This post is about how to get to Te Anau from Queenstown.
What is the most popular way to get from Queenstown to Te Anau?
Driving your own car.
How far is Te Anau from Queenstown?
171km (106-miles), which will take 2 – 2.5 hours by car (non-stop).
If driving isn’t an option for you, there are at least four more options below.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Drive
2. Organised tours
3. Bus/shuttle
4. Helicopter/Plane
5. Hitchhike
HOW TO GET TO TE ANAU FROM QUEENSTOWN
1. THE QUEENSTOWN TO TE ANAU DRIVE
The Takahe statue in Te Anau
The Queenstown to Te Anau drive takes a little over two hours according to Google Maps.
In my experience, you should be prepared to take up to 2 hours and 30 minutes, if you’re not stopping. The road is relatively straight by South Island standards, but do take care, particularly in winter.
There are a few places you can stop off along the way:
- Welcome Rock hiking and biking trails.
- Take a detour to Movora Lakes.
- Ride the Kingston Flyer.
- Take a break and eat at Five Rivers Cafe.
By the time you do a few of these activities, you’ll have filled in a day while breaking up the drive.
2. ORGANISED TOURS TO TE ANAU
I couldn’t find any organized day trips from Queenstown to Te Anau.
That said, there are lots of tour providers who offer day trips to Milford Sound from Queenstown. So you could join one of these tours, take your luggage (within reason) and request a drop off in Te Anau after the tour.
You’re best to ask the providers if this is okay in advance.
Here are a couple of options:
- Milford Sound Coach Tour & Lunch Cruise from Queenstown
- Queenstown: Milford Sound Coach & Cruise Day Trip
- Milford Sound Coach & Nature Cruise Day Trip from Queenstown
3. THE QUEENSTOWN TO TE ANAU BUS/SHUTTLE
Beautifully still Lake Te Anau
InterCity
At the time of writing, InterCity have a Queenstown to Te Anau bus departing several times a week at 7.40 am. The ride takes 2 hours and 5 minutes with prices starting from $40 for adults and $27 for children.
The days that the service doesn’t run varies when I do a search on the Intercity website so it’s best to look at various dates that may work for you.
And the service will sell out during peak periods.
Tracknet
Tracknet operates a winter and summer bus timetable between Queenstown and Te Anau which helps you with your Kepler Track transport worries.
Tracknet charges $49 for adults and $36 for children (one way) at the time of writing. So while it’s a little bit more expensive, they run a more regular service than InterCity, the same goes with both services from Queenstown to Milford Sound.
You can often get away with last-minute bookings…but do book online if you know when you’re going exactly.
4. HELICOPTER/PLANE
The Te Anau Airport Manapouri has no scheduled flights arriving at the airport, but it’s possible to get a helicopter or chartered place from Queenstown.
Once you’ve arrived at the airport, you’re about a 15-minute drive from the centre of Te Anau.
You’ll need to arrange these flights yourself (or your hotel will be able to point you in the right direction). A reputable company to start with is Air Milford.
You can look at the Te Anau Airport website for more information.
RELATED: THINGS TO DO IN MANAPOURI
5. HITCHHIKING TO TE ANAU
The sunrise from the hitchhiking spot near Jack’s Point.
It’s easy enough to hitchhike from Queenstown to Te Anau
There are two main places people will hitchhike from, I prefer the latter option below.
Both require getting a bus to the Frankton Bus Terminal if you’re staying in Queenstown itself. You could walk along the Frankton Walkway, but the bus is only $2 with a Bee Card.
From Frankton Bus Terminus, you can cross the road and start hitchhiking from there. But that’s going to have a lot of traffic going a short distance passing you.
I prefer catching the #4 bus from Frankton Bus Terminus to Jack’s Point (you can get a free transfer with the Bee Card).
This takes you out beyond where most of the traffic has turned off. The spot to stand near this T-junction isn’t the best for hitchhiking but cars can pull over safely.
I go into more details on exactly how to get to this spot on my post about hitchhiking out of Queenstown.
If you have any questions about how to get from Queenstown to Te Anau leave a comment below or email me jub@churnewzealand.com
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Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.