Where Is the Te Anau Glow Worm Cave?

The Te Anau glow worm cave is on the western shore of Lake Te Anau, across the water from the town, in the Murchison Mountains. There is no walk-in access: the trips leave from the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 85 Lakefront Drive in Te Anau and cross the lake by catamaran, about 15 km by the boat route as mapped. Check in 30 minutes before your departure; check-in closes 5 minutes before. The trip is RealNZ’s Te Anau: Glowworm Caves Guided Tour, 135 minutes from US$72 a person, checked November 2026.

The calendar above is the Te Anau glow worm cave trip, with 3,176 reviews (checked November 2026). Departure times appear once you pick a date.

The check-in on Lakefront Drive

Lakefront Drive runs along the shore in the middle of Te Anau, and several Fiordland businesses share it, so check the number. The glow worm cave trip checks in at the RealNZ Visitor Centre, number 85. Southern Discoveries’ visitor centre at number 80 is where its Milford Sound coach days start; Fiordland Jet’s base is at number 84; and DOC’s Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre is at number 1. Hotel pickup is not part of the cave trip, so plan to walk or drive to number 85 yourself.

Across the lake to the western shore

The catamaran crosses Lake Te Anau to the caves jetty on the far side. There, Cavern House holds displays on the cave’s geology and history and the glow worms seen under light, and a short walk through native bush leads to the entrance. The cave runs into the hillside: about 200 metres of it is open to visitors, along a river that is still shaping it, with the silent glow worm grotto at the end. The whole trip, lakefront back to lakefront, takes 135 minutes; an evening departure may make one or both crossings in the dark.

Getting to Te Anau from Queenstown

From Queenstown it is about 172 km by road, routed from the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street in Queenstown to the one at 85 Lakefront Drive in Te Anau. RealNZ’s figure for the trip is about 2 hours 45 minutes by car or coach. None of the GetYourGuide listings from Queenstown enters the cave. The Milford Sound coach days from Queenstown pass through Te Anau, and RealNZ's Milford Sound day from Queenstown stops there for 30 minutes on the way out, but the cave is a separate trip from the Te Anau lakefront. To see it, spend a night in Te Anau, or allow for two drives of about 2 hours 45 minutes each, on top of the trip and check-in.

From Manapouri and Milford Sound

Manapouri, where the Doubtful Sound trips cross Lake Manapouri, is 22 km by road from Te Anau, about 30 minutes. Milford Sound is about 119 km by road from the RealNZ Visitor Centre in Te Anau to the Milford Sound Visitor Terminal, so a Milford day and the cave fit on consecutive days from a base in Te Anau. Milford or Doubtful Sound has the map and the day trips.

Check dates for the cave