Ushuaia is one of those places on every travelers list even if they don’t realize it. It’s so enticing all the way at the bottom of the world. It’s the southernmost city on the world, a main gateway to Antarctica and a city of over 85,000 people. Ushuaia is definitely Argentinian but it’s completely geared to tourists, shipping and Antarctica expeditions. I had two days in Ushuaia and here is what I did with my time!

I arrived in the morning on an Aerolineas Argentinas flight from Buenos Aires. I had already chosen not to go on my expedition to the Sub-Antarctic islands I was scheduled to go on the Atlantic Odyssey. So I knew I’d have some free time and I wanted to experience what I could with two days in Ushuaia.

From the airport I taxied to my hotel. The Arakur Hotel is without question the top hotel in Ushuaia. It has a stunning spa, excellent amenities, great rooms and a view that’s to die for. The issue is it’s really far from town, up a mountain, and was a $45 taxi from the airport.

With only hourly shuttles, it was annoying to get to and from so when I left, I was gone all day so I’d recommend staying somewhere in town. Many people from my expedition were staying at the Hotel Albatross. It’s perfectly located in the center of town and looked decent enough although I didn’t go inside.

After walking around town for a while and grabbing some early lunch I booked a Beagle Channel tour. Since I wasn’t taking the ship out I figured I’d see a lot of what the ship goes through to reach the Drake Passage. It was gorgeous to say the least.

The Beagle Channel leads you from Ushuaia to the Drake and you’ll pass a ton of wildlife along the way. My 4-hour tour focused on wildlife and we landed on a deserted island to do a hike to a great viewpoint of the channel all the way back to Ushuaia. Along with the famous Lighthouse that was the highlight.

On one side of the Beagle Channel is Argentina and the other is Chile. The Channel itself feels like a Norwegian fjord and is very calm because it’s surrounded on each side. Honestly the tour was great and really showed you what it’s all about. You can book the tour at any one of the little kiosks down by the harbor-you can’t miss them next to the Ushuaia sign!

As I mentioned my hotel was really far from town so after my Beagle Channel tour I had to go back to the hotel and lost motivation to come back to town for dinner and drinks and deal with the shuttle. So I had dinner at the hotel.

It was actually quite good. You could get an unlimited buffet for like $40 or you could get one plate and fill it up one time with as much as you could for like $15-so that’s what I did. I thought it was fun and also good value!

The next morning I checked out the hotel spa. It was fantastic and has won many awards for the spa if that’s your thing. Then I headed into town and stored my bags at a random hotel so I didn’t have to go back before my late afternoon flight to El Calafate.

I thought about booking another excursion and there are several options both on land and sea but in the end I decided to just walk around, sample the café culture and meet with some people who would be going on my ship.

A guy who follows me on Instagram actually met up with me at a café in town and we chatted for an hour or so. I always love meeting people where I travel if I can and this guy was awesome and headed to Antarctica that afternoon on a different ship.

Then I went and watched as the MV Plancius set sail for the Drake Passage and South Georgia Island a week away! As I type this nearly a week later I don’t regret my decision not to go for one second. So I was really able to enjoy my two days in Ushuaia with no stress! It’s not the worlds most exciting place but it’s a really cool place to be. After all, it’s the end of the world!

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