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Beautiful snow-capped mountains against the blue sky in Antarctica
Snow-capped Mountains
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Antarctica

Antarctica

Antarctica Tours and Trip Packages

Overview

Take a trip to Antarctica on your Polar Vacation

You do not have to be a Scott, Shackleton or Amundsen to visit Antarctica but then it is extremely unlikely that you would be travelling as far as the actual South Pole. However, the Antarctic is accessible by taking a cruise or flying into one of the research centres on the perimeter of the land mass. The experience on Antarctic trips will be much more comfortable than it was for the explorers and it will be a special one. It is said that the Antarctic has a haunting beauty and will almost always exceed expectations.

Just to put the Antarctic into perspective, it is the southernmost continent and the mainland is twice the size of Australia and almost 1.5 times larger than the United States. 98% of it is covered in ice and it contains (believe it or not) 70% of the World’s fresh water. No one country actually owns Antarctica although a few lay claims to own territories on which they have scientific research centres.

What is Antarctica really? It is a mixture of ice shelves and mountain ranges or, put another way, snow, ice, water and rock. The highest point is at 16,000 feet/4900 metres. 


When to Visit Antarctica

Antarctica can only really be visited between November and March when the weather allows access. At this time of the year, it has 24 hours of daylight. The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on the planet and in 1983, the lowest ever naturally occurring temperature of -89.2˚C was recorded on the continent. Although the majority of Antarctica (98%) is covered in ice, the continent is a desert and so the climate is very dry. This dryness is a result of the ice reflecting the sun’s light rather than absorbing it. There is very little moisture and it is considered the windiest place on earth. The mean annual temperature of Antarctica’s interior is -57˚C (-70˚F) while the coasts and the Peninsula are much warmer. There is not one month of the year where temperatures average above 0˚C (32˚F). With no permanent residents, tourists only visit during the summer months. Winter in Antarctica is characterized by darkness and immense cold with temperatures sometimes dropping to -50˚C. November is considered early summer and it is the time of year when many penguins mate. December to January brings warmer temperatures and up to twenty hours of sunshine while February to March is the late summer months. Mean summer temperatures range from -15 to -35˚C (-5 to -31˚F).

Travel Stories

Get Inspired About Your Trip to Antarctica

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