Antarctica

Antarctica has one season. Ships and camps operate from roughly November to March and nothing runs outside it. Late November gives untouched snow, heavy pack ice and courting penguins. December and January bring the longest daylight and the mildest temperatures. February and early March are the months for whales and the clearest water.

There are no hotels on the continent. The accommodation is an expedition vessel or a private fly-in camp, which is why the gateway city matters more here than anywhere else on the OUIJETS map. Two routes work: Ushuaia in Argentina for crossings of the Drake Passage, and Punta Arenas in Chile for the two-hour flight to King George Island that skips the Drake altogether.

Both routes want a real night either side. Among our preferred hotel partners, Mandarin Oriental Santiago is the practical Chilean base before the transfer south, and Park Hyatt Buenos Aires does the same job on the Argentine route. Neither is a formality: members arriving from the northern hemisphere cross eight or nine time zones immediately before a physically demanding trip.

Antarctica opens the OUIJETS twelve-month calendar in January. Ask your advisor about full ship charters against individual berths, the South Georgia extension, which adds about ten days, and the flight-only option for members who will not cross the Drake.