Tierra del Fuego Travel Guide

Tierra del Fuego is an island, shared with Chile and separated from the rest of Argentina by a strait. Ushuaia is the only town most visitors see, and it earns the attention. It is built up a hillside on the north shore of the Beagle Channel, with the Martial range behind it and the water in front, and it calls itself the southernmost city in the world.

The channel is the reason to get out on a boat, and the route takes you past sea lion colonies and the lighthouse that appears in every photograph of the end of the world. Route 3 heads west out of town and stops inside Tierra del Fuego National Park, at a sign marking the end of the Pan-American Highway. Ushuaia is also where almost every Antarctic voyage departs, and that increases the prices of accommodations in Ushuaia from November through March.

What surprised us most here was how green it is. This is not the dry steppe that most of Patagonia turns out to be, but southern beech forest, peat bog, and standing water right up to the treeline. The hiking here is undervalued and gives you views that make you feel like you are at the end of the world. Three or four days is the right amount of time, and it pairs naturally with a Chilean Patagonia trip since the road and the flights both run through Punta Arenas.