Must-see attractions in Antarctica

  • This historic hut, at Cape Evans, on the shore of Ross Island, in the Ross Sea, was the starting point for Robert Falcon Scott's ill fated trek to the South Pole. The hut is in remarkably good condition, thanks to its proximity to New Zealand's Scott Base and the US' McMurdo Sound Base, and regular visits from conservators,

    Terra Nova Hut

    Antarctica

    Scott’s hut from the Terra Nova expedition is steeped in an incredible feeling of history. Here, dog skeletons bleach on the sand in the Antarctic sun,…

  • ANTARTICA - JANUARY 14:  In this handout image provided by the Monaco Palace, a general view of the wooden hut built by Earnest Shackleton in 1907, visited by Prince Albert Of Monaco, now kept by Dr David G Ainley in Cape Royds on January 15, 2009 in Antartica.  (Photo by Monaco Palace via Getty Images)

    Shackleton’s Hut

    Antarctica

    Shackleton erected this structure on his Nimrod expedition in February 1908. Fifteen men lived in the hut, which is much smaller than Scott’s at Cape…

  • Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

    Antarctica

    The South Pole station was built in phases, so the first group of occupants was able to take up residence in January 2003, and it was officially…

  • Antarctica Lemaire Channel snowy mountain

    Lemaire Channel

    Antarctic Peninsula

    This steep-sided channel – just 1600m (5250ft) wide – runs for 11km (7 miles) between the mountains of Booth Island and the Peninsula. So photogenic that…

  • Christ Church Cathedral

    Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

    The great peat slip of 1886, a landslide which killed two people and damaged numerous buildings, wiped out Stanley’s Holy Trinity Church. The foundation…

  • Ceremonial South Pole

    Antarctica

    The resplendent flags of the original 12 Antarctic Treaty signatories surround this red-and-white-striped ‘barber’ pole, capped by a chromium globe, so it…

  • IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the south pole station; Shutterstock ID 1146088580; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Science Facilities

    Antarctica

    Most of the scientific facilities at the Pole are off-limits to visitors, to avoid disrupting research. Other laboratories are off-limits because their…

  • Borchgrevink’s Huts

    Antarctica

    In February 1899, four years after Kristensen’s landing here, Borchgrevink was back at Cape Adare as the leader of the Southern Cross expedition. It took…

  • Scott Base

    Antarctica

    Compared to McMurdo’s ‘urban sprawl,’ just 3km away by gravel road, New Zealand’s Scott Base looks positively pastoral. An orderly collection of lime…

  • Antarctic peninsula, Goudier Island, Old British Base at Port Lockroy, Bransfield House

    Bransfield House

    Antarctic Peninsula

    Britain beautifully restored the original station building, Bransfield House, the main building of Base A, in 1996. Displays on the station’s history hang…

  • Scott’s Discovery Hut

    Antarctica

    Scott’s National Antarctic Expedition built this hut in February 1902 on aptly named Hut Point. The prefabricated building, purchased in Australia, is of…

  • Palmer Station

    Antarctic Peninsula

    Palmer was built in 1968 on the island’s southwest coast to honor American sealer Nathaniel B Palmer, who in 1820 was one of the first to see Antarctica…

  • Scott's Hut, Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica. Built 1911 by the crew of the Terra Nova Expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, this hut was used as a base of operations for Scott's ill-fated trek to the South Pole. Owing to the cold, dry, polar conditions and remote location, the hut and artifacts remain remarkably well preserved. Pictured is Captain Scott's sleeping quarters, the last place he ever spent a night indoors.

    Nordenskjöld Hut

    Antarctic Peninsula

    The Swedish South Polar Expedition’s prefabricated black-walled hut, the Antarctic Peninsula’s oldest remaining building, is a protected historic site…

  • Novolazarevskaya Station

    Antarctica

    Located at the southeastern tip of the Schirmacher oasis and on the shores of Lake Stantsionnoye, Russia’s Novolazarevskaya Station is named for Mikhail…

  • Esperanza Station

    Antarctic Peninsula

    Argentina built this base in 1951, though a naval post was established here in 1930. Esperanza was significantly expanded in 1978 and women and children…

  • Davis Station

    Antarctica

    Named after Captain John King Davis, master of ships used on expeditions led by Shackleton and Mawson, Australia’s Davis Station is a colorful collection…

  • Rothera Research Station

    Antarctic Peninsula

    The UK’s Rothera, built in 1975, occupies a small peninsula on Adelaide’s southeast coast. A 900m gravel airstrip and hangar were added in 1990–91, making…

  • Academician Vernadsky Station

    Antarctic Peninsula

    This Ukrainian base, which accommodates 24 people, is located on Galindez Island. Transferred from the UK in 1996 for £1 (look for the actual coin…

  • Emperor Penguins

    Antarctic Peninsula

    On the fast ice about 400m from the low ice cliffs on Snow Hill Island’s south coast is Antarctica’s northernmost (and most accessible) emperor penguin…

  • Hansen’s Grave

    Antarctica

    The Southern Cross expedition’s zoologist, Norwegian Nicolai Hansen, died on October 14, 1899, probably of an intestinal disorder: the first human death…

  • Geographic South Pole

    Antarctica

    The Geographic South Pole (Geodetic Pole) marks the spot at one end of the Earth’s axis of rotation (the other being the North Pole). It is indicated by a…

  • Mawson's Main Hut

    Antarctica

    Mawson intended to have two separate huts, one housing 12 men, the other six. But it was decided to join the two, creating an accommodation area and a…

  • Mario Zucchelli Station

    Antarctica

    At the coast, Italy operates summer-only Mario Zucchelli Station, which accommodates 90 people. The station, a collection of blue buildings with orange…

  • Plateau Observatory

    Antarctica

    In early 2008 a six-tractor caravan left China’s Zhongshan Station, covering the 1300km traverse to Dome A in three weeks to set up the PLATO Observatory…

  • East Base

    Antarctic Peninsula

    East Base was built during aviator Richard Byrd’s third Antarctic expedition, the US Antarctic Service Expedition of 1939–41. It was also used in 1947–48…

  • Mawson Station

    Antarctica

    Australia's Mawson Station was established in February 1954. Named for Douglas Mawson, an Australian Antarctic explorer, it is the oldest continuously…

  • Goudier Island

    Antarctic Peninsula

    Goudier Island is home to 800 pairs of gentoos. Monitoring of their breeding success since 1995 has found no discernible impact from tourists, who tramp…

  • Maitri Station

    Antarctica

    Maitri, Hindi for friendship, is a long, U-shaped, tan-colored building with a large Indian flag over the entrance. Maitri’s winter and summer complement…

  • Grave of Matthew Brisbane

    Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

    Vernet’s lieutenant Matthew Brisbane was murdered by gauchos after British naval officer JJ Onslow left him in charge of Port Louis in August 1833. In…

  • Torgersen Island

    Antarctic Peninsula

    The Adélie rookery just offshore is often visited in conjunction with Palmer Station. Since 1974, however, the Adélie population here has dropped by 60%…

  • Wordie House

    Antarctic Peninsula

    Built in 1947 as the first part of what would later become Faraday Base, this protected historic site, restored in the late 1990s by the British Antarctic…

  • Signy Research Station

    Antarctica

    In 1946–47 Britain established a meteorological station, Base H, at Factory Cove, site of Signy Island's old whaling station. Its successor, Signy…

  • Falkland Islands Museum

    Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

    Open whenever tour ships are in port, this museum contains artifacts from everyday life, natural-history specimens and a fine collection relating to the…

  • Kunlun Station

    Antarctica

    Dome A was first visited in January 2005, by a Chinese team that installed an automatic weather station. In 2009 China opened its third Antarctic outpost,…

  • Capitán Arturo Prat Station

    Antarctica

    Chile’s Capitán Arturo Prat station, a collection of orange buildings on Discovery Bay on Greenwich Island's northern coast, was opened in 1947 as…

  • Murray Monolith

    Antarctica

    Murray Monolith, sometimes described as resembling an enormous loaf of bread, rises from the sea at an angle of more than 70 degrees to a height of 243m…

  • Ruperto Elichiribehety Station

    Antarctic Peninsula

    On the hill about 500m from Esperanza is Trinity House, a hut remaining from Base D, built by the UK in 1944–45 and closed in 1963. It was transferred to…

  • Scullin Monolith

    Antarctica

    Scullin Monolith, 160km east of Mawson, harbors Antarctica’s highest concentration of breeding Antarctic petrels (160,000 pairs). Some 50,000 pairs of…

  • Eco-Nelson

    Antarctica

    Eco-Nelson is a private base run by Czech Jaroslav Pavlíček. Three plywood buildings, opened in 1989, are staffed almost continuously with between one and…

  • Barnard Memorial Museum

    Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

    This museum incorporates the remains of a rough stone hut built by Captain Barnard, marooned here after an encounter with the crew of a shipwrecked…