The 21 must-do highlights of Antarctica

With few man-made distractions, it’s all about the wildlife in this spectacular icy kingdom. As global travel becomes increasingly crowded, this frozen continent remains the ultimate sanctuary for those seeking raw, transformative silence and the world’s most resilient creatures.

THE LOWDOWN

Antarctica is the standout continent: no language to learn, no culture to understand, indeed no population at all. The only notable buildings are prefabricated huts constructed elsewhere. Yet, it’s the continent that most reveals our remarkable planet. The wildlife is special, from ever-endearing penguins to curious seals and playful whales against a spectacular icy backdrop.

Many come to Antarctica for the wildlife but return for the ice. Whether wading through snow to a penguin colony or observing the menacing shape of a leopard seal snoozing on an ice floe, frozen water is everywhere.

Most visitors arrive and leave with a favourite penguin species: feisty little chinstraps, ever-comical gentoo or (my favourite) Adelie penguins with their white eye-rings that make them look frankly insane. East Antarctica adds emperor penguins to the list while South Georgia is home to king Penguins.

From the cutest birds to the largest mammals: Antarctica in summer is where many of the world’s whales head for an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. The show is best in late summer when they have eaten their fill and have time to play.

As Antarctic tourism grows rapidly the best time to visit is now. Think laterally; rather than the Antarctic Peninsula explore other options such as South Georgia, the Weddell Sea, the Antarctic Circle or even the Ross Sea below New Zealand.

WHAT’S HOT

As operators seek to diversify offerings, visitors have a richer experience. The new generation of better stabilised, faster ships makes the Drake Passage less scary and improvements in engine technology can reduce your environmental footprint, too.

Depending on the ship, kayaking, snow shoeing and camping on the ice may be supplemented by helicopters and submarines. With the involvement of renowned institutions and universities, travellers can also participate in collecting science data that has real-world consequences.

WHAT’S NOT

Isolation is no longer possible in a continent once regarded as almost as inaccessible as the moon. The encroachment of the rest of the world is everywhere. There’s less flexibility today. Bird Flu is in Antarctica so now you can’t sit or put anything on the ground. More ships dictate more rigid sail plans and site management plans dictate how your visit will unfold.

MUST-DOS

South Pole

The holy grail of polar travel has always been to reach 90 degrees south. Sleep under the midnight sun after walking around the world in a minute. Like an early polar explorer you can even ski the last degree. See antarctic-logistics.com

Sail

Keen sailors may dream of sailing the Drake Passage and seeing the Antarctic Peninsula from the deck of a yacht. It can be done, and many do. For yacht operators see iaato.org

Run a marathon

It’s a challenging environment but there are marathons run every year, either on the continent or a sub-Antarctic island. See icemarathon.com; marathontours.com

Sail on a cruise ship

Atlas Ocean Voyages is building a 400-passenger, ice-strengthened sailing yacht, the Atlas Adventurer, enabling zero-emission cruising when conditions permit. The first cruise is in November 2028 but it has yet to say when she’ll test her ice credentials. See atlasoceanvoyages.com

Icebreak

The great majority of ships operating in Antarctica are ice-strengthened but Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s first luxury icebreaker. She carries up to 245 guests and, able to break through thick sea ice, takes you to places other ships can’t reach. See ponant.com.

MUST-VISIT SIGHTS

Half Moon Island

This small sunken volcanic caldera is an arc of ice with hills at both ends, so it does indeed look like a frosted half moon. There’s a long-abandoned whaling waterboat on the beach and the rocks are a noisy profusion of chinstrap and gentoo penguins with Antarctic terns above.

Grytviken

The only “settlement” on South Georgia Island is an evocative representation of an early whaling station in a picturesque location. Here you’ll find the 1913 Whalers Church, the South Georgia museum with adjoining post office and the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Cape Royds

Venture deep into the Ross Sea below New Zealand and you’ll come across several huts of great historical significance. Cape Royds was the base for Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition of 1908 and, preserved by the cold, dry air, it looks like he only just left. It’s a slice of Heroic Age history you’ll never forget.

West Point Island

Often the first port of call in the Falklands for ships coming from Ushuaia, this beautiful island is a single 1500-hectare sheep farm. While tea at the homestead is tempting the main attraction is the Devils Nose where nesting black-browed albatross live with rockhopper penguins.

Neko Harbour

The cruise along Andvord Bay passes dramatic glaciers to Neko Harbour, a gentoo penguin colony with a very active glacier face backdrop. When conditions allow, a hike onto the glacier is spectacular.

Wilhelmina Bay

Sometimes referred to as Whale-amina Bay this large waterway seems to be a social centre for humpback whales. It’s not unknown for every pair of Zodiacs to find they are accompanied by one or more whales, sometimes mother and calf, who are keen to interact.

MUST-DO EXPERIENCES

Understand a penguin day

Over the course of a voyage, and with the help of the guides, you’ll come to know what’s going on in the colony, with parents swapping caring duties, hungry chicks and lurking predatory skuas.

Ice

Antarctica is all about ice so be on the ship’s bridge as the captain navigates around giant icebergs and be in a Zodiac crashing through brash ice – scenes far removed from the everyday.

Whales at eye-level

Any whale encounter is special, but when you are in a Zodiac and a humpback whale surfaces alongside it’s a whole new level of intensity.

Sunset or sunrise?

Summer days are endless in Antarctica. Stay up late and you’ll find that the wonderful alpenglow of an Antarctic sunset morphs seamlessly into sunrise with no darkness in between.

Drake delight

On the Drake Passage, look beyond the ship to find albatross soaring in her wake. As they approach, you’ll appreciate that a wandering albatross has a wingspan of up to three-and-a-half metres.

MUST-DO JOURNEYS

Antarctic Peninsula

Last summer more than 80,000 people visited Antarctica. Some 98 per cent of those visits were along the Antarctic Peninsula which is the most accessible area. It’s relatively close to South America, it’s beautiful and there are many places to land. See scenic.com.au, vikingcruises.com.au

Overflight

For some, Antarctica will always be a dream because of fiscal limitations. One way to see Antarctica is to take a special Qantas charter non-stop flight there and back over a long day. Fares from $1199. antarcticaflights.com

Falklands and South Georgia

In some ways, they’re a richer side of Antarctica and in others they are simply British. Stanley is all Union Jacks and Land Rovers with penguins in farm paddocks. South Georgia is a rugged, mountainous landscape teeming with wildlife. See intrepidtravel.com, ​​ chimuadventures.com

Antarctic Circle

Because of heavy ice conditions, few voyages travel far enough down the western side of the Peninsula to reach the wild landscape south of 66°33′50″ where the sun remains above the horizon for 24 continuous hours once a year. See hl-cruises.com; quarkexpeditions.com

East Antarctica/semi circumnavigation

The Ross Sea, below Australia, is where many of the Heroic Age exploits occurred, including the Race to the Pole. Several companies now make the voyage from Australia or New Zealand to Ushuaia or return. See auroraexpeditions.com.au; heritage-expeditions.com

FUN FACTS: ANTARCTICA

• Antarctica is the driest continent, yet it holds 70 per cent of the earth’s fresh water and 90 per cent of its ice in its massive ice sheets.
• The lowest temperature ever recorded in the world was minus 89.2 degrees and that was on Antarctica’s Soviet Vostok Station, July 21, 1983.
• Just 11 people have been born on the continent, but there are no permanent human residents; just seasonal staff at the research stations. There are millions of penguins.
• There’s a 4800 square kilometre dry valley region in Antarctica which, because of its extreme cold and ice-free state, is used by NASA to test equipment and study how life might exist on Mars which, they believe, is a very similar environment.
• Doctors stationed at certain remote research facilities, like the Australian Antarctic stations, are sometimes required to have their appendix removed before they’re deployed just in case they contract appendicitis and receive medical attention.