Experts in Tailor-Made
Antarctica Tours
Covid-19 Update: South America Travel – Countries are open for travel!
South America is open for travel! Our partners are eager to start planning your trip!
Read More ⌄
Top 3 Antarctica Tours & Trips
Build Your Own Custom Tour for ANY Number of
Days / Nights Custom Pricing (based on length & options)
Choose your Destinations and Activities. We’ll spice it with tips & ideas to create the perfect tour! ...
Click your preferences: Destinations & Activities. Be as specific or general as you like - or click Help Me Decide! We'll spice it with hidden gems & personal tips to create your perfect trip.
If you have an additional 30 seconds we’d love to learn more about you…
Custom Tour Planning
Things to Do in Antarctica & Related Experiences
Your info is safe! We never share your data with 3rd parties.
* Required
Places to Visit In Antarctica
If you’ve ever dreamed of visiting all 7 continents, and seeing where penguins and whales live without the constant intrusion of humans, or where the most hard-boiled adventurers of the early 20th century risked their lives to compete for international fame, Antarctica is the place to visit. For a complete Antarctic exploration, make sure to add the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetlands, and the various islands of Antarctica to your tour or cruise itinerary. These are all integral parts of an Antarctica trip package. Spot all types of penguins, marvel at large ice sculptures, look out for rare bird species, all while aboard a luxurious cruise ship or on exciting land-based excursions.
Antarctic Peninsula Cruises & Tours
Trips to Antarctica almost always include several days visiting the Antarctic Peninsula. This is the finger of land that reaches up towards the southernmost tip of South America. Most tours to Antarctica spend the majority of the time cruising around the peninsula with regular zodiac-landings for land-based excursions. The Antarctic Peninsula is a highly varied area and extremely rich in wildlife including penguins, seals, and whales.
On a typical trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, different types of penguins will be seen, usually in huge numbers. Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins are the most frequently seen species on the peninsula. Crabeater seals are often spotted, so too are fur seals and leopard seals. Seals can often be found laying on top of small icebergs floating around just off the shore. Penguins are by no means the only birds found in Antarctica, skuas are common too and snow petrels can be found on the peninsula too.
The Antarctic Peninsula has a number of scientific bases belonging to a range of different nations. Many cruises will include a visit to a scientific base, for example, the Ukrainian base of Vernadsky or the historic British base at Port Lockroy from where postcards can be sent home. Some bases will even put an Antarctica stamp in your passport! There are also other interesting sights such as Shackleton’s Hut and other research stations.
The South Shetlands
The South Shetlands are the first sign that Antarctica is nearing if coming on a cruise across the Drake Passage. If taking a fly-cruise, King George Island in the South Shetlands is where flights arrive. The islands are about 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula – or about half a day by boat. Many, but not all Antarctic cruises include at least one stop in the South Shetlands.
The islands have a rich history relating to the first explorers to reach Antarctica. Elephant Island is a popular stop and has a large colony of chinstrap penguins. Deception Island is formed of an active volcano with the caldera flooded by the sea. Ships carefully navigate their way into the caldera and landings can be made to visit the remains of an old Norwegian whaling station and British World War II military base. The heat of the volcano warms the seawater a little and it is often possible to swim here. Livingstone Island can also be visited on some Antarctica tours and is rich in birdlife with macaroni, Gentoo and chinstrap penguins as well as giant petrels. Rather gruesomely a stop on this Antarctic island often includes a visit to see the iron vessel in which seal blubber was boiled by American sealers in the early 19th century.
Guests Often Combine Antarctica Cruises & Tours With
Popular Antarctica Tours & Cruises
Wondering how to get to Antarctica? There are two main ways to travel to Antarctica. The first is to sail from Ushuaia in the very south of Argentina for a couple of days across the Drake Passage to reach Antarctica. This is the most common way to visit and can be seen in our Best Antarctica Ushuaia Cruise Tour. Crossing the Drake Passage is an experience in itself, and gives you a sense of just how remote Antarctica is. Lectures are given on the way about the wildlife and history of Antarctica. However, the seas are usually very rough so those prone to seasickness may well prefer the second option.
The second way to travel to Antarctica is to take a flight from Punta Arenas in southern Chile to King George Island – the largest of the South Shetlands. On King George Island you meet your ship and cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula without the need to endure the rough seas of the Drake Passage. The flights are relatively short but are weather dependent, so while fly-cruises are typically shorter than cruises from Ushuaia, additional days need to be built into the itinerary to allow for any flight delay. Both ways of getting to Antarctica have their pros and cons, talk to us for more information and see which most suits your trip.
When planning an Antarctica trip, some time spent in either Chile or Argentina is needed before and after the cruise. Therefore, it makes sense to include a few destinations in either country as part of any of our Argentina tours.
Adding Patagonia to an Antarctica tour is one fantastic option and logistically makes a lot of sense. Patagonia is a great choice for lovers of mountains and wide-open landscapes, so likely the area appeals to anyone interested in Antarctica. We recommend combining a tour of Patagonia, such as our Santiago and Torres del Paine Tour, before traveling to Antarctica, as everything in Antarctica is on a bigger scale, so save the most impressive until last!
After an Antarctic cruise ending in Ushuaia, a nice option is to fly up to the Iguazu Falls for a couple of nights to warm up a little and enjoy a totally different landscape. Buenos Aires is ideal for the start or end of a trip, the stylish city contrasts fantastically with the vast emptiness of Antarctica.
Custom Antarctica Tours
Rather than an Antarctica vacation, think of travel to Antarctica as an expedition or adventure. Due to varying weather conditions, it is common to not know exactly what is coming next on an Antarctica tour, and that is part of the beauty of exploring the white continent. So, pack all your gear, board a comfortable cruise, enjoy delicious meals, educational naturalist lectures, and land excursions with the Zodiac boats. Antarctica tours are a can’t miss for world travelers – get started in 3 easy steps!
5 Best Antarctica Tours for 2024
Tour Name | Price | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Best Antarctica Ushuaia Cruise | from $6140 | 10 Days | Antarctica is among the most beautiful, pristine and least explored places on the planet. Truly exhilarating, mysterious and alluring! Book a cabin... |
Ushuaia to Antarctica Cruise on the Plancius | from $4975 | 11 Days | Embark on this 10 to 20 days Cruise and discover the beauty of Patagonia and the Antarctica. Available From November to March Note: The itinerary is ... |
Download Your Free
South America Travel Guide
Download our FREE South America Travel Guide and get inspired to explore to South America. Browse through 26 pages of travel planning tips and ideas – a great resource for planning your dream vacation.
- Colorful maps and images
- Unique hotels within South America
- Inspiration for cruises, remote lodges and trains
- Wine, golf and adventure ideas
- 24 top tours of South America
Antarctica Travel FAQ’s
Thinking about an Antarctica trip? Here’s a list of frequently asked questions we often hear from our guests. Visit our Antarctica Vacation Planning page for in-depth Antarctica travel tips.
When is the best time to visit Antarctica?
Antarctica, no matter the season, will always be cold, but necessarily as cold as might be imagined. Temperatures typically hover a little either side of freezing during the summer months. During Antarctica’s winter (April – September) it is not possible for tourists to travel to the seventh continent, due to extreme weather conditions. Therefore, the best time to visit Antarctica, and only time, is from October to March – during the “Antarctic Summer”.
Mid-October marks the start of summer and yields the largest icebergs, whereas the end of the season, into February and March, are perfect for whale watching. December and January will yield the highest average temperatures and days of near-endless sunlight, up to 20 hours. However, this is also the most popular time to travel, so planning far in advance is a must.
Is it worth going to Antarctica?
How long is the trip to Antarctica?
Can you go to Antarctica without permission?
Remember, Antarctica is not a country by itself since nobody lives there apart from researchers. Parts of Antarctica are administered by different countries. So the ships get the permissions from the respective administrating country. Having said that, access to the continent is highly restricted. The cruise companies can not land on any beach. Which in part would be pointless. Penguins are not found on any of the beaches and sometimes it is more fun to see those Penguin colonies from a distance. It is an overwhelming landscape that you can enjoy from the boat.
Contact your Antarctica Travel Expert
We Love to Talk About Vacation Ideas!
Thinking of traveling to South America? We take your South American travel dream and make it a reality. Every fully custom South America trip is planned by your own expert personal Travel Consultant.
Contact Your Travel Expert
Planning a Antarctica Trip
Browse all Colombia travel info, including weather, the best time to visit, what to pack, staying healthy and staying connected.