Getting To 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 with the wet and wintery weather.
For information about conditions on the Milford Road visit NZ Transport Agency.
Image below: Near Homer Tunnel, by edwin.11, on flickr.

There are various sightseeing operators travelling into Milford Sound all year round with options for all group sizes and budgets.

GreatSights operates 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 stunning scenic cruise and a range of lunch options. In the summer months awesomeNZ provides small sightseeing day tour to Milford Sound by glass-roof coach with English commentary. The cruise is 2 hours 15 minutes – one of the longest and most in depth cruises available, including roving nature guides. Snackbox lunches are available.

More details on tours at greatsights.co.nz or awesomenz.com

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).

If you are an independent traveller making your way around New Zealand, InterCity Coachlines offers you three great coach pass options. All give you the option to travel into Milford Sound and in many cases include a cruise through the Sound. There are great ranges for every type of traveller and travellers budget. TRAVELPASS has many great pre-planned itinerary based passes to choose from.

Flexipass is based on hours of travel whereas Flexitrips is based on trips used. You can add various amounts of hours or trips to your pass which lets you travel as much as you'd like. Both passes are valid for 12 months and all passes give you the freedom to decide where you want to go and at your own pace.