Things to do in Te Anau (without a car)

Te Anau is a very small town on Lake Te Anau, the second largest lake in New Zealand. While the town might not have anything special, the surrounding nature is incredible. I spent three full days here, including a hike on the Kepler Track and day tours of both Milford and Doubtful Sounds.

For more on New Zealand and getting around without a car, see my full guide here.

Lake Te Anau at sunrise

Hiking in Te Anau

The Kepler Track, one of the Great Walks, starts pretty much in the town of Te Anau. If you have a full day, hiking the section of the track up to the summit of Mt Luxmore is doable in that time. You can take a water taxi across the lake to Brod Bay to shave off an hour of the walk if you are pressed for time or want to save your legs. Book this in advance through Kepler Water Taxi online - they have a boat every hour for the morning, and then back in the afternoons, and it costs NZ$25 per adult for a return trip.

The trail starts uphill in the forest until you break above the tree line about an hour in. From the tree line, it’s fairly flat to the Luxmore Hut, and then it’s incline up to the summit. The views up there are well worth the climb. The round trip for the hike (taking the water taxi) took me about 4.5 - 5 hours including lunch at the summit.

The View from Mt Luxmore

Milford Sound

If Milford Sound is on your bucket list, I strongly recommend taking the tour from Te Anau rather than Queenstown. It firstly won’t be as early of a start, with some tours in Queenstown leaving at 5am, but it also will be less time sitting on the bus. I booked my tour with Pure Milford for £80 on Get Your Guide, and it was great. It included all transportation, lots of scenic stops along the road, lunch, and a cruise on Milford Sound.

Milford Sound

I recommend choosing the earlier option if possible, to avoid bigger crowds and more boats later in the day. The scenery is out of this world, and I was lucky enough to have Milford Sound in full sunshine. It’s pretty rare, but rain or shine this place is magical.

Mirror Lakes en route to Milford Sound

Doubtful Sound

The much less visited Doubtful Sound is located nearby Milford Sound, and in my opinion was much more impressive. I booked a tour through Real NZ in their office in the town of Te Anau. Again, I recommend going with the earlier option. While it was twice the price of my Milford Sound tour, it was worth it. It was an earlier start and we got taken to the harbour at Lake Manipuri, which we crossed as the morning mist was lifting off the lake. It was gorgeous.

Lake Manapouri

We got transferred to a bus on the other side, taken up and over a mountain pass which had a great view of Doubtful Sound, and then headed back down the other side to board the cruise on the Sound itself. We were treated to a visit by several dolphins, seals, and got to experience the ‘Sound of Silence’ which was unforgettable. I cannot recommend this enough.

Te Anau is off the typical route of New Zealand’s South Island, but it is well worth the visit. I loved how peaceful it was. Please take care of the places you visit, and as always, only leave your footprints behind :)