Fly both ways | $229.50 | 5 · 34 |
| Milford Sound Heli-Cruise-Heli | 4.5-Hour Scenic ExperienceHeli, cruise, heli — with an alpine landing | 4h 30m | $953 | With a landing | $211.78 | 5 · 5 |
| Queenstown: Milford Sound Cruise + Return Helicopter FlightRoad out, helicopter home over the fiord | 9h 30m | $1,057 | Road one way | $111.26 | 5 · 1 |
The route out of Queenstown
The lake, the Alps, the Darrans, then the fiord.
Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables. Within a minute of take-off. The lake is a zigzag eighty kilometres long and you see most of one arm of it.
The Southern Alps. Then the roads stop and stay stopped for the rest of the crossing. Glaciers, hanging valleys, alpine lakes and snowfields, about forty minutes of them.
The Darran Mountains. The last range before the fiord, and the one the Homer Tunnel goes through at road level. You cross the top of it.
The descent. Into the fiord between walls, with Mitre Peak beside you, onto the strip at the head of the water. From the wharf the boat leaves within about twenty minutes.
Book direct
Our top pick, the cheapest, the shortest and the helicopter version.
★ 4.9 · 322 reviews
★ 4.9 · 1,831 reviews
★ 4.8 · 128 reviews
★ 5 · 34 reviews
Practical notes for a Milford Sound flight and cruise from Queenstown
None of these is on the listing in so many words.
Ten minutes from the town centre by road, which is unusual and makes an early departure easy.
From central Queenstown. A few do not, and it is stated.
Names, weights and a short safety briefing.
Glenorchy is forty-five minutes up the lake by road. Allow for it.
The air over the Alps is calmest in the morning, and the operator keeps the rest of the day in hand to move you.
A rescheduled trip needs somewhere to go.
Common questions
Nine of the twelve on this page. The other three leave from Wanaka and Glenorchy.
About ten minutes by road, and most listings include a pickup.
About forty minutes each way over the Southern Alps.
$431 for five hours, with 1,831 reviews at 4.9.
Yes — $918 flies both ways by helicopter in four hours.
No. Glenorchy is forty-five minutes up the lake, and the listing leaves from there.
Why Queenstown is the base
An airport in the middle of town, on the right side of the Alps.
Queenstown sits on the eastern side of the Southern Alps with a commercial airport in the middle of town, which is unusual anywhere and very unusual in a mountain resort. That single fact is why nine of the twelve combinations on this page leave from here.
It also sits at roughly the right distance: far enough that the road takes twelve hours, close enough that a light aircraft crosses in forty minutes. A Milford Sound flight and cruise from Queenstown is a morning; the same trip from Christchurch would be a day.
The practical consequence is choice. From Queenstown you can book a plane or a helicopter, a four-hour trip or a nine-hour one, a big boat or a small one. From anywhere else in the South Island you take what there is.
Four Queenstown departures, one line each
Everything else on this page is a variation on these.
The cheapest Milford Sound flight and cruise from Queenstown, and the most reviewed.
Our top pick, and the listing this site is named after.
Helicopter both ways, four to six seats, among the mountains rather than above them.
Cheaper than the helicopters and four and a half hours longer than flying both legs.
In short
Nine departures, an airport in town, and one catch.
Nine of the twelve leave from here, which is more choice than anywhere else in the South Island offers for a Milford Sound flight and cruise.
The airport is ten minutes from the town centre and most listings include a pickup. Check in about forty-five minutes before.
Cheapest from Queenstown: $431. Our top pick: $454. By helicopter: $918. And the Glenorchy listing is not a Queenstown departure — allow forty-five minutes of driving up the lake.
Go deeper
From $431 for the whole day, and what the helicopter adds.
The verdictTwelve combinations, and the four worth your money.
Road or airTwelve hours of coach against four and a half in the air.
Heli or planeWhat each one can do that the other cannot.
LandingsBeach, snow and alpine ridge — the stops no road reaches.
BookingWeights, weather rules and what sells out.
Queenstown: Milford Sound Flight and Cruise
★ 4.9 · 322 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h