10 Best Places to Visit in Antarctica

1. How We Chose the Best Places in Antarctica

Antarctica has hundreds of approved landing sites, and IAATO, the industry body, publishes visitor guidelines for the busiest ones. We picked these ten based on three things: the scenery, the wildlife you're likely to see, and the history or story behind the place.

We also favored places that are realistic to visit. Eight of the ten appear regularly on standard Antarctic Peninsula itineraries, so you have a good chance of seeing several on a single 10–12 day trip. The last two need longer voyages, but they're so special that leaving them out would be wrong.

One honest caveat: no company can promise any of these. Weather, sea ice and other ships decide where you go each day. A good expedition leader will always find somewhere spectacular, even when plan A falls through.

2. Neko Harbour

Step onto the Antarctic continent itself

Many landings are on islands, so Neko Harbour is special: it's on the Antarctic mainland. A gentoo penguin colony sits on the rocks above the beach, and a huge glacier fills the back of the bay, regularly calving chunks of ice into the water.

Guides keep everyone well back from the shoreline here, because a big calving event can send a wave up the beach. The short climb to a lookout gives one of the classic views of the trip. Neko Harbour is in Andvord Bay, off the Gerlache Strait, and appears on most Peninsula itineraries.

3. Paradise Harbour

Named by whalers who knew a good anchorage

Paradise Harbour lives up to its name. Mountains and glaciers ring the bay, and on calm days the water mirrors everything. Zodiac cruises weave among icebergs and past blue-tinged ice cliffs.

Landings often happen at Argentina's Brown Station, which puts you on the continent with a steep but short climb to a viewpoint. If it's snowy, you may slide back down. The harbor is a favorite for kayaking when the weather allows.

4. The Lemaire Channel

Eleven kilometers of cliffs and ice

The Lemaire Channel is a narrow passage, about 11 km (7 miles) long and as little as 1.6 km (1 mile) wide, between Booth Island and the mainland. Sheer peaks rise straight from the water on both sides. Its nickname, "Kodak Gap," tells you how often cameras come out.

There's no landing here: you watch from the deck as the ship threads through. Ice sometimes blocks the channel entirely, forcing a change of plan. When it's open, wrap up warmly and get outside. You'll want a good pair of binoculars for spotting seals on the floes.

5. Port Lockroy

Antarctica's most famous post office

Port Lockroy is a British base built in 1944 during a secret wartime mission, later used for scientific research and now restored as a museum. Inside you'll find the old bunk room, radio gear and kitchen, plus a small shop and the "Penguin Post Office," where you can mail a postcard home.

Gentoo penguins nest right around the buildings on Goudier Island. The site is run by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, and visits depend on its staffing and schedule. Postcards take weeks or months to arrive, which is part of the charm.

6. Deception Island

Sail into a flooded volcanic crater

Deception Island is a ring-shaped active volcano in the South Shetlands. Ships enter through Neptune's Bellows, a narrow gap in the crater wall, into a sheltered harbor inside the caldera.

At Whalers Bay you can walk among the rusting tanks and boilers of an early 20th-century whaling station and a British base damaged by eruptions in the late 1960s. It's also the most popular place for the polar plunge. Baily Head, on the outer coast, has a huge chinstrap penguin colony when landings are possible. Read our full Deception Island guide.

7. Cuverville Island

One of the Peninsula's largest gentoo colonies

Cuverville Island is a small, dome-shaped island in the Errera Channel, home to thousands of pairs of gentoo penguins. The beach and lower slopes are busy with penguins commuting to and from the water, and grounded icebergs make the bay one of the most photogenic Zodiac cruises on the trip.

Visits are carefully managed to protect the colony. Get the most from a visit like this with our gentoo penguin guide.

8. Half Moon Island

Chinstraps with a mountain backdrop

Half Moon Island is a crescent-shaped island in the South Shetlands, often one of the first landings after the Drake Passage. A chinstrap penguin colony nests on a rocky outcrop, and fur seals and Weddell seals often rest on the beach.

The backdrop is the glaciated mountains of Livingston Island across the bay. Argentina's small Cámara summer station sits nearby. It's an easy walk, making it a good first landing to find your feet.

9. Petermann Island

Gentoos and Adélies side by side

Petermann Island lies just south of the Lemaire Channel and is often the southernmost stop on a classic trip. It's one of the few places where gentoo and Adélie penguins nest together, along with blue-eyed shags.

A French expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot wintered nearby in 1909, and a memorial cross remembers three men from a British base who died in 1982. Continue south from here and you're heading toward the Antarctic Circle.

10. Honorable Mentions Worth Watching For

Ten places can't cover everything. These sites appear on many itineraries and are often the surprise highlight of a trip:

• Wilhelmina Bay. Nicknamed "Whale-mina Bay" for the humpbacks that gather to feed in late summer.
• Danco Island. A steep climb through a gentoo colony to sweeping views of the Errera Channel.
• Brown Bluff. A towering volcanic cliff on the Weddell Sea side, with Adélie and gentoo penguins on the beach below.
• Paulet Island. A huge Adélie penguin colony and the stone ruins of a hut built by a shipwrecked Swedish crew in 1903.
• Pléneau Island. Sits at the southern end of the Lemaire Channel, beside a bay nicknamed the "Iceberg Graveyard" for the giant bergs grounded there.
• Orne Harbour. A steep snow climb to a ridge where chinstrap penguins nest with views down both sides.

11. South Georgia

King penguins by the hundred thousand

South Georgia isn't technically Antarctica, but no list of the region's best places is complete without it. Beaches like Salisbury Plain, St Andrews Bay and Gold Harbour host huge colonies of king penguins, with elephant seals and fur seals crowding the shoreline.

Add Grytviken, where Shackleton is buried, and South Georgia is the highlight of many travelers' trips. It's reached on 18–23 day voyages that also visit the Falklands and the Peninsula. Meet its most famous resident in our king penguin guide.

12. How to See the Most Places on One Trip

• Pick a ship under 200 guests. Landing rules limit 100 people ashore at a time, so smaller ships get more and longer landings.
• Choose 11–12 days over 9–10. One or two extra days on the Peninsula can add several landings.
• Consider going farther south. Antarctic Circle trips reach places like Detaille Island and Crystal Sound that standard trips skip.
• Sail late in the season for whales at places like Wilhelmina Bay, or early for pristine snow.
• Ask about the expedition team. Experienced leaders know backup sites when weather closes in.

Unsure how long you need? See how many days you need for an Antarctica trip.

13. The Ross Sea Huts

Where Scott and Shackleton lived

On the far side of the continent, the Ross Sea holds the preserved huts of the heroic age: Shackleton's at Cape Royds and Scott's at Cape Evans and Hut Point. Inside, tins, clothing and equipment remain almost as the explorers left them over a century ago.

Reaching them means a roughly four-week voyage from New Zealand or Hobart, and only a few ships make the trip each year. If polar history is your passion, start with our guide to the most famous Antarctic explorers.

Best Places in Antarctica at a Glance

Keep Planning Your Antarctica Trip