10 Reasons to Visit Antarctica

Antarctica is a land of extremes. There is nowhere on earth quite like it – it’s a vast continent of ice, snow, glaciers and superlatives. The windiest, driest and coldest continent.

Antarctica - a land of extremes
Antarctica – a land of extremes

A trip to Antarctica is the best thing you could ever do travel wise. Here are 10 stone wall reasons to visit Antarctica:

1. No Offices

That’s right there are NO offices here in Antarctica so you can leave your paperwork, computers, fax machines and laptops behind. Give yourself a break and see life from a real window, not an office window. The views from the Antarctic office will by far outlive the views from some non descript skyscraper in New York, London or Hong Kong. This might be the tonic you need to escape your mundane life and get out and see the world.

2. The Wildlife

There is an amazing amount of wildlife to be found in Antarctica. You are never far away from a penguin – they are everywhere! Add to that the endless birds flying, the nesting cormorants, seals by the harbour and of course whales!

Penguins in Antarctica
Penguins

3. Escape the Tourists

There is nothing worse than going traveling or on holiday and seeing that a load of other tourists are visiting the exact same place as you, and in their thousands! Here you’ll not meet ANY other tourists other than those on your cruise, so you’ll have the freedom of the continent to yourself! Antarctica is the place where you are really going off the beaten track!

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4. Glaciers

You’ve seen the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina or the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand. But those are just nothing compared with a land full of them!! Antarctica is full of glaciers – so many that they don’t even have to give them names – some collapse over time. They are spectacular.

Jonny Blair at Whalers Bay - Antarctica
Jonny Blair at Whalers Bay, Antarctica

5. Iceberg Cruising on Zodiacs

You’ll get the opportunity to go cruising round a harbour full of icebergs and floating icebergs. Antarctica cruises are full of absolutely breathtaking experiences. You just sit back and relax on a boat and get up close and personal to icebergs gleaming in the morning sun. A feast of blue and white for your eyes!

6. The Drake Passage

The Drake Passage that separates Argentina from Antarctica is the roughest stretch of water in the world and that is one of the reasons why I loved my visit to Antarctica. I love being at sea and spending two days getting there on a rocky boat will have you absolutely pumped and buzzing for the first landing. There is a load of things to do on board the boat. The best of which is to mingle with the crowds and get to know your travel buddies. You can also blag to people that you “survived the Drake”…twice.

Antarctica
Antarctica

7. Museums

There are a few bases and museums in Antarctica. My favourite was the British Base at Port Lockry which is now a fully functional museum – you can walk all around, buy some souvenirs in the shop and even post a postcard from the world’s southernmost post box! Read up on your history before you go.

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8. The weather

Forget about sunning yourself on beaches – the Antarctic climate is clean, clear and refreshing. You’ll need to wrap up warm, but all that won’t matter as you hike up a hill in the middle of a blizzard without a care in the world. Get ready for lots of snow, lots of wind and even some awesome Antarctic sunsets. The weather helps make the experience what it is.

9. Swimming

Take the plunge and go for a swim. You will most likely get this opportunity at Deception Island. The water is ice cold and you will freeze. The boys will be able to see your icy nipples and for the girls, you might not even see the men’s naughty parts as they have been frozen cold! Leave your embarrassments behind and get in there!! It’s cold but you’ll probably only be here once. You also get a certificate to say you went swimming in Antarctica!

10. Drinking

You have to love the idea of sipping an ICE COLD beer on the world’s coldest continent. There is a bar at the Vernadsky Ukranian Station, as well as 2 bars on board the boat that you’ll be on. There’s also the option to bring your own. Have a tipple and celebrate reaching your seventh continent!

Three guys are enjoying the cold beer at Antarctica
Enjoying the cold beer at Antarctica

So that’s my 10 reasons to visit Antarctica – hope you feel inspired to get down there and see it for yourself. I wrote a post on how to get a cheap trip to Antarctica which is worth checking out but as a final thought – just do it! You’ll never forget the feeling of self satisfaction that you have stepped on Antarctic soil.Completely and utterly inspiring.

Jonny Blair Relaxing at Eluanbi - the south East tip of Taiwan

Jonny Blair is a global nomad and travel freak. His wanders have taken him unexpectedly to all seven continents and over 70 countries. He writes passionately on his travel blog Don’t Stop Living about his adventures and hopes to travel as long as he can and inspire others to do the same. Today Jonny is our guest blogger giving his 10 reasons to visit Antarctica. Like Don’t Stop Living on Facebook, subscribe to Don’t Stop Living videos on YouTube, StumbleUpon Don’t Stop Living and follow Don’t Stop Living on Twitter!

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Agness Walewinder
Agness Walewinder
Travel freak, vagabond, photography passionate, blogger, life enthusiast, backpacker, adventure hunter and endless energy couchsurfer living by the rule "Pack lite, travel far and live long!"
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84 thoughts on “10 Reasons to Visit Antarctica”

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Same here Debbie. We are dying to go there. Hope to make it there soon. Right now it’s just way too expensive :(.

  1. Avatar of The Guy

    You beat me to it Sarah! For me too this is the place I really would love to go to and see the penguins. I’ve seen penguins in Australia but I really want to see them on ice too.

    This is the only continent that I’ve not been to, but that can only be the case for so long.

    What is going on in that beer photo? There is snow and ice all around and guys sitting around in a t-shirt and one without any footwear! Brrrrrr!

  2. Avatar of Kelly S.

    I would go just so I could have bragging rights. I have learned that travel is not only good to see the world, but also really good to make people jealous of your life. I love seeing peoples faces when I say “I only made it to France 6 times this year. Hoping for more.” Or “I only got 6 days in Greece. Maybe I should go back.” Don’t think I am totally shallow though, I would still travel even if people didn’t care. Envy is just the icing on the cake. (Do I sound horrible? Oh well…) :-)

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      That’s so true. The more you travel, the more jealous people are! LOL! “I only make it to France 6 times” loved that!

  3. Avatar of Jonny Blair

    Hi Agness and Cez – thanks for the opportunity to write for your excellent site! And as for the comments – out of all the places I have travelled to (70 countries across all 7 continents) Antarctica is easily the best. Get yourself down to Ushuaia and book a cheap last minute trip now!! Jonny

  4. Avatar of Kellie Netherwood
    Kellie Netherwood

    I completely agree with everything in this post! I enjoyed a Falklands-South Georgia-Antarctica trip in Dec/Jan and it was the most incredible 3 weeks of my life!

    In fact, I may as well give up travelling now – nothing will beat it!

  5. Avatar of Jennifer

    Antarctica is a place id really like to visit although I’m concerned how much it would cost! I love the photo of all the penguins round the building.

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Same here. Right now it’s way too expensive. Don’t know the exact prize, but I guess it would scare me off! LOL

  6. Avatar of Ramakant

    One of my colleagues had visited and share the pictures from the trip. Since then, I have always wanted to visit this amazing place first opportunity I get. Thanks for providing a few other solid reasons as well :)

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Great. After this post, Antarctica has been added to our must-see places. We want to get there asap, but right now we simply cannot afford it.

  7. Avatar of Salika Jay

    Brrr…living pretty much my whole life in Canada, I’d rather avoid icy cold places…LOL. But the idea of seeing those cute penguins in their natural habitat is something really interesting.

  8. Avatar of Jess @UsedYorkCity

    Have to be honest, this was never on my travel bucket list. BUT, I am a sucker for penguins and sleigh rides, so I may just have to reconsider! P.s. Can’t believe that guy is wearing a t-shirt! Brrr!!!:-)

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      I never thought that Antarctica can be that inspiring and interesting, honestly. Just added it to my bucket list. Agree, Jonny is crazy!!!!! T-shirt and beer at this weather condition? Insane!

  9. Avatar of Jonny Blair

    Thanks for all the comments guys! Agness and Cez your site is SO SO popular and cool!! I have actually written over 30 articles on my own site about Antarctica and between all of them there are LESS comments than already on here after a week!! Amazing and I wrote a lot of those posts a couple of years back so they’ve obviously never been read! I’d love it if some of your readers visited my site too now :-)

    Yes – it’s a fantastic place to travel too and if you’ve read my stuff, you’ll know there is a way to get it cheaply.

    Safe travels, Jonny

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      It’s been our pleasure Jonny. Thanks for the kind words. You really inspired people to go there. You’re such an unique traveler. Everyone goes to South-East Asia, North or South America, but not you. You are the tough one and head to Antarctica with your t-shirt on! How cool!

  10. Avatar of Marisol@TravelingSolemates

    Antartica is the only continent that Keith and I haven’t set foot on. We were actually talking about doing it during the next Antartica travel season but hasn’t set anything in stone. This post sounds so convincing and I think it came as a cue for us to go ahead and be serious about planning the trip. Keep your finger cross for us!

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Same here guys. Unfortunately, right now it’s way too expensive and we can’t afford it :(, but… we really hope to make it there in a few years when we become more experienced travelers.

      1. Avatar of Jonny Blair

        Agness did you ever read my blog post about “doing Antarctica on the cheap”? The best way to get a cheap trip there is basically to turn up in Ushuaia and book a last minute berth the day before a ship leaves – check the Antarctica tab on my blog and scroll down to find the post! Safe travels, Jonny

      2. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
        Agness Walewinder

        Jonny, I will definitely check this post out. Hope to make it there on the cheap :):). Cheers mate!

    1. Avatar of Jonny Blair

      Hi Jessica – believe it or not but Antarctica is not actually that cold. It’s a bit of a travel myth actually. It’s no colder in parts than Alaska, northern Russia and even southern Argentina. I never once felt cold there. I even went in for a naked swim!! (There’s a post on that on my blog on the Antarctica tab).

      The other thing to remember is you don’t normally sleep on Antarctic soil – you’re on board the ship at night, when that beer photo was taken, we were a 20 second walk from the inside of the ship – which is warm. Most people walk around the ship in a t shirt.

      You’ve got to get there to see what it’s like! Safe travels, Jonny

  11. Avatar of Callie

    Wow. For some reason I hadn’t imagined so much going on there (i didn’t even imagine the bar!). Looks awesome. There was a lady staying in the same hostel as me recently and she mentioned being on her way there for some short term work…hmmm….wonder how realistic that is?

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Hey Callie, working in Antarctica must be an unbelievable experience :) We really hope to make it there one day…

  12. Avatar of The Voyage Woman
    The Voyage Woman

    Hmm, why do I feel the sudden need to pack my bags and visit Antarctica? I thought Iceland this summer would be extreme, but now…:)

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