Tierra del Fuego Park, Train and Beagle Channel Cruise Ushuaia

Tierra del Fuego National Park

Tierra del Fuego National Park lies about 12 kilometres west of Ushuaia and is the only national park in Argentina that reaches the sea. It protects a landscape of lenga and ñire beech forest, peat bogs, glacial lakes and the rugged shore of the Beagle Channel, with the Andes dropping straight into the water. A Tierra del Fuego National Park tour from Ushuaia is the easiest way to see it, because the main viewpoints are spread along a gravel road and a guide knows where the foxes, upland geese and Andean condors are most often seen.

On this tour you travel through the park by minibus with an English-speaking guide, with stops of about 30 minutes at each viewpoint. The park entrance fee is paid at the gate on the day and is not included; our team tells you the current amount when we confirm. Wear closed shoes and layers: even in summer the weather can change from sun to sleet within an hour.

The End of the World Train

The Southern Fuegian Railway, better known as the End of the World Train, is the southernmost working railway in the world. It was built in the early twentieth century by the prisoners of the Ushuaia penal colony to haul timber from the forest, and today a heritage steam train runs the last seven kilometres of the original line into the national park. The narrow-gauge carriages have large windows and a recorded commentary that tells the story of the convicts who laid the track.

The ride lasts about an hour, with a stop at the Macarena waterfall station where you can walk to a small viewpoint and see a reconstruction of a Yámana camp. The train passes the valley of tree stumps left by the prisoners' logging before entering the forest, and ends at the park station where your minibus is waiting. Your train ticket is included in this tour.

Lapataia Bay and the end of National Route 3

Lapataia Bay is where National Route 3 finally ends, more than 3,000 kilometres after leaving Buenos Aires and, by the road network of the Americas, over 17,000 kilometres from Alaska. The famous sign marking the end of the road stands beside a wooden boardwalk that leads down to a sheltered inlet of the Beagle Channel. The water is often mirror-still, reflecting forested islands and snow-streaked peaks, and the boardwalk is flat and easy for everyone.

The stop here lasts about half an hour: time for the photo at the sign, a short walk along the boardwalk past peat bogs and beaver-felled trees, and a look at the shoreline birds. It is the most photographed spot on any Ushuaia national park tour, and the guide explains the Yámana people who lived along this shore for thousands of years.

Lago Roca, Alakush Visitor Centre and Ensenada Zaratiegui

Lago Roca, also called Lake Acigami, stretches along the Chilean border with mountains on every side; the viewpoint on its eastern shore is the classic Patagonian postcard. Next to it the Alakush Visitor Centre has exhibits on the park's geology, wildlife and the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego, as well as a café and clean toilets, so the 30 minutes here combine a good viewpoint with a warm break.

From mid-October to mid-May the tour also reaches Ensenada Zaratiegui, a small cove where the forest meets the Beagle Channel. Here stands the southernmost post office in the world, a tiny wooden hut on stilts over the water; the postal service no longer operates, but the building is preserved and the view across the channel is superb. Outside that season the road is closed and the tour spends extra time at the other viewpoints.

The Beagle Channel cruise

The Beagle Channel separates the main island of Tierra del Fuego from the islands to its south and links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Beagle Channel boat tour from Ushuaia is the best way to see the city in its setting, with the Martial mountains behind it and the channel opening eastwards. After free time for lunch you check in at the port booth we tell you, and the boat departs for about three hours on the water with an onboard guide and warm indoor seating.

The route heads to Birds Island, where cormorants nest in dense colonies, and Sea Lions Island, where South American sea lions and fur seals rest on the rocks within easy photo range. The boat slows for wildlife and then continues to the lighthouse before turning back to Ushuaia with views of the whole city and its mountains. Dress warmly for the open decks.

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse stands on a tiny rocky islet about 11 kilometres east of Ushuaia and has guided ships through the Beagle Channel since 1920. The red-and-white brick tower, barely ten metres tall, is unmanned and powered by solar panels, yet it has become the symbol of the city and the most searched-for image of any Ushuaia lighthouse cruise. The boat circles the islet slowly, giving everyone a clear photograph with the channel and the snow-capped peaks of the Chilean shore behind.

On the standard three-hour cruise the lighthouse is the turning point before the return to port. If you choose the five-hour option the boat continues east to Martillo Island, where a colony of Magellanic penguins breeds between mid-October and the end of March; you watch them from the boat without landing. Penguin season is the main reason travellers pick that longer option.