A Doubtful Sound Itinerary from Te Anau
Three nights in Te Anau give you a day on each fiord and one spare for the weather. The plan starts in the lakeside town, where the Doubtful Sound tours from Te Anau leave from Lakefront Drive, and it shrinks to one day or stretches to four.
How many days do you need?
One day is enough to see Doubtful Sound. Three let you see it without hurrying, add Milford Sound and keep a day in hand for weather. Here is how the plan grows.
| Plan | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day | Doubtful Sound from Te Anau, 8 hours 30 to 9 hours | |||
| 2 days | Arrive; the glowworm caves in the evening | Doubtful Sound | ||
| 3 days | Arrive; the glowworm caves | Doubtful Sound | Milford Sound | |
| 4 days | Arrive; the glowworm caves | Doubtful Sound | Milford Sound | Spare: a flight, or a lakeside walk |
The four-day plan is the one to pick if you want a helicopter flight, because weather can ground it. The spare day catches whatever the weather moved.
Day one: arriving in Te Anau
Te Anau is the largest town in Fiordland and its gateway, DOC says. It sits on the shore of Lake Te Anau, and it has the beds, the shops and the coach stops. If you arrive from Queenstown, you drive most of the 2.5 hours that Visit Fiordland gives to Manapouri.
Spend the evening on the Te Anau Glowworm Caves. RealNZ takes you across the lake by boat, then leads a walk and a short boat ride through caves it says are only 12,000 years old, to a grotto lit by glowworms. Photography is not allowed inside, so leave the camera in your bag.
If you arrive early enough to walk, the Kepler Track starts 5 km from town. Its first section follows the lake shore for 5.6 km to Brod Bay, about 1 hour 30 each way, DOC says. A scheduled boat also runs to Brod Bay, so you can walk one way and ride the other. The things to do around the fiord page has more for a first afternoon.
Day two: Doubtful Sound
Take the coach from Lakefront Drive. It drives you to Pearl Harbour in Manapouri, where a boat crosses the lake to West Arm. A coach climbs over Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove, and the cruise begins. You are back in Te Anau eight and a half to nine hours after you left.
With a car, drive the 20 minutes to Manapouri yourself and take the day cruise from the jetty instead: seven hours, at $207. Check in 20 minutes before. On that cruise the engines go off at one point for a moment of silence.
Pack lunch or a card, because food on board is sold, not included. Wear layers and a waterproof whatever the forecast: the cruises run in all weather. The post on the way in, stage by stage walks every leg.
Day three: Milford Sound
Milford Sound is the other famous fiord, and the only one of the fourteen you can drive to. It is 120 km of State Highway 94 from Te Anau, about 2 hours without stops, DOC says. The fiord is 16 km long, and Mitre Peak rises 1,692 m straight out of the water.
No Milford trip here starts in Te Anau. You can drive yourself and book a cruise at the terminal, where the main car park charges NZ$10 an hour. Or, if you are starting the plan in Queenstown, take the small-group Milford day: 13 hours with 15 guests at most, stops in the Eglinton Valley and at Mirror Lakes, a two-hour cruise and a picnic lunch.
Doubtful and Milford are different days. One is long, branching and roadless; the other is short, steep and busy. The page on Doubtful and Milford Sound tours sets them side by side.
That small-group day leaves The Station in Queenstown at 6:30 or 7 am, or collects you from a listed hotel. It breaks at Lake Te Anau on the way in, passes Lake Gunn and goes through the Homer Tunnel, and stops at Pops View on the way home. Booster seats come free for children 7 and under; there is no toilet on the vehicle.
The spare day for weather
Keep it. The cruises run in rain, so rain alone will not move your Doubtful Sound day. What weather does move is the helicopters, which land only when it allows, and your own nerve on a wet mountain road.
If nothing moved, use the day for a flight from Te Anau Airport. The one-hour flight crosses the lake and the ranges to the fiord, with a lookout landing if the weather allows. The 90-minute flight adds Dusky Sound, with a landing above each fiord.
What fits into an evening?
In Te Anau, the glowworm caves or a walk along the lakefront. In Manapouri, the Waiau River runs out of the lake: DOC notes that it played the River Anduin in The Lord of the Rings, and the nearby Kepler Mire played the Dead Marshes.
After a Doubtful Sound day, you may want nothing at all. You will have crossed the lake and the pass twice. Book the caves for the evening before, not the evening after.
What should you pack for three days?
- A waterproof jacket and warm layers, every day. The cruises run in all weather, and the fiord gets around 6 m of rain a year, Visit Fiordland says.
- Insect repellent. The sandflies at the wharves are real.
- Sunscreen, because the clear days are bright on the water.
- Lunch or a card for the Doubtful Sound day. Food on board is sold, and the boats do not take cash.
- Comfortable shoes for the wharves, the coach steps and the lake walks.
If one of your nights is the overnight cruise, the rule is one overnight bag each. Leave the rest of your luggage in the car or at your Te Anau hotel.
How do the days change with the season?
In summer the light runs from about 5:30 am to 9:30 pm, Visit Fiordland says, so the plan has room to spare, and the southern rata flowers red along the shore. In winter the light runs from about 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, but the weather is at its most settled.
Spring brings more wind and rain, and autumn cooler mornings and mist in the arms. The cruises sail through all of it. The best time to visit page weighs the four seasons, and the guide to the fiord in winter covers the short days in detail.
If you only have one day, which trip?
From Te Anau without a car, the coach day, from $216. With a car, the day cruise from Manapouri, which is shorter and costs less. With only a morning, the one-hour helicopter flight, from $547.
If your one day is in Queenstown, the day trip from 88 Beach Street runs 12 to 13 hours. The guide on which trip to book compares every format.
If you are coming from Queenstown, what changes?
Everything gets longer. Visit Fiordland says to allow an extra four hours for either fiord as a day trip from Queenstown, so the plan above becomes two very long days rather than two comfortable ones.
The 3-day trip from Queenstown is this itinerary in a package. It drives you to Te Anau, takes you to the glowworm caves and puts you in a 3-star hotel, then sails you out for a night on the fiord with dinner, and drives you home on day three. It is $1,239 and non-refundable.
Where should you stay?
Te Anau, for the choice of beds and the coach stop on Lakefront Drive. Manapouri, DOC's second town of Fiordland, is quieter and about 20 minutes closer to the jetty.
If you drive to the day cruise, sleeping in Manapouri saves the morning drive before a 20-minute check-in. If you take the coach, Te Anau is the easier base.
Book early for a summer date. Both towns are small, and the overnight cruise has only 36 places if you want to spend one of your nights on the fiord instead.
What does the plan cost?
The Doubtful Sound day is $216 to $221 a person from Te Anau, or $207 from Manapouri. The Milford day from Queenstown is $213, and a helicopter flight $547 to $897. The glowworm caves are booked with RealNZ.
No fiord charges an entry fee. The full list of fares shows what each one carries.
Frequently asked questions
How many days should I spend around Te Anau?
Do I need a car for this itinerary?
Which fiord should I do first?
Can I follow this plan from Queenstown?
Can I see Doubtful and Milford Sound on one tour?
What happens if it rains?
What should I bring?
Trips that fit three days
From Te Anau: Doubtful Sound Coach & Cruise
Eight and a half hours from Lakefront Drive in Te Anau: the coach to Manapouri, the lake, the pass and a 3-hour cruise. Food on sale on board, card only.
From $216 per person
Check Availability
Premium Milford Sound Small Group Tour & Cruise from Queenstown
Milford Sound, not Doubtful: thirteen hours from Queenstown with 15 guests at most, road stops in the valley, a two-hour cruise and a picnic lunch.
From $213 per person
Check Availability
3 Day Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise and Glowworm Tour from Queenstown
Three days from Queenstown: a hotel night in Te Anau with the glowworm caves, then a night at anchor on the fiord with dinner. Non-refundable.
From $1,239 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Fix your three days, then book the Doubtful Sound day first. Every fare sits side by side on Doubtful Sound Tours.