Ushuaia

The boundaries of Tierra del Fuego National Park begin just a few short miles from the western edge of Ushuaia. It runs along the coast of the Beagle Channel on one side and stretches up into the mountains on the other. The landscape is dotted with picturesque lakes and thick forests of native coihue and lenga trees. 

The park has plenty of fine walking trails and scenic viewpoints, and is particularly rich in birdlife. Several locations memorialise the indigenous Selk'nam and Yaghan people who once lived here. 

Visits also hark back more than a century to when Ushuaia was a penal colony, with the chance to ride the narrow gauge train (‘El tren del Fin de Mundo’) that once took convicts to their work camps in the wilderness. 

The farthest tip of South America isn’t somewhere that you'd think to find incredible gastronomic experiences, but Ushuaia is definitely somewhere to give your palate a treat.

The Beagle Channel is enormously productive for seafood, and Ushuaia’s king crab is famous across Argentina. Locals are also deservedly proud of their wild salmon, along with their asado – a traditional Patagonian barbecue. 

Foodie tours around Ushuaia come with an immersive twist at the hidden kitchen at Alma Yaghan, where gastronomic wizardry conjures unexpected seasonal plates from the fruits of the surrounding sea and forest. 

If you’re looking to give yourself a workout, one of the best day hikes close to Ushuaia is to Lake Esmeralda, a milky blue glacial lake ringed by snow-covered mountains.

The hike is 5.5 miles (9 km) round trip from the trail head, and is suitable for anyone with a moderate level of fitness. A well-marked trail takes you through a succession of different landscapes, through lenga forest and across peat bogs until you reach the loose moraine that marks the final approach to the turquoise lake itself.

Along the way, look out for the numerous dams created by beavers: escapees from a short-lived fur farming industry in the mid-20th Century.

Ushuaia is small enough to digest in a day, enjoying its street art, exploring the waterfront and perhaps stopping for a beer at the world’s southernmost microbrewery or coffee and a cake in Ramos Generales El Almacén, which opened in 1917.

The city has an excellent tourist office near the port, and a number of museums that are worth a look. Our favourite is the Museo Marítimo & Museo del Presidio, which is atmospherically housed in the city’s old prison. As well as telling the wider story of Ushuaia, it has a strong focus on Antarctic exploration, which makes a visit here particularly fascinating after an expedition cruise.

While Ushuaia is only a modestly-sized city, it has plenty of excellent accommodation options thanks to the large number of Antarctic cruise passengers that pass through. You can choose from premium hotels to stylish boutique guesthouses to modern luxury.

While most places to stay are in the centre of Ushuaia, there are a good selection of hotels on the edge of the city: either on the Beagle Channel itself or up in the hills, to make the most of the city's spectacular setting.

There are no direct international flights to Ushuaia (airport code USH). The airport is 2½ miles (4 km) from the centre of Ushuaia.

Ushuaia has multiple daily flights connections to Argentina's international gateway of Buenos Aires (3½ hours), connecting to the domestic airport Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbery (AEP). 

Ushuaia also has direct flights to El Calafate (FTE, 75 minutes), the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park. 

There are no direct flights to Chile, but there is an excellent direct daily bus service to Punta Arenas (12 hours) for Torres del Paine National Park.