Antarctica Destinations

Where You Will Go

The regions an Antarctica cruise visits

Most people picture Antarctica as one vast white plateau, and the interior is exactly that. But the parts that expedition ships can reach are wonderfully varied, and each voyage combines them in a different way. Almost every voyage spends its days on the ice around the Antarctic Peninsula, the mountainous arm of the continent that reaches up towards South America. Here you will find the gentoo colonies of Neko Harbour and Cuverville Island, the narrow Lemaire Channel and the Penguin Post Office at Port Lockroy.

On the way there you will usually pass the South Shetland Islands, a chain of volcanic islands where you can sail inside the flooded caldera of Deception Island. Some voyages push further: east through the Antarctic Sound into the Weddell Sea, land of tabular icebergs and the wreck of Shackleton's Endurance, or south across the Antarctic Circle into Marguerite Bay, with its Adélie penguins and preserved research huts.

The longer voyages add the islands of the Southern Ocean. South Georgia is for many the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth, with hundreds of thousands of king penguins and Shackleton's grave at Grytviken. The Falkland Islands bring rockhopper penguins, black browed albatrosses and the very British town of Stanley. And every voyage includes the Drake Passage, the famous stretch of ocean between Cape Horn and Antarctica, along with a stay in one of the gateway cities of Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Santiago or Punta Arenas.

Quick Facts

Antarctica in numbers

Area

About 5.5 million square miles

Highest point

Vinson Massif, 4,892 m

Coldest recorded

Minus 89.2°C

Antarctic Treaty

Signed 1959

• Size. At about 5.5 million square miles (14 million sq km), Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, larger than Europe and around one and a half times the size of the United States.
• Height. It is the highest continent on average, thanks to its ice. The highest mountain is the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains, at 4,892 metres (about 16,050 ft).
• Ice. The Antarctic ice sheet holds around 90 per cent of all the ice on Earth and most of the world's fresh water. In places it is more than 4 km thick.
• Cold. The lowest temperature ever recorded by a weather station on Earth, minus 89.2°C, was measured at Russia's Vostok Station on 21 July 1983. On the Peninsula in summer, by contrast, temperatures are usually around freezing.
• Dry and windy. Much of the interior receives so little snow that it is technically a desert, and it is the windiest continent too.
• People. There is no permanent population. A few thousand scientists and support staff live at research stations in summer, and far fewer through the winter.
• Government. The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 by twelve nations including the UK, reserves the continent for peace and science and puts territorial claims on hold. Tourism is managed by IAATO, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, which all the expedition lines we work with belong to.

Destination Guides

Explore the destinations

Each guide covers the geography, history, wildlife and landing sites of a region, and which voyages go there.

Choosing a Voyage

Which voyage goes where?

If the Peninsula is your priority and time is short, Highlights of Antarctica gives you up to five days there in twelve. For more of the continent, Iconic Antarctica, The Explorer's Route adds the Weddell Sea, and the Antarctic Circle Expedition heads south into Marguerite Bay. For penguins on a grand scale, the In-Depth Antarctica, Falklands & South Georgia voyage covers all three great regions of the Southern Ocean. Compare every option on our Antarctica cruises page, or call us on 0333 405 0194 and we will talk it through.