Milford Track

The Milford Track is an iconic 33.5-mile hiking trail in Fiordland National Park and is considered one of the world's greatest walks, offering breathtaking views of mountain peaks, glacial valleys, and beautiful lakes.

The Milford Track takes four days and three nights to complete, with stays in huts along the trail. The track starts at the head of Lake Te Anau (you'll need a boat ride to get to the trailhead) and finishes at Sandfly Point, near a picturesque Milford Sound.

The Milford Track is open from late October to late April and requires bookings for huts and campsites far in advance, as soon as the booking opens.

Logistics tip. This is a one-way trail starting at the Te Anau Downs ferry and ending in Milford Sound, an hour drive away. We recommend parking your car at Te Anau Downs, completing the track, spending time in Milford Sound, and then taking one of many buses from the bus station heading to Te Anau. Just check that they make a stop at Te Anau Downs ferry parking.

Booking tip for late planners. We started planning our trip to New Zealand just two months in advance, and the huts on Milford Track were fully booked by that time. We still decided to go and just checked the booking website every day for cancellations. A few days before departure we got lucky and snatched a cancellation with the starting day just two days off from our initial plan. We had to reshuffle a good part of the trip and drove 12 hours straight in one day from Wellington to make the start of this hike. But in the end, as usual – it was all worth it!