Argentina & Fjords of Tierra del Fuego

Day 1: International Aiport Ezeiza - Buenos Aires 
Day 2: Buenos Aires - National Airport - Buenos Aires - El Calafate Airport - El Calafate 
Day 3: Perito Moreno Glacier - Ice trek - El Calafate
Day 4: El Calafate - Punta Arenas - Strait of Magellan
Day 5: Strait of Magellan - Tuckers Islets
Day 6: Tuckers Islets - Pia glacier
Day 7: Pia glacier - Cape Horn
Day 8: Cape Horn - Ushuaia - Ushuaia Harbor - Ushuaia - National Tierra del Fuego Park - Ushuaia
Day 9: Ushuaia - National Airport - Buenos Aires
Day 10: Buenos Aires - International Aiport Ezeiza

The excursions described in the itineraries generally take place with no changes.  Notwithstanding, the cruise company reserves the right to reschedule, shorten, or alter all or part of the itineraries and/or excursions without prior notice, in order to safeguard the wellbeing and safety of passengers, preserve the environment, or due to any extraordinary circumstances, acts of God or force majeure.

For the same reasons, the hours of departure or arrival of the vessels may be subject to change.

Please note, wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed.

Day 1: International Aiport Ezeiza - Buenos Aires 
You will be welcomed at Ezeiza International Airport and transferred by an English-speaking guide to Buenos Aires in a private vehicle. Upon arrival, you can settle into your hotel and refresh, followed by lunch. In the afternoon you will be offered a half-day walking tour. Buenos Aires, a cosmopolitan city with European features, among the 10 most active cities in the world. It is a city of arts, cultures, theaters, traditions ... the variety satisfies the most demanding visitor. You visit 9 de Julio Avenue, the widest in the world, dominated by the Obelisk, the iconic symbol of Buenos Aires. You will pass the Colon Theatre, one of the jewels of Argentine architecture. Then you arrive at the famous central Plaza de Mayo, next to buildings such as the Casa Rosada or Casa de Gobierno, the Cabildo, and the Cathedral. You end your tour in the picturesque neighborhood of La Boca, and specifically the alley El Caminito, the spot for painters, tango dancers, and singers. (L)

Accommodation: Tango de Mayo Hotel (standard room)
Highlights: Guided city tour

Day 2: Buenos Aires - El Calafate 
In the morning you will be transferred from the hotel to the Buenos Aires Airport in a private vehicle for your flight to Calafate. Upon arrival, you will be greeted and transferred to your hotel

Your dinner this evening will be the Rancho Aparte experience will allow you to savor a home-cooked meal in a warm and friendly atmosphere.  It is said that the kitchen is the heart of the house and this is especially true at the ranch. All dishes are prepared with local products and a ubiquitous ingredient in homemade food...lots of love! The menu is accompanied by selected wine pairings from Argentine and Patagonian wineries. The aromas and flavors are respected in a harmonious and palatable way. (B, D)

Highlights: Rancho Aparte
Accommodation: Marcopolo Suites El Calafate (standard room)

Day 3: El Calafate - Perito Moreno Glacier - El Calafate
This excursion will allow you to fully experience this exceptional natural environment. A 75 km transfer will transport you to Los Glaciares National Park (entrance included). From the harbor located at Bahia Bajo de la Sombra, you’ll board for a 20-minute ferry to cross Brazo Rico and dock at the foot of the refuge. You’ll begin a guided walk amidst exuberant vegetation to reach the foot of the glacier where you’ll don the crampons before starting the 2-hour glacier trek accompanied by mountain guides. (B, Gourmet picnic lunch).

Note: This tour, due to the physical requirement and the difficulty of the terrain, is suggested only for those in good physical condition, between the ages of 10 and 65, able to maneuver walking on ice and stone.

Highlights: Glacier Hike - 2 hours - Low Intensity
Accommodation: Marcopolo Suites El Calafate (standard room)
Recommended: Sunglasses, sunscreen, waterproof clothing, gloves, trekking boots, and a  backpack of 40 liters.

Day 4: El Calafate - Punta Arenas - Strait of Magellan
Transfer in private vehicle from El Calafate to Punta Arenas (Chile). Registration for the cruise portion of your adventure will take place between 1 and 5 pm at O'Higgins 1385, Punta Arenas, boarding the vessel at 6 pm. After a welcoming toast and captain and crew introduction, the ship departs for one of the more remote places on planet Earth. During the night you cross the Strait of Magellan and enter the labyrinth of channels that define the southern extreme of Patagonian. The twinkling lights of Punta Arenas gradually fade into the distance as you enter the Whiteside Canal between Darwin Island and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. This is the beginning of a great adventure. (B, L, D)

Highlights: Strait of Magellan, Isla Grande
Accommodation: Cruceros Australis

Day 5: Strait of Magellan - Tuckers Islets
By dawn, the ship is sailing up Admiralty Sound (Seno Almirantazgo), a spectacular offshoot of the Strait of Magellan that stretches nearly halfway across Tierra del Fuego. The snowcapped peaks of Karukinka Natural Park stretch along the north side of the sound, while the south shore is defined by the deep fjords and broad bays of Alberto de Agostini National Park. You go ashore at Ainsworth Bay, which harbors copious bird life and a colony of southern elephant seals that can sometimes be spotted from the Zodiacs. Two guided excursions are available: one is along the edge of a stream, peat bog and beaver habitat to a waterfall-and-moss-covered rock face tucked deep inside a pristine sub-polar forest; the other is a more strenuous hike along the crest of a glacial moraine. Both afford views of Marinelli Glacier and the Darwin Mountains.

Leaving Ainsworth Bay behind, you sail west along the sound to the Tucker Islets. After lunch, you board the Zodiacs again for a close-up view of the Magellan penguins that inhabit the tiny islands. More than 4,000 penguins use Tucker as a place to nest, give birth, and nurture their chicks. Many other bird species also frequent the area including king cormorants, oystercatchers, Chilean skuas, kelp geese, dolphin gulls, eagles, and even the occasional Andean condor. In September and April -- when the penguins live elsewhere -- this excursion is replaced by a short walk to a glacier at nearby stunning Brookes Bay. (B, L, D)

Highlights: Ainsworth Bay, Tucker Islets
Accommodation: Cruceros Australis

Day 6: Tuckers Islets - Pia glacier
Overnight. you sail around the western end of Tierra del Fuego via the very narrow Gabrial Channel, Magdalena Channel, and Cockburn Channel. After rounding the remote Brecknock Peninsula, Stella Australis tacks eastward and enters the Beagle Channel again. By morning, you are entering Pia Fjord and boarding the Zodiacs for a shore excursion to Pia Glacier. After disembarking, and a short hike, you gain a panoramic view of the spectacular glacier, which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea, or enjoy a longer much more difficult walk up a lateral moraine of the old Pia Glacier.

No one knows for certain how the hulking mass of snow and ice got its feminine moniker, but one theory says it was named for Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (1847-1911), daughter of the Italian king.

Back on board, you continue east along the Beagle Channel through an area called Glacier Alley. Living up to its name, the passage features a number of impressive tidewater glaciers flowing down from the Darwin Mountains and Darwin Ice Sheet on the north shore. Most of them named after European countries -- Holland, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France. (B, L, D)

Highlights: Glacier Alley
Accommodation: Cruceros Australis

Day 7: Pia glacier - Cape Horn
During the early morning, you navigate the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands and drop anchor at historic Wulaia Bay, one of the few places in the archipelago where the human history is just as compelling as the natural environment. Originally the site of one of the region’s largest Yámana aboriginal settlements, the bay was described by Charles Darwin and sketched by Captain FitzRoy in the 1830s during their voyages on the HMS Beagle. This area is also renowned for its mesmerizing beauty and dramatic geography. After a visit to the Australis-sponsored museum in the old radio station -- which emphasizes the Yámana people and European missionaries in the area -- passengers have a choice of three hikes (of increasing degrees of difficulty) that ascend the heavily wooden mountain behind the bay. On all of these, you will be strolling through an enchanted Magellan forest of lengas, coigües, canelos, ferns, and other endemic fauna to reach a panoramic viewpoint overlooking the bay. Before leaving Wulaia Bay, drop something into the wooden mail barrel inside the museum – letters or postcards meant to be hand-delivered by future travelers – an ancient mariner tradition revived by Australis.

In the afternoon, you cruise across Nassau Bay into the remote archipelago that includes Cape Horn National Park. Weather and sea conditions permitting, you can go ashore on the windswept island that harbors legendary Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos). Discovered in 1616 by a Dutch maritime expedition -- and named after the town of Hoorn in West Friesland -- Cape Horn is a sheer 425-meter (1,394-foot) high rocky promontory overlooking the turbulent waters of the Drake Passage. For many years it was the only navigation route between the Pacific and Atlantic, and was often referred to as the "End of the Earth." The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2005. The Chilean navy maintains a permanent lighthouse on the island, staffed by a lightkeeper and his family, as well as the tiny Stella Maris Chapel and modern Cape Horn Monument. (B, L, D)

Highlights: Historic Wulaia Bay, Cape Horn National Park
Accommodation: Cruceros Australis

Day 8: Cape Horn - Ushuaia
The following morning, you sail into Argentine waters and dock in Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city. Stella Australis is scheduled to arrive at 8:30 or 9:30 am depending on the date of departure. You are then transferred to your hotel in Ushuaia.

After settling in, you will enjoy a half-day excursion to Tierra del Fuego National Park in a private service. Located only 11 km from Ushuaia, and next to the border with Chile, it has 63.000 hectares full of lakes, lagoons, and rivers and exit towards Beagle Channel, a characteristic that marks the difference from the other national parks of Argentina.

You drive out of the city passing the slope of the Susana Mount, setting of the Southern Fuegian Railway. You continue through the Pipo River Valley to the detour that leads to Ensenada Bay, where you will contemplate the Redonda and Estorbo Islands, and on the other coast the Beagle Channel and the snow-white Mountains of the Sampaio Chain (Chile). Next on the agenda is  Roca Lake and Lapataia River.

At Lapataia Bay, you can find the Green Lagoon and the Black Lagoon, large growing peat bogs. Finally, you will pass by the beaver dams, whose footpath will lead to Lapataia Bay. (B, L)

Highlights: Tierra del Fuego National Park 
Accommodation: Hosteria Patagonia Jarke (standard room)

Day 9: Ushuaia -  Buenos Aires
Morning flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires where you will be welcomed at the airport and transferred to your hotel. In the evening you will enjoy a highlight of the entire vacation, a tango dinner show. 

In "El Querandí",  located only a 5-minute walk from your hotel, you can watch an authentic and traditional tango show, accompanied by a delicious dinner "a la carte" in an intimate and exclusive atmosphere of the early twentieth century (1920s building entirely renovated). (B, D)

Highlight: Tango dinner show
Accommodation: Two Hotel (standard room)

Day 10: End of tour
You will be transferred from your hotel to Ezeiza International Airport for your flight home.  (B)

On each day’s details, you will find the overnight hotel listed. Hotels are subject to availability at the time of booking. Please note that there is no guarantee of breakfast if leaving the hotel before 7 am. For the cruise portion of your tour, you will be accommodated on the Stella Australis.

• Stella Australis

  Deluxe

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  View Boat

  Deluxe Class Boat

  Step on to the Stella Australis and begin your expedition into the extraordinary. This small ship adventure cruise gets up close and personal to the breathtaking scenery of Patagonia, exploring where the big ships cannot go. As you cruise the coast, Patagonia unfolds before you. Powerful zodiacs transfer you into the heart of the rugged landscape, to the base of glaciers, and into the heart of ancient forests. Read More
• Ventus Australis

  Deluxe

  ?

  View Boat

  Deluxe Class Boat

  Step on board a comfortable, relaxed, and elegant space and venture into parts of Patagonia that no other ship can access. The Ventus Australis features gourmet dining with an all-inclusive bar, three lounges, expansive open top deck and 100 spacious cabins with large windows for admiring the spectacular southern scenery. Read More