Fly and sail the legendary Drake Passage into Antarctica’s autumn season, where the light casts a magical glow and the polar wilderness comes alive with activity. On this unique expedition, start or end in Puerto Natales, Chile, gateway to Torres del Paine, or Ushuaia, Argentina, the world’s southernmost city on the edge of Tierra del Fuego. Both offer the perfect prelude or finale. You’ll cross the legendary Drake Passage once by ship and once by flight—combining flexibility with the full polar experience. As you arrive in Antarctica in autumn, the continent awakens with raw energy. Penguin chicks wobble through bustling crèches and seals tumble playfully along the icy shores. Meanwhile, whale sightings reach their peak—with humpbacks, minkes, orcas, and even seis drawn in large numbers by the rich krill blooms of the season. The low, golden polar light radiates across sculpted ice and snow-capped peaks, painting the landscape in a cinematic splendor. This is Antarctica in the autumn: alive, luminous, and like nowhere else on Earth.
