Top Antarctic Destinations
While often pictured as a vast, icy, inhospitable continent – Antarctica actually contains incredible geographic diversity from rocky mountains and volcanoes to huge glaciers, ice shelves, and everything in between. As tourism continues growing, more and more areas are opening up for adventure travelers to explore the 7th continent by land and sea.
From the relatively accessible yet wildlife-dense Antarctic Peninsula, to the remote, desolate interior and East Antarctic regions, to the isolated subantarctic islands surrounding the mainland – the Antarctic offers some of the most unique destination experiences and pristine landscapes left on the planet. Get inspired by these breathtaking Antarctic travel destinations.
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the most popular travel destination in Antarctica due to its accessibility and incredible wildlife including penguins, whales, seals and birds. This narrow peninsula is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica, extending out into the icy waters where most expedition cruise ships visit.
The Antarctic Peninsula features towering mountain ranges with glacial valleys, active volcanoes and incredible icebergs. Spots like Paradise Harbor and Lemaire Channel provide staggering scenery of mountains, glaciers and icebergs reflecting in calm waters. The peninsula is home to vast penguin rookeries and marine life making it ideal for up-close wildlife encounters from cruise ships or on land. However, this region is also seeing rapid impacts from climate change.
Ross Sea Region
Regarded as the last true wilderness on earth, the Ross Sea region of Antarctica offers striking scenery and landscapes completely untouched by humans. Located in the Pacific Sector, this remote area features the Ross Ice Shelf – the largest body of floating ice attached to a landmass.
The Ross Sea itself is a deep bay surrounded by towering ice cliffs and mountains. Visitors can spot Emperor penguin colonies, whales, seals and birds in this pristine marine habitat. The region also contains historic huts from early Antarctic explorers like Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. However, its isolation and extreme weather make it challenging and expensive to visit.
East Antarctic Interior
Comprising over two-thirds of the Antarctic continent, the interior of East Antarctica contains some of the most remote, harsh and pristine environments on the planet. This vast, ice-covered polar desert reaching elevations over 3,000 meters features an expansive, desolate ice sheet uninterrupted by anything except an occasional nunataks (mountain) protruding out.
Few have ever explored this inhospitable region, making it one of the last true frontiers left on earth. Sub-glacial lakes like Lake Vostok buried under over 4km of ice remain unstudied. Scientists do utilize areas like the Antarctic Plateau for research like IceCube – an observatory detecting tiny neutrino particles from space. But East Antarctica is largely untouched by humans.
Subantarctic Islands
While not part of the Antarctic mainland, the isolated Subantarctic Islands scattered in the Southern Ocean have captivating landscapes and wildlife distinctly different from the polar regions. Islands like South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Bouvet Island and the French Southern/Antarctic Lands remain some of the most remote places on earth.
South Georgia, an overseas territory of the UK, features awe-inspiring scenery of glaciers, fjords and rugged, mountainous terrain. It’s home to millions of penguins, seals, albatross and other species that have become iconic Antarctic wildlife. The islands provide incredible opportunities for adventurous travelers to explore their pristine environments and historical sites tied to early Antarctic explorers.