Though characterised by the remoteness of the area Milford Sound receives large numbers of visitors every year. Road access to Milford Sound is restricted to the Milford Road (SH 94) which runs north from Te Anau and along the edge of the Fiordland National Park before entering it close to the headwaters of the Eglinton River. From there it crosses the northwest corner of the park, reaching its end at Milford Sound.
In 1954, after 19 years of work, the Homer Tunnel was opened introducing road access to Milford Sound. Although the tunnel is wide enough for a bus and a small vehicle to pass, traffic lights now operate during the summer months. The tunnel is a reasonably steep 1:10 gradient running East to West.
Milford Sound is 295km from Queenstown (4 hours 15 minutes) and 121km from Te Anau (2 hours 15 minutes). The road passes through unspoiled mountain landscapes before entering the 1.2km Homer Tunnel which emerges into rain-forest-carpeted canyons that descend to the sound.
The Milford Road, while of a very high standard, is prone to avalanches. During the winter months snow falls regularly. The long distances involved prompt many visitors to visit Milford Sound on a sightseeing coach tour. A number of options are available from Queenstown and Te Anau. As the return journey is back along the Milford Road, many visitors choose to return by scenic flight.
For more information about the Milford Road and travelling conditions visit the NZ Transport Agency website.
GreatSights operates year-round sightseeing day tours from Queenstown and Te Anau to Milford Sound. Day tours are by glass-roof, toilet equipped coaches. Drivers provide an expert commentary in English and headsets are available providing multilingual commentary in Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese. Tours include a scenic cruise and a range of lunch options.
In the summer months awesomeNZ provides a sightseeing day tour to Milford Sound by glass-roof coach. These Milford Sound Cruise tours are for smaller groups and the commentary is in English only. The cruise is a 2 hours 15 minutes – one of the longest and most in depth cruises available, including roving nature guides. Snackbox lunches are available.
If you are making your way around New Zealand InterCity Coachlines offers the independent traveller three coach pass options. All give you the option to travel into Milford Sound and in many cases include a cruise through the Sound. TRAVELPASS has many great itinerary based passes to choose from, where as flexipass is based on hours of travel and flexitrips is based on trips used. All passes give you the freedom to decide where you want to go and at your own pace.
Visitors who have entered Milford Sound by coach can return to Queenstown by scenic flight. Flying over hanging valleys, rugged coastline, and alpine lakes, the return provides a memorable return of scenic splendour. GreatSights offers a pre-booked coach-cruise-flight package which can also be booked through the driver on the day. Visit Milford Sound Scenic Flights for more information.
The Milford Road is one of the more dangerous public roads in New Zealand, with injury crash rates around 65% higher than the rest of New Zealand's network, and a fatality crash rate of almost twice average (per vehicle kilometre travelled). Stopping is prohibited on long stretches due to rock or snow avalanche dangers, and the road is often closed in winter, with the carrying of snow chains mandatory during snow conditions.
There are also no petrol stations on the whole length of the road from Te Anau to the Sound, meaning that vehicles need to take enough fuel for a return trip. Visitors are encouraged to visit the Sound via coach or aircraft.
