Driving from Te Anau to Milford Sound

By Alistair Child   18/01/2007

There many ways of getting to Milford Sound. As a Fiordland local I can explain what I think is the best way to go about getting from Te Anau to Milford Sound and back again to Te Anau.

What you need to achieve on a trip to Milford Sound is get there and back safely, do a

Mount Cook Buttercup

cruise on the fiord, see all the sights on the road and maybe do some short walks along the way.

Probably to get there and back, the all round best is by car. The road is very good considering it includes a mountain pass and shouldn’t be taken lightly but don’t let that scare you off. Anyone with moderate to good driving skills can drive there and with a few tips before you go, all will be well.

The trip takes 2 hours with NO STOPS, keeping to the speed limit and sensible driving. BUT here is what you should really do to get the best out of your day, to see the most and to do it in the best weather window.

Get yourself to Te Anau and stay overnight. Te Anau is a beautiful place to stop off at. Its magnificent lake sitting on the very edge of Fiordland makes it one of the most scenic towns in the world. Te Anau is the step off point for many activities that can be done here. It is also considered the walking capital of the world.

Make the most of your Milford day by coming to Te Anau and staying here over night.

Get up early and leave Te Anau about 8:30am, drive straight to Milford stopping only at the Mirror Lakes to catch the early morning reflections, Also a toilet stop at Knobs Flat (about halfway there and a lot of info).  There is a set of traffic lights operating at each end of the Homer Tunnel. They work around 15 minute intervals and only in the summer months. They create a one way system in the tunnel.

Once in Milford, park your car in the car park (don’t forget your coat) and walk the 15 minute walk to the Visitors Centre where you can get on one of the many cruises that will take you on the fiord.

There are several cruise companies and a number of cruise options that will take from one and a half hours to two and a half hours depending on the type of cruise. Some cruises can be extended [check when booking] with a visit to the Milford Underwater Observatory situated in Harrison Cove (access by boat only and a must do) then back to the wharf, and the visitors centre.

 It should be noted that this timing is to catch the best weather window. The early cruises are usually the least windy being in the morning. You will get the best photos etc and it is less crowded. A great time of the day to see the fiord and all its animal life.

If you have done this right you will find that all the hundreds of “late people”, are now arriving for their cruises and by the time you have had a leisurely lunch, walked the short track around the foreshore (It takes about 15minutes non stop and a great photo spot of the fiord and Lady Bowen Falls) the now mostly empty Milford road is a lot easier to drive on and do all the photo stops and maybe, short walks on the way back to Te Anau.

 
The reason for this time frame suggestion is because there is a large number of tour buses leaving Te Anau between 9.00am and 10.00am for Milford Sound to meet the lunchtime cruises. They stop at the sights on the way to Milford and because of the nature of the road, make your trip longer, missing those earlier cruises.  Arriving at Milford early means you can take your time on the road back to Te Anau as the tour busses do not depart Milford Sound until 2.30pm.

Drive safe and have a great day.