Milford Sound – a Tourist Trap, or just Touristy?

‘You have to go to Milford Sound’, I don’t remember who told me to do it because I’ve heard it from so many people. Everybody says it’s so beautiful, it’s the most amazing place in New Zealand. ‘Go on a cruise. It’s worth it.’ As always, I went on bookme and found lots of boat cruise deals. I looked at the photos of the boats and chose the boat with the biggest upper deck for 59 NZD.

The upper deck on the biggest boat cruising the Sound, Southern Discoveries

Okay, I admit it was beautiful. I managed to time the boat cruise with the weather. It was a beautiful day; sunny, blue sky with only a few clouds passing by. Sitting on the deck with the sun shining in my face was quite nice. It wouldn’t have been the same thing had it been raining and I’d been sitting next to screaming children on the lower deck.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Milford Sound is not like the majestic Fjords in Norway, it’s more like the younger, pretty sister. Don’t get me wrong. The people I spoke to, who hadnever been to Norway, loved the boat cruise and thought it was one of the highlights of their trip to New Zealand.

Do I recommend boat cruises on Milford Sound? Yes, but not at full price. Try to find a good deal on bookme.com, and try to go on a sunny day. When the weather is good, Milford Sound is worth the four-hour return from Te Anau, or nine-hour return from Queenstown. You won’t be able to avoid the crowds all together, but I recommend taking the first cruise in the morning or late afternoon. Most people go on the 10 am to 12 pm cruises. There are several companies that offer boat cruises, some are bigger like my boat, some are smaller. I saw the smaller boats (Jucy Cruize) packed with people on the upper deck and it didn’t look very comfortable. If I’d ever go to Milford Sound again, I’d go on the boat you see in the photo below.

If I ever went on another cruise I’d choose this boat, Real Journeys