Alternative to Te Anau

I think I'm going to book a day trip to Te Anau from Queenstown, even though it is a long day.

Do you mean to Milford Sound for the cruise?

Lake Tekapo is nice, but Lake Pukaki through to Aoraki/Mt Cook is vastly more scenic.

I think I'm going to book a day trip to Te Anau from Queenstown, even though it is a long day.

Do you mean to Milford Sound for the cruise?

Lake Tekapo is nice, but Lake Pukaki through to Aoraki/Mt Cook is vastly more scenic.

Sorry, I meant a day trip to Milford Sound :) I know it's a long day of travelling but I've gotten used to sitting on coaches by now...

I will check out Pukaki now, thank you for the suggestion :)

Glenorchy is the younger version of Queenstown. A very quite place but the surrounding is beautiful (a car is a must). Many scenes in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbits were filmed here.

Recommend spending a night in Milford Sound to experience the place before and after the day trippers are gone. Do overnight cruise in the Doubtful Sound and day cruise on the Milford should be fine.

Queenstown and 200km around it is the best of NZ. I could spend a month or two there, though very expensive.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/youngadventure/albums/72157656359104501

Obviously everyones priorities are different, but I would definitely recommend staying in Te Anau over a day trip from Queenstown. I know the buses stop at a couple of spots but it is a gorgeous drive and you will miss a lot on the bus. It also means that you will have no choice but to be on the crowded lunchtime cruise with everyone else. If you self drive you can do one of the less crowded cruises. I was there in the middle of winter and the drive in was stunning. We stayed at Te anau the night before, drove in and did the afternoon cruise then stayed at Milford (nothing there other than the cruise but we figured the drive out after dark may not be a good idea in winter) then another night at Te Anau on the way back to Queenstown. We had one other family of 4 on our cruise and it was amazing. Obviously its not like that in peak times but I still think self drive is the way to go if you have that option.

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