Taking a boat trip through Milford Sound
Summary
One of the natural highlights in a country already blessed with world class natural scenery, the fiords of Milford Sound and its surrounding forests are simply beautiful and deserve all the accolades. A must on a visit to the South Island
highlights
#1 Seeing the magnificent fiord from one of the boat trips from Milford Sound Village
#2 Hearing the booming waterfalls emptying into the fjord
#3 The stunning drive along Milford Road on the way from Te Anau to Milford Sound
#4 Getting the chance to see some of local wildlife from the boat in the fiord
Travel Tips
- Cruise – it would be silly to come all this way and not see Milford Sound from the water. There are a heaps of cruise options from 1.5hour to overnight. We went with the standard 3hours and that felt about right
- Getting there – many people fly from Queenstown to Milford Sound. But, if you have the time, instead drive along the stunning Milford Road from the lakeside town of Te Anau
- Kayak – I wish we’d spent some time doing an activity in the water like kayaking. Be sure to arrange it with a water taxi back
- Rain – its rains A LOT in this part of New Zealand (7m / 23 feet a year). Be prepared with waterproofs, but also for the pleasant rainbows you’ll see from the waterfalls
- Penguins and dolphins – keep an eye out fr the variety of marine life on your cruise. We were fortunate enough to see dolphins and a solitary penguin (ahhhhh . . .)
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Beautiful Boat Trips around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone