Argentina · Tierra del Fuego
Ushuaia
The city at the end of the world, where the road runs out and the Antarctic ships set sail.
Argentina's southernmost city climbs a steep slope between the Beagle Channel and the snow-streaked Martial range, a former penal colony turned the self-styled end of the world. Boats run out past sea lion rocks and lighthouses on the channel, Tierra del Fuego National Park begins just west of town where Ruta 3 runs out, and in summer the port fills with the expedition ships that sail for Antarctica.
Suggested stay
3–5 days
Language
Spanish
Currency
ARS
Timezone
UTC-3
Why you'll love Ushuaia
The Beagle Channel Boats weave past cormorant and sea lion islets to the red-and-white Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, with Chile's Navarino Island on the far shore.
End of the road Ruta 3 finishes at Lapataia Bay inside Tierra del Fuego National Park, where coastal trails run through southern beech forest to the water.
Mountains at the door Trails climb from the edge of town to the Martial Glacier and, a short drive east, to the milky-green Laguna Esmeralda.
Gateway south This is the main departure port for Antarctic expedition cruises, and the waterfront hums with them all summer.
Best time to visit
Jan-Feb
14-14° days
54.807° S, 68.308° W
UTC-3 · America/Punta Arenas
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Weather & when to go to Ushuaia
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Jan-Feb
Hiking prime Jan-Feb
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Ushuaia
June-August is cold, dark and snowy, the months to avoid for general travel, though it is the ski season at Cerro Castor, with dog sledding in the valleys. The Antarctic cruise and penguin seasons run roughly November-March, wider than the January-February weather peak; wind and rain can blow through in any month.
Top things to do in Ushuaia
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Beagle Channel - sea lions, cormorants and Les Eclaireurs lighthouse
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularThe classic Ushuaia outing: a catamaran or small boat from the pier out to Isla de los Lobos, packed with sea lions, the cormorant colonies of Isla de los Pajaros and the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, with the Martial peaks behind the city on the way back.
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Tierra del Fuego National Park - the Senda Costera and Lapataia Bay
hiking nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularSouthern beech forest, peat bogs and lakes running down to the Beagle Channel just west of town. Walk the Senda Costera along the shore, look out over Lago Roca and Laguna Negra, and finish at Lapataia Bay, where the sign marks the end of Ruta 3.
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Isla Martillo - walk among the penguins
nature wildlife ⭐ Highly recommendedA small island in the Beagle Channel, reached through Estancia Harberton, with a colony of Magellanic penguins and a few gentoos. Most boats view it from the water; a small, limited walking landing gets you onto the island itself. The birds are there roughly spring to early autumn.
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Museo Maritimo y del Presidio - inside the old prison
history 👍 PopularThe stone penal colony that built the town, its radiating wings of cells now holding maritime, Antarctic and prison history, plus one wing left unrestored, cold and bare. Allow a good couple of hours; it is the best rainy-day stop in town.
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Laguna Esmeralda - a boggy walk to a glacier lake
hiking scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedThe best-loved day hike near town: from the Ruta 3 trailhead in the Tierra Mayor valley, through beech forest and across wet peat bog to a green lake under the mountains. Wear waterproof boots; the bog is part of the experience.
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Martial Glacier - hike up above the city
hiking scenicA steep walk from the top of the road behind town up to the shrinking glacier in the Martial range, with a view straight down over Ushuaia and the channel. In winter the same slopes turn into a small snow play area.
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Tren del Fin del Mundo - the prison railway
history scenicA narrow-gauge steam train on the route that once hauled convicts to cut timber, now a tourist line running into Tierra del Fuego National Park past the stumps of the forest they felled. A gentle way into the park, and often combined with a drive to Lapataia.
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Centolla and Fuegian lamb - the local table
foodUshuaia's signature is centolla, southern king crab from the channel, served plainly, gratinated or in chowder, alongside Fuegian lamb roasted slowly on an iron cross over the fire. Merluza negra, the local toothfish, turns up on menus too.
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Cerro Castor - skiing at the bottom of the world
adventureThe southern resort off Ruta 3 north-east of town, known for a long season and dry snow. Through winter, the Tierra Mayor valley nearby adds cross-country trails, snowshoeing and husky sledding.
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Antarctica - the expedition cruise departures
adventure nature wildlifeMost Antarctic Peninsula voyages sail from here, crossing the Drake Passage in around two days. Most are booked long in advance, though travellers still hunt last-minute berths at agencies along the waterfront at the start and end of the season.
Best areas to stay in Ushuaia
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Centro and the waterfront
First-time visitors $$Compact, sloping streets above the port
Explore hotels in Centro and the waterfront →
The Martial Glacier road
Views & comfort $$$Hillside lodges with channel views
Explore hotels in The Martial Glacier road →
Valle de Andorra
Cabins & self-drivers $$Cabins in the woods behind town
Explore hotels in Valle de Andorra →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Ushuaia
Getting to & around Ushuaia
Getting there
Fly into Ushuaia (USH), about 10 min by taxi from the centre, or arrive overland on Ruta 3 or by ship.
Flight
Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)
The airport sits on a peninsula across the bay from town, with flights from Buenos Aires and El Calafate. Taxis and remises wait outside, about 10 min to the centre.
Coach
Buses and minivans come down Ruta 3 from Rio Grande over the Garibaldi Pass, and from Punta Arenas in Chile in a long day with a Strait of Magellan ferry and a border crossing.
Drive
Ruta 3 reaches the island by the Strait of Magellan ferry and a Chilean section, then crosses back into Argentina at San Sebastian and runs south via Rio Grande and Tolhuin.
Cruise
Ushuaia port
Antarctic expedition ships and Cape Horn cruises from Punta Arenas dock at the pier in the centre of town.
Getting around
Walking
The centre is compact but steep; everything from the pier to the prison museum is walkable.
Free
Taxi and remis
Plentiful and the easy way up to the Martial road hotels, the glacier trailhead or the airport.
TBC
Park and trailhead shuttles
Minibuses leave from the waterfront for Tierra del Fuego National Park, the Martial Glacier road and the Laguna Esmeralda trailhead.
TBC
Rental car
Worth it for Harberton, the lakes over the Garibaldi Pass and the national park at your own pace; roads beyond Ruta 3 are gravel.
TBC
Day trips from Ushuaia
Tierra del Fuego National Park
Full dayCoastal forest park
Forest, lakes and channel shore from the Chilean border down to Lapataia Bay. Walk the coastal trail to Lago Acigami, pause at the end-of-Ruta-3 sign and watch for beavers' dams and upland geese.
Getting there
bus | car | tour | train
About 20-30 min west by shuttle, car or tour; the train covers part of the way
Estancia Harberton and Isla Martillo
Full dayPioneer ranch and penguins
The first estancia on the island, founded in the 1880s by the missionary Thomas Bridges and still run by his descendants, with a marine mammal museum. Boats leave from its jetty for the penguin colony on Isla Martillo.
Getting there
car | tour | ferry
About 1.5-2 hr east by car or tour on gravel, or by boat along the Beagle Channel
Lagos Escondido and Fagnano
Full dayMountain pass and lakes
Ruta 3 climbs out of town through the Tierra Mayor valley and over the Garibaldi Pass, with a lookout over Lago Escondido, then drops to vast Lago Fagnano and the small lakeside town of Tolhuin.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1-2 hr north by car or tour on Ruta 3 over the Garibaldi Pass
Laguna Esmeralda
Half dayForest and bog hike
An easy-to-moderate walk through lenga forest and wet peatland to a green lake beneath the peaks, the best short hike in the area. In winter it is done on snowshoes.
Getting there
car | bus | walk
About 20-30 min by car or shuttle to the trailhead in the Tierra Mayor valley, then a walk in
Puerto Williams
1-2 daysChilean island village
A small Chilean naval village on Navarino Island across the channel, base for the hard Dientes de Navarino trek. Go with your passport; it is a border crossing.
Getting there
ferry | flight
A short boat crossing of the Beagle Channel or a short flight, running mainly in summer
A little history of Ushuaia
For thousands of years the Yamana, or Yaghan, paddled these channels in bark canoes, keeping fires burning aboard and on shore; the Selk'nam hunted the island's interior. Those fires gave Tierra del Fuego its name. FitzRoy's HMS Beagle charted the channel in the 1830s with the young Charles Darwin aboard, and in 1869 an Anglican mission settled on the bay, soon led by Thomas Bridges, who compiled a Yamana dictionary. European diseases and settlement brought the collapse of both peoples within a few decades.
Argentina raised its flag here in 1884, and from the 1890s the town grew around a prison meant to populate its remotest territory: convicts built the streets, cut the forest and rode the railway to it. The prison closed in 1947, the navy stayed, and tax incentives later brought factories and people. Today the city lives on tourism and the Antarctic cruise trade, and its memorials and airport carry the name of the Malvinas, the islands Britain calls the Falklands.
HMS Beagle charts the channel that now bears its name, with Charles Darwin aboard
The South American Missionary Society founds an Anglican mission on the bay
An Argentine naval expedition raises the flag, the date taken as the town's founding
Thomas Bridges founds Estancia Harberton, the island's first ranch
Work begins on the stone national prison, built by the convicts themselves
The prison closes; the naval base takes over the site
Argentina and the United Kingdom fight a war over the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands)
Tierra del Fuego becomes a full Argentine province, with Ushuaia as its capital
The old prison railway reopens as the Tren del Fin del Mundo
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type I
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+54
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
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FAQs about Ushuaia
▸ When is the best time to visit Ushuaia?
January and February have the best weather, with long days for the channel and the trails. The wider summer from around November to March brings penguins and the Antarctic sailings. June-August is cold and dark, the months to avoid unless you have come for skiing at Cerro Castor or dog sledding.
▸ Can I go to Antarctica from Ushuaia?
Yes. Ushuaia is the main departure port for Antarctic Peninsula expedition cruises, which run in the southern summer and cross the Drake Passage. Most places are booked months ahead, and it is an expensive trip, though some travellers find discounted last-minute berths through agencies in town.
▸ Where can I see penguins near Ushuaia?
On Isla Martillo in the Beagle Channel, home to Magellanic and a few gentoo penguins. Boats view the colony from the water, and a small, limited walking landing puts you on the island. The birds are present roughly from spring to early autumn and gone in winter.
▸ Is Ushuaia really the southernmost city in the world?
It is the southernmost city of any real size and bills itself as the end of the world. Chile's Puerto Williams, across the Beagle Channel, lies further south but is a small village.
▸ How many days do I need in Ushuaia?
Three to five days covers a Beagle Channel boat, the national park, the penguins and a hike to Laguna Esmeralda or the Martial Glacier, with a spare day for weather, which changes fast and can cancel boats.
▸ Is Ushuaia expensive?
It is one of the pricier places to travel in Argentina, since most goods come a long way and tours and boat trips add up. Staying in the centre, walking and using the shuttles keeps it down.
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