The White Continent

Antarctica is the last true wilderness on earth: a continent with no cities, no permanent population and no way in except by expedition ship. What it offers instead is scale that rearranges your sense of the planet — cathedral icebergs, mountains rising straight from black water, and wildlife that has never learned to fear people.

This journey follows the classic route to the Antarctic Peninsula, and every step of it is arranged for you. It begins with a night in Buenos Aires at the Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, then flies south to Ushuaia, the port town at the end of the world, for a night before you board your expedition ship. From there: two days across the legendary Drake Passage, then day after day of landings and Zodiac cruises along the Peninsula, before the Drake carries you home.

You sail with Aurora Expeditions aboard the Sylvia Earle, a purpose-built expedition ship carrying around 130 guests — small enough that everyone lands at once, never in shifts. Our own sailing aboard her was a special one: her maiden voyage to Antarctica, in December 2022. An expert expedition team of naturalists, historians, geologists and glaciologists leads you ashore, typically twice a day, and brings the continent to life in lectures between landings. We invite you to experience Antarctica the way it deserves to be experienced — at water level, on foot, and in very good hands.

Itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive in Buenos Aires

Arrive in Argentina’s capital, where you are met at the airport and transferred privately to the Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, a palace hotel on Avenida Alvear in elegant Recoleta. The rest of the day is yours to rest and recover from the long flight south — tomorrow, the real south begins.

Day 2 — Fly to Ushuaia

Fly from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, spilled between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. The rest of the day is yours to explore the town and rest — tomorrow you board the ship, and the continent starts to feel close.

Day 3 — Ushuaia and Embarkation

A last look around Ushuaia this morning, then board the Sylvia Earle in the afternoon. Settle into your cabin — your expedition jacket is waiting for you — and meet the expedition team before dinner as the ship casts off and sails the Beagle Channel into the evening.

Days 4–5 — The Drake Passage

Two days at sea on the most storied stretch of ocean on earth, where the Atlantic and Pacific meet without a landmass to slow them. Use the crossing as the expedition team intends: lectures on Antarctic wildlife, ice and the great explorers, briefings on landing etiquette and biosecurity, and time on deck with binoculars as albatrosses and giant petrels follow the ship. By the second day, the first icebergs appear.

Days 6–10 — The Antarctic Peninsula: Expedition Days

These are the days the whole journey exists for, and no two are ever alike — the captain and expedition leader read the ice and weather each day and choose landings where the Peninsula is at its best. The rhythm, though, is constant: ashore or in the Zodiacs typically twice a day, in your loaned Muck boots and expedition jacket, with naturalists and historians beside you. Walk among penguin colonies, watch for seals hauled out on the floes and whales working the channels, cruise by Zodiac through sculpted icebergs, and visit the remains of the whaling and early exploration era. Back on board, the lecture program continues over dinner. Willing swimmers can take the Polar Plunge — the ultimate dip into icy polar water. Throughout, the expedition follows strict IAATO environmental guidelines, keeping respectful distances so the wildlife stays exactly as it should be: wild, and unbothered by your presence.

Days 11–12 — The Drake Passage, Northbound

Cross the Drake again, northbound this time, with the Antarctic Convergence behind you and the sea — veterans call it the “Drake Shake” or the “Drake Lake,” and you will earn one of them — for company. There is time for the expedition team’s recap of the voyage, photo sharing with your fellow travellers, and the Captain’s Farewell Dinner as the ship approaches South America.

Day 13 — Disembark in Ushuaia, Fly to Buenos Aires

Breakfast on board, then disembark in Ushuaia and transfer to the airport for your flight back to Buenos Aires, arriving in the evening. Connect onward home — or stay on: Buenos Aires rewards a few extra nights, and we are happy to arrange them.

Suggested Additional Experiences

(Offered by Aurora Expeditions on selected voyages, at additional cost — the Voyage Essentials guide names each of these; availability is voyage-specific.)