Three Day Itinerary: Te Anau, New Zealand

Three Days in Te Anau: Itinerary for the Gateway to Fiorldland National Park

As the gateway to Fiordland National Park, Te Anau is a great place to base on the South Island of New Zealand. We spent three glorious days here and share our full itinerary, hitting the best of the best in the area.

When we went

We visited New Zealand in January/February 2025. This is the height of summer here, and we found the weather to be glorious. The mornings started off a bit cooler and then gradually became comfortable and warm with temperatures into the 60s-70s during the day.

Where we stayed

We stayed at Radfords on the Lake, which we loved! All rooms face Lake Te Anau with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors for incredible views. Our room was very comfortable with a kitchenette and laundry on site. It was a great place to stay for our time in Te Anau and we would absolutely stay here again!

Radford’s on the Lake | Te Anau, New Zealand

This is a “what we did” itinerary, which makes it easy for you to follow along or tweak and adjust based on number of days you have or your specific interests. For more in-depth information, see linked articles. These individual guides share lots of additional info, planning tips, and photos!

DAY 1

On Today’s Agenda:

Drive from Wanaka to Queenstown
Onsen Hot Pools, Queenstown
Lunch: Queenstown
Drive from Queenstown to Te Anau
Check in to hotel
Dinner: Redcliff Cafe

We departed Wanaka, a place we came to love, but had more adventures ahead in Te Anau. Our first stop on the drive from Wanaka was back to Queenstown where we enjoyed some pampering at Onsen Hot Pools.

Onsen Hot Pools has received many accolades as a top spa in Queenstown. The word “onsen” means hot pools in Japanese, although these hot pools offer a “kiwi twist”, as they remain at 38.5 degrees celcius, perfect for enjoying year-round. The hot pools are part of the Soak & Spa packages, which is what we did.

Onsen Hot Pools | Queenstown, New Zealand

We parked in the small lot and walked down several steps to the entrance. After checking in, we selected what beverage we wanted (coffee, tea, or rosé wine) to enjoy during our time in the hot pool.

The 45 minute soak in hot spring water while taking in the views over the Shotover River was a great way to start the day.

View of the Shotover River from the Onsen Hot Pools

Next it was time for a massage, which was one of the best massages ever! This was especially appreciated after our 10 mile hike the day prior!

When we were done with our experience, we relaxed in the comfortable lobby with tea and chocolate. The Onsen Hot Pools was fabulous!

We ate lunch in Queenstown, at the World Bar, a nice spot for an outdoor lunch. From here it was about a two hour drive to Te Anau.

Upon arrival into Te Anau, we checked in to our hotel, Radfords on the Lake, unpacked, and headed out to dinner.

Dinner tonight was at a special place, Redcliff Cafe. The restaurant is in a quaint and unassuming house with various rooms as dining spaces. There is also a nice biergarten out back, where many families were hanging out. Our meal here was phenomenal! We both remarked that it was one of the best meals we have ever had.

Redcliff Cafe | Te Anau, New Zealand

Redcliff’s claim to fame is the fact that the Lord of the Rings crew dined here frequently during filming. The high quality dining experience coupled with the Lord of the Rings connection definitely made the experience here memorable!

Signed shirt by Lord of the Rings Crew

DAY 2

On Today’s Agenda:

Drive Milford Road, allowing for many stops!
Cruise the Milford Sound
Lunch: Picnic at Cascade Creek
Te Anau Glow Worm Caves
Dinner: Water Bar

One of the most popular places to visit in New Zealand is the Milford Sound, and taking a day cruise is the best way to see it. The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is along Milford Road, with many worthwhile stops along the way. When I checked in to our hotel, the proprietor shared a map, highlighting all her recommended stops from Te Anau to Milford Sound. This was very helpful as we narrowed down our stops.

MORE INFORMATION ON MILFORD SOUND

We have a full guide on driving Milford Road with all our stops as well as our experience cruising Milford Sound: Guide to Cruising Milford Sound + Driving Milford Road

Lake Te Anau | Milford Road

Trail on The Chasm | Milford Road

The drive on Milford Road from Te Anau to Milford Sound takes approximately two hours without stops. We played it safe, giving ourselves three hours and it worked out perfectly. We had plenty of time at the stops we planned out and arrived at Milford Sound with enough time to park and walk to the visitors center.

Milford Sound

When we arrived at the visitors center, we checked in with Real NZ, the company we booked our cruise with, and retrieved our boarding voucher. We then joined the line that had formed to board the cruise.

Our boat with Real NZ for the Milford Sound Cruise

While cruising the Milford Sound you see beautiful waterfalls trickle down the majestic verdant mountains and massive cliffs jutting into the sea.

Milford Sound

Keep your eyes out for sea life as seals and penguins frequent the area. During our cruise we saw seals sunbathing on a rock!

Seals on a rock

The whole cruise took about three hours. We arrived back where we started and headed back on Milford Road.

One thing to note while driving in New Zealand is the inevitable road stops for crossing sheep!

Inevitable sheep crossing | Milford Road

This can delay a good 20-30 minutes, as was our experience on two different occasions!

We had a lovely picnic lunch at Cascade Creek along Milford Road. What a beautiful location for dining outdoors!

Picnic spot at Cascade Creek | Milford Road

In the late afternoon, we had another reservation with Real NZ, this time for a tour of the Te Anau Glowworm Caves. To reach the caves, our tour began with a 30 minute cruise across Lake Te Anau.

Cruise on Lake Te Anau to reach the glowworm caves

Upon arrival at the dock, we disembarked and were split into groups of 12 where our guide led us on a path to the cave entrance.

The beach at the glowworm caves | Te Anau

In the cave, we walked quietly on the walkways, listening to our guide talk about the glowworms we would soon be seeing. We arrived at our boat and began our journey through the cave. In the distance we could hear rushing water from waterfalls within the cave.

Looking ahead into pitch black darkness, suddenly small glowing lights came into focus. It was a surreal experience, as we got closer to the glowworms. Our guide told us that everyone’s eyes see the glow worms differently. Some people see white, some see blue, and some see green. For me, what looked like a sudden display of constellations were little blue lights on the cave wall and ceiling. As we completed our tour, we were all mesmerized at this amazing natural phenomenon.

We were guided out of the cave to the nature center to the back deck area where he talked about the flora in the area.

The nature center at the glowworm caves | Te Anau, New Zealand

I appreciated the educational aspect and how it was an immersive learning experience. We weren’t simply shown the glowworms in a quick cycle through the cave, rather the guides took their time to explain the flora and fauna of the area and answered many questions about the glowworms.

The last part of the tour was in the nature center where we could enjoy a coffee or tea while another guide took us through the life cycle of a glowworm. All in all it was a great experience and I cannot recommend it enough!

Dinner tonight was at the Explorer Bar, located at the Distinction Hotel. Our hotel proprietor highly recommended it and it was a great dining experience. The location is fantastic, with beautiful views of Lake Te Anau. The Distinction Hotel has a large on-site restaurant, MacKinnon’s, however our hotel proprietor recommended the Explorer Bar for its quiet and quaint atmosphere, which we appreciated as well. Not only was the atmosphere great as well as the views, but our server was fantastic and the food phenomenal!

The Explorer Bar | Te Anau, New Zealand

We enjoyed another great meal this evening, ending a wonderful day in Te Anau.

DAY 3

On Today’s Agenda:

Hike part of the Kepler Track
Lunch: Picnic at Brod Bay Campsite
Visit the Fiordland National Park Visitor’s Center
Movie at Fiordland Cinema
Dinner: Water Bar (again!)

Our morning began with hiking part of the Kepler Track, a popular multi-day hike in Te Anau. We planned out our hike to take us to the Brod Bay Campground, about 3.5 miles in, have our picnic lunch, and then hike back.

Kepler Track | Te Anau, New Zealand

The hike takes you through a beautiful fern-filled trail, which was so serene.

Kepler Track | Te Anau, New Zealand

We passed a few other people, excitedly beginning the multi-day Kepler Track.

This was a great hike with minimal elevation, amongst the beautiful flora found in New Zealand. We kept our eyes peeled for kiwi birds that inhabit the area but didn’t see any during our day hike.

We stopped at the Brod Bay Picnic area to enjoy our picnic lunch before heading back the way we came. Hiking this part of the Kepler Track was a nice, easy, and beautiful hike!

Our picnic spot and turn-around-point on the Kepler Track | Te Anau, New Zealand

We also made a brief stop at Fiordland National Park Visitor’s Center.

Fiordland Visitor’s Center | Te Anau, New Zealand

This is not worth a stop, in my opinion. As New Zealand’s largest national park, I expected there to be a lot of information and displays, however it was mainly a gift shop with a couple of park rangers on hand to answer questions about hikes and to make reservations at the shelters. We only spent about five minutes here and went on with our day.

Another cinema was on the agenda for a night out in New Zealand. This evening we headed to Fiordland Cinema to watch the daily showing of Ata Whenua – Shadlowland, a beautiful 30-minute film on New Zealand’s natural wonders.

Fiordland Cinema | Te Anau, New Zealand

We purchased our tickets plus a glass of New Zealand wine to accompany our movie watching experience!

For dinner we decided to dine once again at the Water Bar. It was on the way back to our hotel and this time we sat outside, enjoying the beautiful views of Lake Te Anau in the summer sun. Our food and drinks were great and the service fantastic, so why not dine here twice?!

The next morning it was time to leave Te Anau to drive back to Queenstown and then fly back to Sydney, Australia where we began our journey to this part of the world. We had an amazing time in Te Anau, seeing all that this small town in Fiordland had to offer. From the beautiful Milford Sound to all the amazing stops on Milford Road to hiking the stunning Kepler Track to the lovely experiences dining and going to the cinema in town, we highly recommend a stay in Te Anau while visiting Fiordland.