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Vast, remote, and desolately beautiful, Antarctica is like nowhere else in the world. Home to towering icebergs, glimmering glaciers, frozen bays, and rocky coastlines, this icy wilderness feels almost otherworldly.
From the moment you arrive, there’s a sense of adventure. Penguins huddle on snowy shores, seals lounge on drifting ice, and whales breach from dark, glassy waters. But an Antarctic expedition isn’t just about admiring views from the deck of your ship. There are many ways to experience it up close, from paddling between icebergs and trekking through snow to spending a night camping on the ice.
To help get you to Antarctica, we’ve partnered with Intrepid, an adventure travel company that’s been taking people around the world since 1989. Cruising in expedition ships built for polar conditions will allow you to explore this frozen continent while travelling in comfort. You’ll also be joined by experts in fields like glaciology, ornithology, marine biology, and natural history, who can tell you more about the landscapes and wildlife you encounter along the way.
So, if Antarctica’s always been on your travel wish list, here are eight unique experiences to look out for.
1. Go whale-watching
Seeing a whale in the wild is always special – but watching one surface against a backdrop of glaciers and icebergs is something else entirely. Several whale species are found in Antarctic waters, including humpbacks, minkes, and orcas. Sightings are most common during the polar summer, especially in February and March, when thousands of whales migrate south to feed in the nutrient-rich waters.
On Intrepid’s whale-season voyages, you’ll spend plenty of time keeping watch from the ship and heading out on Zodiac excursions. The expedition team will be on hand to help you spot whales and tell you more about their lives and behaviour. You might see a pod of orcas hunting, a solitary minke swimming nearby, or, if you’re really lucky, a humpback launching itself out of the water.
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£1301 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 11 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
2. Cruise among icebergs in a Zodiac
One of the joys of travelling to Antarctica is that you don’t spend the whole trip watching the scenery from the ship. Small inflatable Zodiac boats can weave through waterways that larger vessels can’t reach, bringing you closer to the ice and wildlife. You might pass towering icebergs, their glistening blue-white surfaces sculpted by wind and water into arches, peaks, and all kinds of unusual shapes.
Part of the fun is that you never know what you’ll encounter. At times, it can be wonderfully quiet, with little to hear but water lapping against the boat as you make your way between the ice. Then a penguin might shoot through the water beside you, or an albatross might soar overhead. Zodiacs are also used to reach many of Antarctica’s landing sites, so you might step ashore to visit a penguin colony, walk along a snowy beach, or simply take in the view from dry land.
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£1187 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 11 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
3. Camp overnight on the ice
If you like feeling close to nature and sleeping under the stars, an Antarctic camping excursion takes things a little further. Camping in Antarctica is rather different from pitching a tent beside a lake or in a forest. On selected Intrepid voyages, you can leave the comfort of the ship behind and spend a night on the Antarctic Peninsula itself. After dinner, you’ll travel to shore by Zodiac and bed down among the snow-covered mountains.
You don’t need any prior camping experience, and the expedition team stays with you throughout the night. Instead of a tent, you’ll sleep in a warm, waterproof bivvy bag, with an insulating mat between you and the frozen ground. Lying beneath the Antarctic sky, surrounded by nothing but snow and ice will certainly be one of the most memorable nights of your life.
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£2910 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 11 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
4. Hike across the snow in snowshoes
If you enjoy hiking, snowshoeing is a great way to explore more of Antarctica on foot. Ordinary walking boots can only take you so far in deep snow, but snowshoes spread your weight over a wider area, making it easier to cross snowy slopes and reach valleys and viewpoints that would otherwise be difficult to access. And while it might look like something that needs serious mountaineering skills, it’s surprisingly easy to get the hang of.
You don’t need any previous experience, and Intrepid’s excursions are led by guides who choose the route and duration based on the conditions and the group’s fitness levels. Once you’ve found your rhythm, you can concentrate on what’s around you: vast stretches of untouched snow, glaciers and mountains, and the feeling of having left the usual landing sites far behind.
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£1187 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 11 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
5. Kayak between icebergs
Ships and Zodiacs can take you remarkably close to Antarctica’s scenery and wildlife, but exploring by kayak puts you right down at water level. You can paddle through calm Antarctic waters, weaving between icebergs as glaciers tower around you. With no engine noise in the background, you can hear everything: the splash of your paddle, or the creak, groan, or boom as huge ice sheets crack or break off into the sea.
You can also often spot all kinds of seals, penguins, seabirds, and even whales from the water. Intrepid’s sea-kayaking excursions are led by experienced guides, with a safety Zodiac staying nearby. Previous kayaking experience is required for the full sea-kayaking programme, but some expeditions also offer shorter paddling excursions for beginners.
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£1187 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 11 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
6. Take the polar plunge
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and highest continent on Earth – so voluntarily jumping into its freezing waters might sound like a strange idea! But the polar plunge has become something of a tradition on Antarctic voyages…if you’re brave enough to give it a go. With Intrepid, you’ll swap your warm layers for a swimming costume, put on a safety belt and rope, and take the plunge into the near-freezing sea.
Unsurprisingly, you won’t be in for long. After a few seconds, you’ll be climbing back out, reaching for a towel, and getting warm again. The whole thing might be over almost as soon as it begins, but there’s something exhilarating about being able to say you’ve taken a dip in Antarctica – particularly with glaciers and snow-covered mountains as your backdrop. Have a watch of the video below to get inspired!
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£2661 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 14 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
7. Join a citizen science project
A trip to Antarctica can give you a new appreciation for the natural world. But on an Intrepid voyage, you won’t just be observing it; you can also help scientists learn more about the continent and its wildlife. Citizen science is especially valuable somewhere as remote as Antarctica, where carrying out long-term research can be difficult and expensive. On every voyage, travellers can get involved with ongoing projects, working alongside a dedicated citizen science coordinator.
Exactly what you do will depend on the projects running at the time. You might photograph whales’ tails to help researchers identify and track individual animals, survey seabirds from the deck, record cloud cover for NASA, or collect phytoplankton samples from the water. It’s a meaningful way to get even more out of your trip, by contributing to research that can help scientists better understand Antarctica and how it’s changing.
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Argentina & Antarctica | 10 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
8. Cross the Antarctic Circle
Most trips to Antarctica explore the Antarctic Peninsula, but some Intrepid expeditions travel further south, with the aim of crossing the Antarctic Circle at 66°33’S. Getting there isn’t guaranteed, as weather and sea ice conditions determine how far south the ship can travel. But that’s all part of the excitement. If conditions are on your side, you’ll sail into increasingly remote waters, with little around you but ice and ocean, before crossing a latitude that relatively few travellers ever reach – through some of the wildest scenery on the planet.
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£1873 off | Argentina & Antarctica | 13 days | Accommodation Included
Includes taxes and fees
Final thoughts…
Travelling to Antarctica is always going to be extraordinary. Whether you’re watching whales surface between icebergs, sleeping out under the Antarctic sky, or taking a leap into near-freezing waters, it’s the kind of place that will stay with you long after you’ve returned home.
And because weather, ice, and wildlife shape each journey, no two expeditions are quite the same. Plans can change at short notice, and sometimes the best moments are the ones you couldn’t ever have planned for.
Intrepid offers a wide range of Antarctic expeditions, from voyages around the Antarctic Peninsula to longer journeys crossing the Antarctic Circle or visiting South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. So, if Antarctica has been somewhere you’ve always dreamed of visiting, perhaps now’s the time to start planning.