I’ve been to Milford Sound many times in my five years living in New Zealand. It’s arguably one of the most beautiful places in the country, and certainly on the South Island. I’ve climbed Mitre Peak and driven the Milford Sound Road – one of the most incredible drives in the world – countless times.

You too should visit Milford Sound when you come to New Zealand.

The biggest roadblock people encounter in planning a trip to Milford Sound is the massive time commitment this takes. The most common way to experience Milford Sound is by taking a bus from Queenstown, then cruising on the fiord, and then taking a bus back to Queenstown. As the bus ride alone is over 4 hours, you’re looking at 10+ hours to tick this off your New Zealand bucket list.

Luckily, if you’re short on time there’s another way – taking a scenic flight from Queenstown, across the Southern Alps, and into Milford Sound.

I’ve been lucky enough to do some incredible things in New Zealand, but this combination – flying into Milford Sound, going for a cruise beneath towering Fiordland mountains under clear blue skies, and then flying back to Queenstown – stands out as one of my top experiences in New Zealand.

Glenorchy Air offers flight packages to and from Milford Sound. Don’t be confused, Glenorchy Air actually operates out of Queenstown, not Glenorchy – but assuming conditions are right, you’ll fly over Glenorchy on your way to Milford. As you might expect, a flight into Milford will cost more than taking the bus, but it’s completely and totally worth it.

Anyone that has visited New Zealand will tell you how beautiful it is here. How impressive our mountains are. How stunning our lakes are. But to really get a feeling for the sheer size and scale of New Zealand’s snow-capped Southern Alps, our glacier covered mountains, you really need to get on a flight above them. Adding a flight onto your Milford Sound trip from Queenstown is the way to do this.

If you don’t want to miss out on the drive, you can book a BUS – CRUISE – FLY package, or alternatively a FLY, CRUISE, BUS package. Which you choose will depend on your budget and the time you have available, but regardless of which you choose – you won’t be disappointed.

Glenorchy Air connects with Southern Discoveries cruises in Milford Sound. There are no shortage of operators running cruises on the fiord, and whilst they all essentially offer the same experience – eg a cruise out to the Tasman sea and back – there is a pretty significant difference in terms of time on the water and on-board commentary.

Southern Discoveries are priced a bit higher than some of the other operators, but it’s worth it for the extra time you have on the water. How many times will you cruise Milford Sound? Not many, if only once, so why not make the most out of your time in this spectacular corner of the world?

Check out the photo gallery below for some photos from my flight to Milford. Photos or words will never do an experience like this justice, but hopefully the gallery below will give you a taste of what to expect.

Milford Sound Scenic Flight Gallery

I was lucky enough to head out on this trip on a bluebird day – nothing but clear blue skies between Queenstown and Milford Sound. However , beware that Fiordland gets over 300 inches of rain per year, so clear blue days are the exception, not the norm! If this is on your NZ bucket list, it’s worth adding an extra day or two in Queenstown as a weather window.

Book this trip now – you’ll be buzzing for days afterwards. I know I was!

Massive thanks to Glenorchy Air and Southern Discoveries for hosting me on this trip. As always, these opinions are my own.