Luxury Tailor Made Journeys depart on the dates that work for you and feature expert local guides throughout your journey. The itinerary below can be customized to your interests.
Arrive Buenos Aires, Argentina
Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s cosmopolitan capital, where you are met and transferred to your luxurious hotel. Explore the city at leisure this afternoon and evening.
Ushuaia | Echoes of Evita
Join your guide to view key city landmarks, such as the Casa Rosada, executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina; the Cabildo, seat of the town council during the colonial era; the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral; and Plaza de Mayo, the city’s foundational square. Visit La Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners and a granddaughter of Napoleon were laid to rest. This afternoon, fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, set in magnificent Tierra del Fuego at the remote tip of South America. Check in to your hotel, the starting point for trails running through Reserva Natural Cerro Alarkén, an area devoted to the preservation of native forests.
Ushuaia | Penguin Rookery
Drive to Estancia Harberton, the oldest estancia (ranch) in Tierra del Fuego and an Argentine National Historical Monument. The farm, a working nature reserve, has been in the same family for six generations. Next, sail to Isla Martillo, where you walk amid a penguin rookery. The island hosts a colony of 3,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins, 16 pairs of gentoo penguins and 155 pairs of rock cormorants. Continue sailing to remote, primal Gable Island, set in the middle of the Beagle Channel. Savor a rustic lunch before sailing back to Harberton. Return to your hotel for an evening at leisure.
El Calafate | Gateway to the Glaciers
This morning, fly to El Calafate to experience Patagonian rural life in this charming town with well-kept gardens. Set against a stunning Patagonian backdrop, it serves as the gateway to a majestic world of glaciers.
El Calafate | Icy Spectacle
Today, visit the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the few remaining advancing glaciers in the world. View the glacier from several vantage points, walking along seven “balconies” located at different heights and distances from the glacier. This afternoon, visit an authentic, century-old ranch. Watch as sheep are sheared and herded. Then, hike or ride horseback along the banks of Lago Argentino, watching for flamingos wading in its glacier-blue waters. After this ranch experience shared with other guests, enjoy a lamb dinner, grilled on a traditional Patagonian cross stake.
Puerto Natales, Chile | Exploring Torres del Paine National Park
After an early breakfast, journey across the Chilean border to Puerto Natales, located at the edge of Chilean Patagonia. Check in to your hotel just outside of town. After lunch on site, enjoy the rest of the afternoon at leisure. The following two full days are spent exploring spectacular Patagonia. Choose from a wide range of expeditions and activities in Torres del Paine National Park, such as horseback riding, trekking, kayaking, mountain biking and birding — all designed to reveal Patagonia at its most authentic. Throughout, mingle with local residents, learning their customs as you visit ranches and businesses where the region’s pioneers worked; sail fjords; and admire landscapes far off the beaten path.
Puerto Natales | Trekking, Biking and More
Today, enjoy time at leisure or explore the magnificent wilderness of Torres del Paine National Park. You may encounter herds of guanaco roaming free, while flamingos and other birds populate lakes, streams and meadows. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the park is renowned for its magical landscape punctuated by granite spires, ice and deserted pampas. Scan the serrated peaks for soaring Andean condors riding an updraft, their ten-foot wingspans outspread. Tonight, after dinner, simply unwind in your room after your day of adventure. Or, if the sky is clear, step outside for some impromptu stargazing, marveling at the ink-black Patagonian night sky, awash with countless pinpoints of starlight.
Puerto Natales | Fjords, Mountains and Glaciers
Enjoy today at leisure or choose from a wide range of optional expeditions with different grades of difficulty and duration. You may explore fjords, mountains, glaciers, Patagonian forests or farms. Alternately, go horseback riding, trekking, kayaking or mountain biking.
Punta Arenas | Setting Sail
Transfer to Punta Arenas, where you later board your expedition vessel, ‘Stella Australis.’ After a welcome toast and the opportunity to meet your captain and crew, set sail for one of the most remote corners of the planet. During the night, cross the Strait of Magellan, where you enter the labyrinth of channels that define Patagonia’s southern extremes. Observe as the twinkling lights of Punta Arenas gradually fade into the distance and your ship approaches the Whiteside Canal, sandwiched between Darwin Island and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.
Ainsworth Bay & Tucker Islets | Exploring by Zodiac
Go ashore at Ainsworth Bay, a stunning coastal inlet bursting with wildlife. After choosing from two guided excursions — both promising magnificent views of Marinelli Glacier and the Darwin Mountains — you may spot a colony of southern elephant seals from your Zodiac. Venture along the edge of a stream, peat bog and beaver habitat to a rock face wreathed by moss and punctuated by a waterfall, deep within a pristine subpolar forest. Alternately, trek along the crest of a glacial moraine for a greater challenge. Later, sail west along the sound to the Tucker Islets. After lunch, board a Zodiac for spectacular close-up views of the Magellanic penguins that inhabit these islands.
Pia Fjord | Marveling at Pia Glacier
Overnight, sail around the western end of Tierra del Fuego through the narrow Gabrial Channel, Magdalena Channel and Cockburn Channel, and enter the Beagle Channel once more. In the morning, arrive in Pia Fjord, where you board a Zodiac to explore fascinating Pia Glacier. After disembarking, take a short hike for panoramic views of the spectacular ice sheet, which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea. Alternately, set out on a longer, more intrepid hike up a lateral moraine belonging to the old Pia Glacier. Return to ‘Stella Australis’ and continue east through Glacier Alley, an impressive “avenue” of tidewater glaciers flowing 150 miles along the Beagle Channel.
Cape Horn & Wulaia Bay | Observing the “End of the Earth”
Cruise across Nassau Bay into the remote archipelago, home to legendary Cape Horn National Park. Disembark on the windswept island (weather and sea conditions permitting). Discovered in 1616 by a Dutch maritime expedition, Cape Horn is a sheer, 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 Atlantic and Pacific oceans and was often referred to as the “End of the Earth.” This afternoon, navigate the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands, dropping anchor at mesmerizing Wulaia Bay. Visit the museum in the old radio station, and then choose from three hiking excursions that ascend the heavily wooded mountain tucked behind the bay. Before departing, if you like, drop a letter or postcard into the old wooden mail barrel inside the museum.
Depart Ushuaia
This morning, sail into Argentine waters. Dock in bustling Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, and disembark. Transfer to the Ushuaia airport for your homebound flight.
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