Fireland

Ushuaia stretches as a narrow strip along the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, squeezed between the water and the mountains of the Sierra Martial. The city owes its origin to a prison: From 1902, prisoners built the Presidio, which was in operation until 1947. Today it houses the Museo Marítimo y del Presidio with exhibitions on the penal colony, maritime history, and Antarctica.The most popular excursion is a boat trip on the Beagle Channel to the islands with sea lions and seabirds and to the red-and-white Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Approximately twelve kilometers west lies the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The End of the World Train also runs there, a narrow-gauge railway on a section of the former prisoner's railway, which prisoners used to transport wood from the forests. Ushuaia is also the main departure port for cruises to Antarctica.

Founded in 1960, the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego is located about twelve kilometers west of Ushuaia and is Argentina's only national park uniting mountains, forest, and coastline. It protects the last section of the Andes and the subantarctic forest of Lengas and Ñires, along with extensive peat bogs.The road in the park is the final stretch of Ruta Nacional 3 and ends at Bahía Lapataia with the famous 'Fin de RN3' sign. At Bahía Ensenada, you'll find the southernmost post office where you can get your passport stamped; from there, the Senda Costera leads as a moderately difficult coastal path along the Beagle Channel. Further trails lead to Lago Acigami and up Cerro Guanaco. An entrance fee is charged for the park; the ride on the Tren del Fin del Mundo costs extra.

Chilean Tierra del Fuego covers the west of the large island south of the Strait of Magellan. Open steppe, bays, bogs, and dense southern forests define the sparsely populated landscape. Main town is Porvenir, best-known destination the King Penguin colony at Bahía Inútil.

Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan is the largest city in southern Chile and a starting point for penguin tours, Tierra del Fuego, and Torres del Paine. City palaces, museums, and a cemetery with cypress-lined avenues tell of the wealth from the sheep farming era around 1900. The capital of the Magallanes Region is also an important port for ships heading to Antarctica.

The Región de Magallanes y Antártica Chilena encompasses the southernmost part of Chile, from the steppe around Punta Arenas to the granite towers of Torres del Paine and the fjords of Tierra del Fuego. Here you travel through vast, sparsely populated landscapes where wind and weather dictate the daily routine. Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales are the two starting points for almost all tours.