Safari to Antarctica

If you are short on time and have a reasonably generous budget, then the best option may be to fly from Punta Arenas in southern Chile down to South Shetland, to meet an expedition ship and spend around 7-9 nights exploring the Antarctic Peninsula.

This is a very efficient way to visit Antarctica and is particularly good for people who want to avoid the potentially heavy crossing of the Darwin Channel from South America.

The costs are typically around USD 15,000-20,000 per person.

Another major advantage of this option is that it is very easy to combine with Torres del Paine in southern Chile, with its fabulous scenery, hiking trails and puma tracking.

the easiest and quickest way

By far the most popular and lowest-cost way to visit Antarctica is to join an expedition ship at Ushuaia in southern Argentina and spend 10-13 nights exploring the Antarctic Peninsula.

The main downside is that these trips inherently include four days out at sea, crossing the famously unpredictable Darwin Channel in both directions. This can be arduous for people who don’t have good sea legs and could be viewed by some as dead time.

On the other hand, the crossing of the Darwin Channel is considered by others as a right of passage, something you should experience to earn the right to visit Antarctica. The excitement certainly builds as you head south.

The costs are typically around USD 9,000-20,000 per person.

We particularly like to combine these expeditions with tracking jaguars in the Pantanal area of Brazil, which makes for a fabulous tropical and polar combination.

the most popular and less expensive option

There is no doubt that the very remote island of South Georgia is one of the greatest wildlife locations on the planet. Longer ocean expeditions that combine the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falklands also usually start and end at Ushuaia in southern Argentina and last 18-24 nights.

Although you definitely need good sea legs to enjoy such an expedition, the more you research it, the more alluring the prospect becomes, even for those who are not naturally attracted to spending a lot of time on boats.

The costs are typically around USD 20,000-30,000 per person.

With expeditions this long, it’s relatively unusual to combine with other elements in South America, but if you have the time, we have plenty of cool ideas!

one of the world’s most amazing wildlife locations

Antarctica East is the section of the southern continent that lies below New Zealand.

It is centred on the famous polar exploring locations around the Ross Sea and ventures south via the islands of the Antipodes.

Extremely few people head down to this part of Antarctica. Remarkably, fewer than one in a thousand visitors to the continent come this way, so there is a real sense of following in the footsteps of explorers.

The area is accessed mainly from New Zealand (occasionally from Australia), with just a handful of ship-based itineraries from 25-35 nights for around USD 750-2500 per person per night.

a fascinating and little-visited area

We now move away from ocean expeditions and turn our attention to trips which fly south to stay in permanent camps in the interior of the white continent.

This first set of options is based out of Cape Town and flies to the remote Queen Maud Land, where there are three rather cool little camps. As well as a host of activities local to the camps, there are further flying extensions to remote penguin colonies and the South Pole itself. Trips typically have a duration of 7 nights, but there are options to tailor-make and there is even a one-day option.

These trips are extremely rare and precious. They are also shockingly expensive, at around USD 100,000 per person for a week. Yes, that’s five zeros!

Another real plus for these trips is that you can add a fabulous safari in some of the best camps in Southern Africa and only bump the total price by maybe ten percent. Although there are issues of contradictory seasons to consider.

extremely expensive, but genuinely cool

Another operator has a camp based inland from the Weddell Sea on the western side of the continent, from where a range of specialised trips focus on all the usual Antarctic activities, including flying visits to the South Pole, plus some pretty extreme skiing, mountaineering and even sky-diving options, usually for around 7 nights.

The accommodation is much more basic than the previous option, but the activities are rather more hardcore.

Trips are similarly pricey, typically coming in at USD 50,000-100,000 per person.

A major advantage of this routing is that it is very easy to combine with Torres del Paine in southern Chile, with its fabulous scenery, hiking trails and puma tracking.

very expensive extreme sports