Milford Sound flight and cruise from Wanaka: a different route in

From Queenstown the line to Milford runs roughly south-west across the Southern Alps. From Wanaka it runs west and then south, which puts Mt Aspiring — 3,033 metres, and the highest peak in its own national park — more or less on the way.

It also means the aircraft crosses two national parks rather than one: Mt Aspiring first, then Fiordland. The glaciers on that line are more numerous and the country underneath is, if anything, emptier.

The return is flown on a different line, so the four and a half hours do not include seeing the same ridge twice. That is a small thing on a map and a real one in the air.

Wanaka is about an hour from Queenstown over the Crown Range, and the drive is one of the better ones in the country. But an hour each way added to a four-and-a-half-hour trip makes it six and a half, which is most of the advantage gone.

If you are staying in Wanaka: book this one. It is the same price as the Queenstown top pick, the route is arguably better, and everybody gets a window.

If you are staying in Queenstown: book from Queenstown. $454 is the same fare and the airport is ten minutes from town.

If you are driving between the two anyway: the Wanaka departure fits a day where you end up in Wanaka, and the Crown Range is a good road to finish on.

The cruise is identical. The fiord is identical. What differs on a Milford Sound flight and cruise from Wanaka is the forty minutes at each end, and the difference is real: Mt Aspiring at 3,033 metres, a string of glaciers, and two national parks rather than one.

The return is flown on a different line. Most operators fly out and back on roughly the same route; this one does not, so the four and a half hours contain no repeated view.

Everybody gets a window. Guaranteed on the listing, which removes the single most common complaint about any small-aircraft Milford Sound flight and cruise.

The catch is entirely logistical. Wanaka is an hour from Queenstown over the Crown Range, and an hour each way turns a four-and-a-half-hour trip into six and a half.

$454 for four and a half hours, 86 reviews at 4.9, and a guaranteed window seat for everyone — which no other Milford Sound flight and cruise on this page offers.

The route passes Mt Aspiring, crosses two national parks and returns on a different line, so the flying half contains no repeated view.

Book it if you are staying in Wanaka. If you are in Queenstown, the same fare buys a Milford Sound flight and cruise from an airport ten minutes from your hotel.

Wanaka is about an hour from Queenstown, and the direct route climbs the Crown Range: the highest sealed road in the country, with a set of switchbacks above Arrowtown and a lookout near the top that takes in the whole Wakatipu basin.

It is a good road, and it is not a quick one. In winter it carries snow and sometimes requires chains, and the alternative through Cromwell adds half an hour. If you are driving up for a morning departure, allow more than the map says and leave in the dark.

The version of this that works is the one where you are going to Wanaka anyway: drive over the Crown Range the day before, stay the night, fly in the morning, and carry on north afterwards. Then the hour of driving is not a cost at all.