What things are there do on a trip to Ushuaia? It’s the southernmost city in the world, but how do you commemorate that? Is it worth a trip on its own, or just a brief stopover on your way to Antarctica?
Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations for Ushuaia. I was just there for a few days before my life-changing Antarctica trip and while I was curious about the city, I didn’t think it would be that impressive. After all, aren’t there much more beautiful places like Torres del Paine and El Chaltén?
I was wrong. The scenery surrounding Ushuaia is STUNNING. It began with a flight that descended through a web of jagged black mountains reminiscent of crow feathers. Soon the mountains gave way to grassy hills, bright blue seas, and peaks of all colors in every direction. And the lakes! Tierra del Fuego National Park introduced me to bright teal lakes and turquoise coastline leading to the Beagle Channel.
Ushuaia was definitely worth a few days of my time. Here’s how you should spend your time there.
Traveling to Antarctica? Give yourself a full extra day in Ushuaia beforehand.
When scheduling my flights for my Antarctica trip, I made sure to arrive one full day earlier than necessary. Why? I was terrified that my luggage would be lost. Antarctica is NOT a place where you can pop over to H&M to pick up some essentials (even though there is a shop with winter gear on board). I wanted the extra day just in case I had to wait an extra 24 hours for my luggage.
Turns out I didn’t have to worry; my luggage arrived with me. But soon I realized I had lucked out — giving myself a full extra day in Ushuaia allowed me to book a sightseeing excursion and explore the region!
If you’re on your way to Antarctica, there’s no need to book a penguin cruise in Ushuaia — it will pale in comparison to Antarctica. Plus, you might get to see the lighthouse on the way out and on the way back. Instead, prioritize land-based excursions, like the gorgeous Tierra del Fuego National Park.
Don’t plan on doing any sightseeing when you come back from Antarctica. After 10+ days offline, you’ll probably want to go straight to a coffeeshop with wifi and catch up on everything you missed.
What to Do in Ushuaia if You’re Not Going to Antarctica
In this case, go for everything! See penguins, go on cruises, see the national park, do it all.
If you’re traveling to Ushuaia without going to Antarctica, you’re probably doing a longer Patagonia trip. In that case, it’s smart to plan out what activities you can do in each of your destinations and seeing what you should prioritize in each place.
In that case, I would prioritize the Beagle Channel and seeing penguins; I would not prioritize glacier trekking if you’re already planning to visit Perito Moreno Glacier.
Visit Tierra del Fuego National Park
This is my favorite activity I did in Ushuaia. I had no idea that it was so beautiful in this part of the world! (It definitely helped that the weather cooperated that day!)
There are several versions of this tour that take place; mine lasted a half day. We began with a ride on the Tren del Fin del Mundo (train to the end of the world).
Ushauia used to be home to a prison colony, and the prisoners cut down trees as part of their labor. This train was used for transporting the timber.
Today, the prison is closed, but the train has reinvented itself as a way for tourists to explore the national park.
We got to see some nearby waterfalls — and that is my oh-so-bad attempt at a waterfall when I didn’t have my tripod with me. HA.
From there we took a ride to a lookout. I would SO love to bring a picnic out here…
After this we took a trip to the post office, where I got my passport stamped and sent a postcard (see more on that below). Next up was a gentle hike through the park, taking in the many colors of the landscape.
A wooden path built over the marsh took us to our final destination…
…this glorious bit of coastline. Doesn’t it make you want to take a dip?
I loved this tour. I love that it covered so much different scenery and some of the quintessential experiences in the area within a short time period. This tour really made me fall in love with Tierra del Fuego in a way that I didn’t expect.
The only problem is that the lighting conditions weren’t great for photography. But honestly, with Ushuaia being so far south, if you visit in the summer months, you’re going to struggle with the light.
This is the half-day tour I did. You can also combine it with a Beagle Channel Tour to make it a full-day tour.
Have a Quirky High-End Patagonian Meal at Kalma Resto
If you want to have one special meal in Ushuaia, I highly recommend Kalma Resto. This place is outstanding — probably the most interesting meal you could find in town.
I’m not a huge fan of Argentine cuisine in general — the steak is fantastic, as is the red wine — but move beyond that and it’s a carb parade of pizza, pasta, empanadas, bread, and sweets. This fresh, creative Patagonian tasting menu was an antidote to traditional Argentine cuisine.
Pictured above, I started with nuts and levistico bread, canelo, focaccia and lactonesa. It was followed by the following courses:
Cured lamb loin, sambayon, centollón little ball. Centollón is a kind of crab — these were basically fried crab balls!
Wild salmon tartare, forest berries, vinegar gel. This was my favorite course and reminded me of many dishes I’ve had in the Nordic countries.
Fuegian centollón cappelletti with vegetable extract and levistico pesto. I love that this soup was served with panache, poured right into my bowl!
Fin del mundo “Entraña,” spring carrots and alfalfa sprouts. Entraña is skirt steak, one of the most popular cuts in Argentina. So juicy and delicious.
Three milks cake, sea celery meringue and dulce de leche. The perfect quirky end to a perfect quirky meal.
Everything was fantastic, from beginning to end. At one point the chef came out and we chatted about the menu. Nobody was around when I sat down (at around 8:00 PM, early for Argentines), but by the time I left the tourist groups were arriving en masse. Definitely make a reservation here if possible.
In March 2018 I paid $1100 AR (around $50 back then) for the tasting menu, with an additional $500 AR (around $24 back then) for wine pairings. However, the exchange rate of Argentine pesos has fluctuated wildly since then, so I didn’t want to compare the price back then to the exchange rate today. Check with the restaurant for the current prices and check xe.com for the current exchange rate.
Explore the Town of Ushuaia
Ushuaia is a fun city to explore for a day or two. The population is about 60,000, but 50 years ago it was closer to 5,000. In short, this is a new city, a young city, and a city built around the demand for tourism. The population swells during the southern hemisphere’s summer months (December to March).
Walk around, take photos, and enjoy the colorful homes and street art. Sit in cafes and enjoy some coffee with medialunas (little Argentine croissants).
If you want to so some sightseeing in Ushuaia, I recommend the Museo del Fin del Mundo (museum of the end of the world) and the Museo Marítimo (Maritime Museum).
Have a Guinness at the Southernmost Irish Pub in the World
Man, is there anywhere on the planet that DOESN’T have an Irish pub?! You may scoff at the sight of an Irish pub in Paris or Rome…but sometimes they’re welcome sights when you’re exhausted and need something familiar. And in Ushuaia, an Irish pub called Dublín claims to be the southernmost Irish pub in the world.
There is a nice selection of beer here and a very lively crowd, especially in the evenings.
Send a Postcard From the End of the World
There is a tiny post office on stilts located in Tierra del Fuego National Park, and if you’re on a tour, you’ll likely stop there. They sell postcards at the shop and you can buy postage to send a postcard right from there.
Don’t expect it to arrive in a timely manner. My friends actually got my Antarctica postcard (which traveled from a British base south of the Antarctic Circle to the Falkland Islands, then Britain, then the US) before they got my Tierra del Fuego postcard.
Get a Giant Souvenir Passport Stamp
It can be fun to get a souvenir stamp in your passport! I’ve gotten them from Liechtenstein and Stonington Island, Antarctica. I had room to spare in my passport, so I got this at the post office in the national park.
I had NO IDEA it would be this big, though! I thought it would be a tiny one-square stamp! Just know that before you get it.
Penguins in Ushuaia, Argentina (via Pixabay)
See the Penguins of Martillo Island
If you’re not heading to Antarctica, this is as south as you’re going — so you might as well see some penguins while on the way! Just a short boat trip away are penguin colonies. Martillo Island is one of the best spots to see them, and you’ll learn the most while on a tour with a naturalist guide.
Penguins are sociable animals and while you should never walk up to them, they very well may approach you out of curiosity! Perfect for getting the penguin selfie you’ve always wanted.
Martillo Island is easily done as a half-day excursion from Ushuaia. Book your tour here.
Beagle Channel, near Ushuaia (Via Pixabay)
Cruise the the Beagle Channel
Ushuaia is perched on the Argentine side of the Beagle Channel. Look straight ahead and you’re actually looking at Chilean land.
On shorter visits, you’ll get to marvel at the scenery, sail past colonies of sea lions, pass the Lighthouse Les Eclaireurs, and stop for some brief hiking. Some of the best views of Ushuaia are from the channel.
Book a half-day Beagle Channel cruises here or book a full-day tour with a side trip to Estancia Harberton.
Climbing a Glacier (via Pixabay)
Hike Vinciguerra Glacier or Albino’s Eye Glacier
With all the heavy Argentine cuisine you’ll be consuming, you’ll want to burn it off — and is there a better way to do so than hiking through the countryside to a glacier?
This hike to Vinciguerra Glacier is more about climbing through the valley. You’ll climb upwards through the Andorran Valley and past a river and the Tempanos Lagoon until you reach the glacier. You’ll want to be in shape for this one as it’s fairly intense.
Alternatively, book a longer glacier trek to Albino’s Eye Glacier. This trek involves more climbing on the ice and lasts longer (10 hours as opposed to 8).
Laguna Esmeralda, Ushuaia via Lucas Zallio
Trek to Laguna Esmeralda
When you think about lakes in Patagonia, the bright turquoise lakes of Torres del Paine, Chile, probably come to mind. But there is a scintillatingly beautiful lake close to Ushuaia: Laguna Esmeralda. This is one of the best Instagram spots in the Ushuaia region.
To get here, you’ll need to trek. It’s about a two-hour trekking journey from the road if you want to do it independently. Otherwise, you can join a group with a guide.
Try to Get a Discount Antarctica Cruise at the Last Minute
Warning — this is a very risky game, but it can pay off! Antarctica expeditions are extremely expensive, but if you show up at the Ushuaia offices of the major expedition companies, you can often get a last-minute discount if they have seats to sell.
How much of a discount? It varies. One passenger on my cruise showed up at the office last-minute and got a private room at the rate of sharing a triple.
How much of a discount should you expect? Around 25-30% seems to be the average, depending on how busy it is, and definitely don’t plan on a discount of more than 50%.
Where to Stay in Ushuaia
Ushuaia has a variety of accommodation at every price level. Be sure to book in advance, especially if you’re visiting during high season (December to February).
I stayed at Hotel Los Acebos, which was the included hotel for our Quark Expeditions cruise. This was a very nice, very comfortable hotel — and the views were phenomenal — but I didn’t like staying so far from town. There were free shuttles, but only a few per day, so I had to pay around $10 each way for a taxi.
The best luxury resorts in Ushuaia are located far enough outside town, but the majority of the others are located in town. Here are some recommendations:
Top-Rated Hotels in Ushuaia
Luxury: Los Cauquenes Resort & Spa
Midrange: Tango B&B
Budget: Galeazzi Basily Bed & Breakfast
Hostel: Antarctica Hostel
Find deals on hotels in Ushuaia here.
You will have a great time in Ushuaia!
I had no expectations for Ushuaia — and I was thrilled when it turned out to be far better than I expected! I hope that you have just as good a time as I did.
READ NEXT:
A Typical Day on an Antarctica Expedition Cruise
Many thanks to Quark Expeditions for covering my two nights at Hotel Los Acebos. I covered all of my other expenses in Ushuaia. All opinions, as always, are my own.
Have you been to Ushuaia? What was your favorite thing to do?
The post The Best Things to Do in Ushuaia, Argentina, The World’s Southernmost City appeared first on Adventurous Kate.
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