Fly, cruise and coach day trip review
My verdict: this is the only tour on the site that attacks the real problem, which is that the day is twelve hours and the boat is two. You drive in along the Milford Road with the stops and the commentary, cruise for two hours, then fly back to Queenstown in forty minutes and get your afternoon back. Nine hours instead of twelve, in a small vehicle rather than a coach, with lunch packed. Two caveats and both are real: 31 reviews is a thin sample, and the flight depends on the weather. If it cannot fly you come back by road, and the nine-hour day becomes a twelve-hour one.
What you are buying is three hours
Every Queenstown day trip here runs twelve hours or more, and the difference between them is comfort, not clock. This one changes the clock. The road in is the same road — scenic stops, guided commentary, the Homer Tunnel with its 1.2 km of unlined downhill and up to 20 minutes of traffic-light wait in summer — but the return leg is a 40-minute flight instead of 291 km of coach, which is the single biggest saving available on this trip.
The cruise itself is two hours with frequent stops, which is the same time on the water as the full-size coach days give you. The vehicle in is small, there are 16 pickup points and the drop-off is at your hotel. Lunch is a proper picnic: a chicken or vegetarian sandwich, cheese, crackers, chips, a slice and fruit, with tea, coffee, hot chocolate and water on board.
Now the weather. Milford Sound has roughly 182 rain days a year, and a scenic flight is a weather-dependent thing in a way a coach is not. If the flight does not go, you return by road. Nobody I have spoken to has regretted the day when that happened, but you should book it knowing that the nine hours is the good outcome, not the guaranteed one. Everything else about the road day is set out in day tours from Queenstown.
Usually included
- Pickup from 16 Queenstown points and hotel drop-off
- Scenic stops on the way in along the Milford Road
- A 2-hour cruise with frequent stops
- Guided commentary
- A picnic lunch — chicken or vegetarian sandwich, cheese, crackers, chips, a slice and fruit
- Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and water on board
- A 40-minute scenic flight back to Queenstown
Not included
- Drones, which are not carried
- Smoking, alcohol and drugs, which are not permitted
- Any guarantee the flight will operate — if the weather closes in, you return by road
What works
- Nine hours instead of twelve, which is the point of the whole thing
- The flight replaces 291 km of return road and the Homer Tunnel
- A small vehicle rather than a full-size coach
- Lunch, snacks and hot drinks included
- 4.9 rating, hotel drop-off, free cancellation to 24 hours
Worth knowing
- $531 is the highest fare reviewed on this site
- Only 31 reviews — the smallest sample here by some way
- The flight is weather-dependent, in a place with roughly 182 rain days
- If the flight is cancelled you come back by road and lose the time saving
- Drones are not carried, which matters to more visitors than you would think
What passengers say
“A more intimate experience than a coach.”
“Our guide Shelly was incredibly knowledgeable about the fiord area.”
“James was great and made the drive interesting.”
Thirty-one reviews is not enough to draw hard conclusions from, and I would say so on any page. What I can say is that the ones that exist keep praising the drive rather than the flight, which is a good sign for the days when the aircraft stays on the ground.
Who this suits
- Anyone whose Queenstown time is genuinely short
- Travellers who cannot face eight hours seated on the way home
- People who want the road, the fiord and an aerial look in one day
- Anyone who would rather be in a small vehicle with a guide than on a coach
Who should book something else
- Anyone on a budget — the standard coach day reaches the same boat for a third of the price
- Anyone who needs certainty about how the day ends
- Anyone booking their last day in Queenstown, when there is no room to re-run it
- Anyone who would rather cut the driving at the other end, which means the Te Anau day
Book this early in your Queenstown stay rather than on the last day. If the flight is grounded you get the road back, and if the road day is called off for avalanche control in winter you want a spare day to try again.
The road-only alternatives
Small groupPicnic lunch includedQueenstown: Milford Sound Small-Group Tour w Cruise & Lunch
Top pickCoach & 2-hour cruiseFrom Queenstown: Milford Sound Cruise and Coach Day Tour
From Te AnauPicnic lunch includedFrom Te Anau: Milford Sound Coach, Cruise, and Walks
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the scenic flight is cancelled?
You come back by road, and the nine-hour day becomes something much closer to twelve. The flight is weather-dependent and Milford Sound has roughly 182 rain days a year, so plan for the possibility. How to get there explains what the return drive involves.
Is the fly, cruise and coach day worth $531?
It depends what three hours of your holiday is worth to you, because that is what you are buying — the cruise is the same length as on a coach day. If the answer is no, the cheaper small-vehicle option is the small-group tour, and what it all costs lays out the ladder.
Only 31 reviews — should that put me off?
It should make you read them rather than the score. Thirty-one ratings at 4.9 is encouraging but it is not the 3,043 sitting behind the small boat cruise, and I would not treat the two numbers as equivalent. Every rating on this site is listed at the review hub.