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Forward Travel
Tailor-Made Itineraries
Forward Travel
Tailor-Made Itineraries
Best Time to Travel: November–March
Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth, centred asymmetrically around the South Pole. It is the coldest, driest, highest, and windiest continent on the planet, with 98% of its landmass permanently buried under an ice sheet that averages 1.9 kilometres in thickness. Governed internationally under the framework of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System, it is the only continent with no sovereign nations, no permanent human population, and no industrial footprint, functioning instead as a global wilderness reserve for peaceful scientific exploration.
Discover Antarctica
Step into Port Lockroy (Base A, established 1944) and Argentina’s Esperanza Station (1952) on trips that also thread the Lemaire Channel, Neko Harbour, and Cuverville Island—gentoo and chinstrap sites monitored under IAATO site guidelines.
When ice allows, ships edge into the Weddell Sea to view tabular bergs calved from the Larsen Ice Shelf. Rare itineraries attempt the Snow Hill emperor penguin colony (helicopter-assisted in select seasons), with access best in October–November.
Visit Scott’s Discovery Hut on Ross Island, Shackleton’s Cape Royds hut, and the US McMurdo Stationbeside New Zealand’s Scott Base. Helicopter- or zodiac-supported operations reach Cape Evans, Cape Royds, and sometimes the Barne Glacier edge.
Land near Cape Denison to view the 1911 Australasian Antarctic Expedition huts. Select Ross Sea programs overfly or visit this hyper-arid system used for Mars-analogue research since the 1960s, subject to stringent environmental controls.
Pay respects at Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave in Grytviken. Watch king penguin colonies from close quarters at St Andrews Bay and Salisbury Plain, and elephant seal haul-outs along Fortuna Bay.
Daily lectures cover glaciology, marine biology, ornithology, meteorology, and Antarctic governance. Many departures run citizen-science modules (plankton tows, seabird logging, cloud observations) that feed long-running datasets.
No official capital.
~1,000–5,000 seasonal researchers among penguins, seals, whales, and seabirds
Personnel from the 12 nations signatory to the Antarctic Treaty
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Baháʼí
English (including Antarctic English), Spanish, Russian
US dollar (USD), Euro (EUR)
+672
No official time zone.
Types A, B, C & G
November–March
Seafood (tuna, halibut, swordfish, trout, salmon), pemmican (high-energy mix of dried meat and fat), soups & stews, sledging biscuits, bannock, chocolate
Common gateways are Ushuaia in Argentina, Punta Arenas in Chile, Hobart in Australia, and Invercargill/Lyttelton in New Zealand, and Cape Town in South Africa.
None. Ships provide satellite Wi-Fi for messaging and e-mail.
Obtain a visa for the departure country. Your cruise operator will obtain the Antarctica Travel Permit. Contact us for more information.
Polar destinations have no pre-designed packages. Please get in touch with us or build your own itinerary.
Let’s do it! Perhaps you already know what you want to see and do, perhaps you don’t. Either way, we’ll create the best Antarctica tour for you.
Your travel consultant
David Smyth
Director, Forward Travel
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“David crafted a once-in-a-lifetime safari for us. Every detail, from the lodges to the guides, was flawless.”
Emma & James Wilson
Australia→Kenya
September 2024
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