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- Stella Australis
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- Room Via Australis
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- Restaurant Stella Australis
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- Via Australis
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- Cape Horn
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- Penguins Tierra del Fuego
This is a cruise where history and legend meet. Join us on the routes of the daring navigators of the 16th century, such as Hernán de Magallan, Sir Francis Drake and Captain Sarmiento de Gamboa. You are certain to be enchanted by the magical world of the forest, sea, and ice, as well as by the wealth of flora and fauna.
The fleet of Australis include the elegant cruise ships Stella Australis and Via Australis. Both ships provide a very high standard of safety and comfort. The outer cabins offer stunning views onto the glaciers, forests and snow-covered mountains.The on-board guide and the zodiac excursions have received very good client evaluations in the last years!
Every day of your adventure is crowned by delicious culinary specialties, such as oysters, king crabs, fish, Argentine beef, and the unique flavour of Patagonian lamb.
En-route, you will also have the opportunity to study Patagonia and its people through documentary films, informative slide lectures, and interesting books.
- Tour Description
- Included Services
- Gear
- Notes
- Route
Punta Arenas – Ushuaia
(5 days / 4 nights)
Day 1 – Punta Arenas
After checking in at Punta Arenas in the afternoon, your captain will welcome you with an onboard cocktail, followed by departure to your breath-taking journey through the Magellan Strait and the Beagle Channel, all the way to the ‘End of the World’.
Day 2 – Ainsworth Bay – Isla Tucker
At Ainsworth Bay, reached via the Almirantazgo Channel, you can take an exploratory stroll to a beaver dam in the middle of the Magellan Forest. With a bit of luck, you will be able to observe elephant seals along the beach. Later, you head for Tucker Island, where Magellan penguins and cormorants can be observed from the boat. During April, when the penguins are migrating, an alternative excursion is made to a glacier in Brookes Bay.
Day 3 – Pia Glacier – Glacier Alley
Travelling through the main section of the Beagle Channel, your journey today takes you to Pia Glacier Bay. A viewpoint offering spectacular panoramas of the glacier tongue, extending from the mountains down to the sea, can be reached by a short walk. This unforgettable experience is followed by a journey through the north-west arm of the Beagle Channel, also known as «glacier alley».
Day 4 – Cape Horn – Wulaia Bay
Today’s destination is Cape Horn National Park, a UNESCO World Biosphere. In the afternoon, you will go ashore at Wulaia Bay, once a region with populous indigenous settlements, and today renowned for the impressive beauty of its landscapes. A stroll through the Magellan forest to reach an overlook provides insight into the variety of native flora, which includes lenga and coigue trees, as well as ferns.
Day 5 – Ushuaia
Arrival in Ushuaia, Argentina’s most prominent town on Tierra del Fuego. Your cruise ends here, where you disembark at around 8am.
Ushuaia – Punta Arenas
(5 days / 4 nights)
Day 1 – Ushuaia, Argentina
After checking in at Ushuaia, you will be welcomed on board your cruise ship, after which your breathtaking journey through the Magellan Strait and the Beagle Channel at the «End of the World» will commence.
Day 2 – Cape Horn – Wulaia Bay
Your first destination is Cape Horn National Park, which UNESCO has nominated a World Biosphere. (Landing is dependent upon the weather.) The cape is well-described by the evocative epithet «The End of the World», and the place is imbued with countless legends. In the afternoon, you will go ashore at Wulaia Bay, once an area with size-able indigenous settlements. The region is also renowned for the impressive beauty of its natural geography. A stroll through the Magellan forest to reach an overlook provides insight into the variety of the native flora, which includes lenga and coigue trees, as well as ferns.
Day 3 – Pia & Garibaldi Glaciers
Passing through Beagle Strait’s north-west arm, you will reach the Pia Fjord in the morning and go ashore near the glacier of the same name. A short hike will take you to an impressive viewpoint above this icy giant. In the afternoon, you will go on another walk at Garibaldi Fjord, passing through dense forest to reach a magnificent glacial waterfall.
Day 4 – Piloto & Nena Glaciers – Agostini Sound – Águila Glacier
In the morning your ship will cruise through Cockburn Channel before anchoring in Chico Sound. You’ll then transfer to a Zodiac boat to explore Alakaluf Fjord, with its beautiful waterfalls and dramatic terminus of Piloto Glacier and Nena Glacier. During the trip, your guide will tell you all about the formation of glaciers and their influence on the geography of the region’s steep channels. In the afternoon, after re-boarding the Via Australis, you will enter Agostini Sound, in the heart of the Darwin Mountain Range, with its magnificent backdrop of craggy rocks, snowy mountain peaks, and lustrous blue glaciers stretching down to the sea. Near Águila Glacier you will disembark for a short walk along a beach, bringing you to a delightful spot facing the glacier.
Day 5 – Isla Magdalena
Isla Magdalena is reached early in the morning. On the way to the island’s lighthouse, you will see a colony of Magellan penguins; during April, when the penguins are migrating, you will visit a sea lion colony on Marta Island instead. About 11:30am, your cruise ship reaches Punta Arenas, the end-point of your journey.
Listed excursions
Life wests are provided.
There are also shorter (4 days/ 3 nights) and longer versions (8 days/ 7 nights) of this cruise available.
Video of the cruise from/to Ushuaia (3 nights):
