Antarctica

Antarctica Holidays

There are few places in the world as evocative as Antarctica. These expeditions offer the ultimate wilderness adventure, exploring a pristine area navigable only by small ice-strengthened vessels. 

Quark Expeditions Price Match: 

We are proud to offer award-winning polar expeditions through our sister company Quark Expeditions and strive to offer the highest quality adventures at the best possible prices. If you see a Quark voyage listed cheaper elsewhere, we promise to match the price like-for-like. Please contact our specialist Polar sales team to discuss. For T&C's please refer here 

TRAVEL TO ANTARCTICA: WHERE TO GO?

Antarctic Peninsula

A trip to the Antarctic Peninsula is a trip of a lifetime. The otherworldly landscapes here are spectacular and completely breath-taking. There's really nothing like it.

Large luminous blue icebergs rear up against the horizon in a thousand different shapes and forms – seemingly lit from within – whilst chunks of broken pack ice dot the water. Inland, a sweeping ice-cap covers mountains and fills trenches, binding together a continent that is about the same size as Africa.

The peninsula is home to an extraordinary array of wildlife: five species of seal including the Weddell seal, the predatory Leopard seal, and the Crabeater seal, massive penguin rookeries, a significant number of whale species and a wide variety of seabirds, including albatross, petrels, shearwaters and skuas.

South Georgia

South Georgia is one of the most remote destinations on this planet: located just north of Antarctica, this rugged island archipelago is about as wild as you can get.

Here you can follow in the footsteps of famous explorers, like Captain Cook who visited in 1775, and Ernest Shackleton, who tragically died just off the coast and is buried here. Now there is just a British Government office, postmaster, museum staff and scientists who inhabit the island alongside a whole host of seals, penguins and birds.

Join award-winning photographers Paul Goldstein and Mark Carwardine onboard this once in a lifetime photographic expedition to South Georgia & the Falklands, where every hour of daylight is going to be maximised!

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands boasts crystal-clear air, haunting landscapes, phosphorescent night skies and wildlife to rival even the Galapagos. The rock-strewn beaches and rugged cliffs are teeming with bird and marine life, untroubled by curious crowds. It’s no wonder the islands have starred in more than one Attenborough film; this isolated landscape offers the chance for the kind of wildlife encounters many dream about but few ever get to experience.

The absence of visitors have made the hundreds of thousands of island penguins amazingly unwary: here you can witness colonies of comic, tiny and inquisitive Gentoo penguins, Rockhopper families leaping and preening, bizarre burrowing Jackass penguins and the noble King Penguins in black tie. With soft white swan-like feathers and an enormous wingspan of up to 2.5 metres, the gentle Black Browed Albatross are the real wildlife treasure of The Falklands. Rarely seen outside these islands - which boast at least 80% of the world’s nesting population – they glide along the cliff tops in silent, effortless and graceful flight, sometimes coming so close as to brush your hair with the tips of their wings.

Antarctic Circle

Crossing the Antarctic Circle is an impressive achievement, as most expeditions to the Peninsula do not reach 66° 33' S. Celebrate this event in style with a well-earned glass of champagne! With a toast to the first explorers who ventured this far south, you can take pride in knowing you’ve made it to a part of the world still visited by very few people. This far south is raw Antarctica, home to the midnight sun, Weddell seals and some of the most magical, odd ice formations seen anywhere in Antarctica.

WHEN TO GO?

Late Spring and Early Summer - October & November

The start of the season in Antarctica is the most adventurous time to travel. On shore the snow is pristine after the long winter and you’ll encounter truly breath-taking, exquisitely sculpted icebergs emerging from their frozen hibernation. Many of these blue bergs house courting, nesting and brooding penguins.

High Summer - December, January & February

Close to the solstice you’ll experience almost perpetual daylight in Antarctica. These are the mildest months and when the first Adelie and Gentoo penguin chicks are hatched.  It’s also the time to encounter seal pups on South Georgia. As the water warms the whale sightings also improve.  

Late Summer - February & March

This is the time for some incredible encounters with whales, especially Minke and Humpback whales who migrate to these waters to feed. The receding ice also allows for further exploration and penguin colonies are very active with adults feeding their chicks.