Antarctica Highlights with Hurtigruten

Explore the great white continent

Expedition Package from Auckland, includes flights, 1 night pre & post stay in Buenos Aires, 10 night Expedition voyage with full board, Antarctica landings & more

From $15,999 per person Twin share 

17 Jan 2023, Day 1: Fly from Auckland to Buenos Aires via Santiago

Your holiday starts with an overnight stay in Buenos Aires, the ideal way to begin your Antarctic adventure. Home to a proud and diverse community of porteños, or ‘people of the port’, this city is a sensuous fusion of faded European splendour and Latin American panache. There are plenty of places to explore, including many parrillas serving deliciously authentic Argentine steak. Or maybe practise your dance moves in the famous hometown of tango. 

Day 2: An early start today as your adventure begins with an early morning flight to Ushuaia, where we’ll meet our hybrid-powered expedition ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen, specially designed for sustainable cruising in polar waters.

This bustling port is the capital of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the Martial Glacier, Ushuaia vies for the title of the world’s southernmost city.

After a briefing from your Expedition Team, you’ll have time to settle into your cabin and explore the comforts and amenities on board. Later, you’ll join your Expedition Team for a welcome dinner.

Day 3 & 4:  On the two-day crossing through the Drake Passage, the Expedition Team will equip you with all you need to make the most of your polar expedition.

Visit the onboard Science Center and find out what lies ahead. Listen to experts talk passionately about Antarctica’s history, the science beneath the ice, and the impact of climate change and plastic pollution. You’ll learn how to make your visit as safe and as sustainable as possible, and about the Citizen Science projects you can join. Relax and meet your fellow adventurers. Take an invigorating swim, enjoy a spa treatment and look out for icebergs, whales and albatrosses.

Day 5 – 9: Antarctica! Nothing quite prepares you for it. Surrounded by looming glaciers, and icebergs the size of floating cathedrals, Antarctica will fill you with wonder. Perhaps the most surprising part of Antarctica is the silence. It’s a stillness that’s broken every so often by the locals – the wildlife.

Whales begin to arrive in greater numbers by December and January. This is also when the first penguin chicks hatch and seeing the clumsy clumps of feathers run around is always a charming sight. February and March are the peak of whale-watching opportunities, when large amounts of krill lure them to the area.

You’ll join the Expedition Team on landings and ice cruises, all included as part of your expedition. You may even get a chance to go kayaking among the icebergs on an optional activity. Back on board, the Expedition Team will continue their lectures, helping you grow in your insights of the frozen continent. Over five magical days, you’ll experience this amazing world in a way that will stay with you for a lifetime.

Completing successful landings require experience – Hurtigruten have over 128 years of it, and take pride in offering seamless landings to all our guests. From our tender pit – a small pier folded out on the side of the ship – you board small rubber boats that take up to 20 people. Then we take you ashore. But before this happens, we make sure to follow a few simple principles to make every landing run smoothly:

Guests are divided into boat groups of approximately 40 guests

To make it easier for guests to remember their group, we name them after animals in Antarctica, like albatross, krill or penguin species.

Groups are called by name over the ship’s speakers to avoid lines

All guests get a patch with the animal of their group for their Explorer jacket before the very first landing.

Groups are put together by the Expedition Coordinator by language. Friends and family also stay together.

All guests can eat whenever they want – before or after their outdoor activity. We put expeditions first, and fit your meals around them, which is what our explorer guests really love.

Once ashore, you will be greeted by the Expedition Leader or Assistant Expedition Leader at the landing site, offering you steps and helping hands to make the landing easier. Information about the landing site is provided, with tips on where to go and where to see animals. All guests are free to walk around the landing sites on their own, with the Expedition Team members nearby to answer questions or provide information. Special hikes and other excursions are always guided by experienced lecturers and team members.

Day 10 – 11: Crossing the Drake Passage. Your exhilarating Antarctica cruise seems over before it’s begun. Even after five days, you’ll only have scratched the surface of all there is to discover. It really is just the tip of the iceberg. Your head will likely still be a swirling kaleidoscope of special memories and new knowledge. If you have more questions, head to the Science Center and chat with the Expedition Team.

As your mind tries to conjure up the magical Antarctic scenery, now could be a good time to sift through your photos and videos to recapture a sense of its magnitude. If the adrenaline is still coursing through you, a trip to the gym and sauna may help, or enjoy a few relaxing treatments in the Wellness Spa.

Day 12: Today, we arrive back in Ushuaia, where our 12-day expedition draws to a close. From here, you’ll take your charter flight back to Buenos Aires. As you leave this beautiful region behind, you’ll take with you lasting memories of everything you’ve seen and done, the importance of these precious habitats, and positive experiences of sustainable expedition travel. 
Tonight you enjoy an overnight stay in Buenos Aires, the perfect way to finish off your Antarctica adventure 

29 Jan 23, Day 13: Enjoy the day in Buenos Aires before your evening flight back to New Zealand via Santiago 

Ask one of our Personal Travel Managers for more details!