In 2026, scientists delighted nature lovers by announcing a brand new species of penguin, the first to be named in over a century: the southeastern gentoo penguin. They’re found on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean – a place so remote that few people are ever likely to travel there. Their arrival brings the number of penguin species in the world to 19, but begs an interesting question: where is the best place to see as many different penguins in one go?
The best trip to see penguins is one that takes in Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. This trip allows you to tick off up to seven species of penguin in one go: King penguins, macaroni penguins, Southern rockhopper and Magellanics, along with gentoo, chinstraps and Adélie penguins.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through these three destinations and what makes them so great for penguin lovers – and look at what else you might experience on this cruise, from icebergs to humpback whales.
Table of contents
- The penguins of the Falkland Islands
- The penguins of South Georgia
- The penguins of the Antarctic Peninsula
- When to see penguins in Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands
- Where else can I see penguins in Antarctica?
The penguins of the Falkland Islands
Cruises that visit these three destinations last around 18 days and sail from the port city of Ushuaia in Argentina. With the Falkland Islands lying so close to mainland South America, cruises tend to call here first, before continuing on to South Georgia, and leaving Antarctica for the climax of the trip.
Cruises usually spend two days in the Falklands Islands, but it would be wrong to think of them as just an appetiser for the undeniable glamour of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Falkland Islands are a terrific wildlife watching destination in their own right, and a large part of this is thanks to its many penguins. In fact, the Falkland Islands has more penguin species than Antarctica. On a trip to the Falkland Islands, you can hope to see five species of penguin: King penguins, gentoos, Southern rockhoppers, Magellanics and macaroni penguins. That last species only has a tiny breeding population in the Falklands, but don’t worry if you don’t spot any, as they’re resident in vast numbers in South Georgia.
Of all the Falkland Islands penguins, the most appealing are the Southern rockhoppers and the Magellanics. Rockhoppers are the smallest penguins (and possibly the most adorable) you’ll see on this cruise, standing just 50 cm (20 inches) high, and instantly recognisable for their yellow ‘eyebrows’ and slightly punkish crest feathers. They can be found in several Falkland Islands landing sights, including Saunders Island, New Island, Bleaker Island and West Point (as with all expedition cruises, all itineraries are governed by the weather, and visits can’t be guaranteed).
Where you’ll find rockhoppers, you’ll almost always find either imperial shags or black-browed albatrosses, as these penguins love to live communally with others. Ironically, this means they spend a lot of time climbing up cliffs—literally rock-hopping—to nest among other birds who can simply fly in and out of their roosts.
Magellanic penguins are rather different. They’re also found in vast numbers along the Atlantic coast of Argentinian Patagonia, and their presence here is a reminder of why the Falkland Islands are great for birdwatching, because of the large number of South American birds as well as Subantarctic species. Here, you can find Magellanic penguins in places like Gypsy Cove near the capital Stanley, New Island, Saunders Island and particularly Carcass Island.
For penguin lovers, one of the best locations to visit is Saunders Island, where if you’re lucky you can see four species in one hit: Southern rockhoppers, Magellanics, gentoos and king penguins. The long sandy beach here known as The Neck also often attracts Commerson’s dolphins who play in the surf. But if you do land here, heed the advice of your guides and don’t linger too long on the few dozen king penguins you might see here, because your next destination is South Georgia, where there are so many many kings you simply won’t know where to look.
The penguins of South Georgia
It takes around two days to sail from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia, which leaves plenty of time to build excitement for one of the greatest wildlife destinations anywhere on planet, You can’t fly here: South Georgia is like a long mountain range erupting out of the sea, and there isn’t a scrap of land flat enough for a runway. (if you want to know more, see our blog What are sea days like on a South Georgia & Antarctica cruise?)
On a cruise to South Georgia, you can expect to see king, gentoo, macaroni and chinstrap penguins. But of these, one species is at the top of everybody’s wishlist: the king penguin.
The king penguins of South Georgia are a reason in themselves to book a cruise. The island is home to perhaps 450,000 pairs of them, along with their chicks, all crowded into colonies of almost imaginable size (and noise). There are many South Georgia landing sites where you’ll get dizzy trying to count them: Salisbury Plain, Gold Harbour, Fortuna Bay, and the grandest of all, St Andrews Bay.
Each of these offers king penguins as far as you can see. Also close by are fur seals thick on the beaches (South Georgia is home to perhaps five million) and great hulking elephant seals. This is the largest concentration of marine wildlife in the world, so it’s no surprise that the island is known as the Serengeti of the Southern Ocean.
For all the grandeur of the kings, South Georgia is actually home to far more macaroni penguins. These are like larger cousins of the rockhoppers, and with far more exuberant yellow crests. They’re even better rockclimbers, so they’re a penguin you’ll generally have to look up to see, especially in locations like Elsehul, where you’ll zodiac cruise past their cliffside rookeries. Cooper Bay is the only landing site where you can see a macaroni penguin colony on foot, and also is home to the island’s largest chinstrap penguin colony.
The penguins of the Antarctic Peninsula
The excitement of South Georgia sometimes leaves travellers wondering how it can possibly be topped, but in the two day sail across the Scotia Sea to the Antarctic Peninsula, excitement starts to build again. It’s during the portion of the trip that you’re likely to start seeing your first icebergs. Penguins are often also in the vanguard, taking a break on the ice, and reminding you that while most people see them on the shoreline, they’re serious ocean-going animals, and often swim hundreds of kilometres on the hunt for food like Antarctic krill.
Travellers visiting the Antarctic Peninsula can see three species of penguin: gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins and Adélie penguins. This might seem like a small number, but it’s when they’re set against some of the most marvellous frozen landscapes in the world.
Gentoo penguins are the most widespread penguin species along the Antarctic Peninsula. By the time you reach Antarctica, you’ll probably have encountered them in small numbers but it’s here where you’ll see large rookeries of hundreds and sometimes thousands of birds. Antarctic Peninsula landing sites like Cuverville Island, Paradise Bay, Danco Island and Neko Harbour are all home to large gentoo penguins.
Chinstrap penguins can be found along the Peninsula, but ships that stop off in the South Shetland Islands will tend to see them in their largest numbers. Deception Island in particular is a favoured location for chinstrap rookeries. Ships sailing between South Georgia and the Peninsula may sometimes also stop at Elephant Island (where the men of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition took shelter), where you can see chinstrap penguins in abundance.
The third penguin species you can see on the Antarctic Peninsula is the Adélie penguin This is the penguin that wears the classic black and white tuxedo look. They can thank their rather unusual name to the French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville, who names them after his wife Adèle – possibly to compensate for his long absences from home. Adélies prefer to live in areas with lots of sea ice, so along the Peninsula they tend to be encountered in small groups rather than colonies. An exception is at Brown Bluff on the northeastern tip of the Peninsula.
When to see penguins in Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands
You can see penguins in Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands throughout the Antarctic cruise season, which runs from late October to March.
On the Antarctic Peninsula, you can observe nesting behaviour in November, with chicks typically hatching in late December. Penguin chicks here are at their fluffiest and most inquisitive in January and February, and getting ready to fledge in March.
In South Georgia, you can see king penguin chicks at any month of the cruise season. King penguins take around 14 months to raise their chicks. Other penguin species here (and on the Falkland Islands) follow a similar breeding cycle as on the Peninsula, to match the austral summer.
Where else can I see penguins in Antarctica?
Penguin lovers may realise there’s a notable absence on the list of species on this itinerary. Where are those true Antarctic icons, the emperor penguins?
Emperor penguins are lovers of the true polar south and the permanent sea ice, so they aren’t found as far north as the Antarctic Peninsula. However, several expedition cruise ships run special itineraries to Snow Hill in the Weddell Sea, which is home to the northernmost emperor penguin penguin colony in the world. The number of departures it’s possible to run is restricted by sea ice access, so these trips only operate in November and December.
It’s not possible to combine seeing kings and emperors in one itinerary, so if you can only do do one Antarctica cruise and are undecided about which penguin you want to see most, take a look at our blog King penguins or emperor penguins: which Antarctic icon to see?
While an Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands cruise ticks off a potential seven penguin species, it’s possible to see up to nine penguin species on a trip to the Ross Sea On a Ross Sea cruise, taking in New Zealand and Australia’s Subantarctic islands like Macquarie Island, you can hope to see Emperor, Adélie, King, Southern rockhopper, Royal, Gentoo, Erect-crested, Snares and Yellow-eyed penguins.
Ross Sea cruises typically have fewer than half a dozen departures a year, and January and February only, as the long sea distances mean that cruises are up to a month long. For most travellers, an Antarctica, South Georgia and Falkland Islands cruise remains the best option to see the most penguins possible.
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