Milford Sound plane tour with cruise and lunch

What the Milford Sound plane tour includes

The day is built around 35-minute flights each way. Pickup is from centrally located Queenstown accommodation, then you meet your pilot at the Air Milford base for a 15-minute pre-flight briefing. The route crosses Coronet Peak, the Shotover River, Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu and the main divide of the Southern Alps into Fiordland National Park, and the aircraft flies the full length of the fiord out to the Tasman Sea before turning to descend and land.

On the water you have reserved seating aboard the Nature Cruise, capped at 150 passengers, with nature guides giving the commentary and 1 hour 45 minutes on the fiord. The boat works along the edges and noses in close to the rock faces, then runs the length of the fiord to the sea. Lunch is included, along with tea and coffee. Your pilot escorts you from the airstrip to the docks and meets the boat when it berths; if the schedule allows, there is a short walk through the native beech forest before the flight back.

Total time is 5 hours, from NZ$958 per adult, rated 5.0 (709 reviews). Scenic flights depend on the weather and Milford makes its own: the fiord can be closed in while Queenstown is clear, and the pilot may change the route or the landing. Rain is normal here, over 7 metres a year on average, and it is what puts hundreds of waterfalls on the walls, so pack a waterproof jacket even in February.

The day step by step

1. Pre-flight briefing 15 min
   You meet your pilot at the Air Milford base for a full pre-flight briefing, then board for the 35-minute scenic flight over the Southern Alps to Milford Sound.
2. Coronet Peak Ski Area
   Coronet Peak, one of New Zealand's main ski fields, is in view shortly after takeoff.
3. Shotover River and Skippers Canyon
   The route crosses the Shotover River and Skippers Canyon, where gold was found in the 1860s. The Shotover became the second highest gold-bearing river in the world, after the Klondike in Alaska.
4. Glenorchy-Queenstown Road
   Glenorchy sits at the head of Lake Wakatipu. From the air you see two braided river mouths joining the lake, the Dart and the Rees, both glacier-fed, their colour visible where they mix with the lake water.
5. Routeburn Track
   Dense beech forest fills the Routeburn and Hollyford valleys below. One of New Zealand's Great Walks runs up the Routeburn valley and over an alpine pass into Fiordland National Park, a 3-day hike.
6. Fiordland National Park (Te Wahipounamu)
   Past the main divide of the Southern Alps, Mt Tutoko comes into view, Fiordland's highest peak at over 2,700 metres / 8,900 ft. Two main glaciers sit here, the Donne and the Age.
7. Milford Sound
   The aircraft flies the full length of the fiord out to the Tasman Sea, then turns and descends to land. From this angle the scale of the cliffs is clear; in places they rise over a mile above the water.
8. Mitre Peak
   Mitre Peak is the highest peak in Milford Sound, rising straight out of the water to 1,690 metres / 5,560 ft, just over a mile of vertical gain.
9. Milford Sound
   The approach gives you the fiord from directly overhead.
10. Return to the airstrip
    When the cruise returns, your pilot meets you and walks you back to the airstrip. If time allows, there is a short bush walk through the native beech forest first. The flight back to Queenstown is 35 minutes.
11. Landing at Milford Sound
    After landing at Milford Sound, your pilot escorts you to the boat docks to board the Milford Sound Nature Cruise.
12. Milford Sound Nature Cruise 105 min
    Passenger numbers on the cruise are capped at 150 and nature guides give a personal commentary. The boat explores the nooks along the edge of the fiord, nudging in to sheer rock faces to look at plants and wildlife in detail, and traverses the full length of the fiord out to the Tasman Sea. Your seating is reserved.
13. Arthur valley and Sutherland Falls
    After takeoff the flight path takes in another view of the fiord, then tracks south down the Arthur valley. At the head of the valley you can see Sutherland Falls, New Zealand's highest waterfall, dropping 580 metres / 1,900 ft to the valley floor.
14. Bowen Falls 5 min
    During the cruise you see Bowen Falls, one of the two permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound and the higher of them at 162 metres / 530 ft. After rainfall, hundreds more waterfalls run down the walls of the fiord.
15. Greenstone and Caples Tracks
    Crossing the main divide again, the route passes small alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks, then follows the densely forested Greenstone and Caples valleys.
16. Lake Wakatipu
    Out of the Greenstone valley the flight crosses Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand's longest lake at 75 km / 46 miles and up to 380 metres / 1,250 ft deep. Queenstown appears on its shore before the landing.
17. Walter Peak
    Walter Peak high country station, one of New Zealand's largest merino sheep farms, lies across the lake.
18. The Remarkables and Queenstown 15 min
    The Remarkables range and Queenstown pass below, then you land back at the Air Milford base for the drop-off at your accommodation.
19. Lake Te Anau
    Tracking east over the Southern Alps towards Queenstown, you can see Lake Te Anau, New Zealand's second largest lake, stretching away to the south.

What is included

Meeting point, pickup and cancellation

• Meeting point: the Air Milford base, which has parking on site at no charge.
• Pickup: the operator runs a pickup and drop-off service from all centrally located Queenstown accommodation, at an additional cost, so pass on your accommodation details. If your accommodation is not centrally located, the operator sends through parking directions instead.
• Cancellation: for a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• Ages: infant 0–1, child 2–12, adult 13+

Milford Sound plane tour options compared

This is the only one of the five flights here that includes lunch and reserved seating on the cruise. For the air view alone, the 1 h 15 min scenic flight from NZ$559 stays airborne and does not land at Milford. The 5-hour flight with landing, from NZ$768, lands beside the fiord and includes a cruise without lunch, and the 1-hour Big Five Glaciers flight, from NZ$655, covers Milford Sound and glacier country from the air with no boat at all. The 2-hour flight with landing, from NZ$1,625, is the top-priced option in the table.

Tour details from the operator's listing, checked 21 October 2026. Prices and times can change; the booking page has the current ones.

More ways to plan your visit

Scenic flights over Milford Sound

Scenic flights over Milford Sound

Milford Sound from Queenstown

Milford Sound from Queenstown

Milford Sound weather through the year

Milford Sound weather through the year