Some Tips on Ushuaia

I just returned from a business trip to Ushuaia and had a couple of days while there to do some exploring. The boat will dock at a long pier and it is a short walk up the hill to get to the main shopping street once you are off the pier. As you walk off to the right will be several booths that sell tickets for the boat trips in the Beagle Channel. Most of them leave around 9:30 in the morning or 2:00 PM. The cost is from 50 Pesos to around 130 Pesos depending on how far the trip goes. I took the long trip to see the penguins and we saw two different types of penguins. You do not get off the boat but it noises right up to the shore and you are about 10 foot from them. It was a good trip as it also included the Sea Lions and Bird Island. Also went on the “End of the World” train trip. It leaves at 9:30 in the morning and one trip in the afternoon but do not remember the exact time. Took a taxi to the train station which cost $9.50(Pesos, the dollar sign is used for the peso in Argentina) and the train was $50 round trip or $47 one way. You also have to pay the National park fee of $12. This has to be paid in cash. The train ticket can be credit card. Get there early as we got there at 8:30 and there were a bunch of people already there. They have two trains running and as soon as they get one train loaded it goes down the track. This was around 9:15 AM. A lot of the folks were on tours that dropped them off at the train station and then met them at the other end for a tour of the National Park. I did not think I would enjoy the train but it is something that we will be doing when we are there on the cruise. If you do not want to do it on your own, walk up the hill from the pier to the first street and turn right about three block is a tour booking service on your right or turn left and there is another one about three blocks that way on the right side of the street. There is a money changing place in the same area on the corner on the left side of the street. I also did the glacier but do not recommend it unless you just want to do some hiking in the mountains as the "glacier" is just a snow bank. The cost of the taxi was around $9.00 each way and the cost of the lift is $10.00. You do get a good view of the bay and the city. By the way the city is very nice and has a lot of places for shopping on the main street and have restaurants that have all you can eat for $19(pesos) and you serve yourself at the buffet and then go to the barbecue area to get your meat which is roasting over a big fire right there were you can watch it being cooked. They open for lunch around 12 noon and I you want to try the local food, I highly recommend it. The one that I found best was on the main street up the hill to the right and about five blocks on the left on a corner. Don’t remember what it was called but had the best tuna/potato salad and king crab salad I have ever eaten. One of the other things you can do is hire a car at the pier and just drive around. There is a taxi stand just when you come off the pier and they charge by the meter or you can try to make a deal. The drivers do not speak English as a rule. Ask them to take you on Federal Highway 3 towards Rio Grande which takes you through the mountains and about a hours drive you will come to a long lake. I was told it is 100 kilometers long. There is a small town on it that has a bunch of cabins for rent. At Rio Grande River, the world’s largest brown trout was caught. The driver I had was the fly fishing guide that was guiding when it was caught and he had some pictures. It looked like a giant salmon but with the coloring of a brown trout. Just to repeat, the prices quoted are close but not to be guaranteed as correct and are in pesos. All the prices are marked with the $ sign but here in Argentina it means Pesos. If you have any other questions let me know and I will try to answer them

Regards

Roger

WOW, Roger, that is a very nice and complete report, it will be a big help to those visiting the area. We will be on your cruise and look forward to meeting you, your wife and daughter. Safe travels.

Roger,

Thanks so much for all that valuable information. Even though we are not going for 13 months I have printed out and put it in my folder which is already bulging with info.

Have a great cruise and when you return please give us another wonderful detailed report.

Jennie

Me too, but my cruise is now only

It is now Wednesday 12/1/2004 at 4:33:27 PM

Event: Cruise to South America HAL Rotterdam VI

Scheduled For 11/20/2005 05:00 PM

11 months 19 days 26 minutes 33 seconds or

50 weekends or

354 days or

8,496 hours (5,664 waking hours) or

509,786 minutes or

30,587,192 seconds

I am not thinking about this trip much though!;) :D

jc

jc,

You have got the time down pat. I only know that ours is getting to be nearly less than a year away which is great. :o My sister and BIL leave on the 13th of this month to join the Amsterdam in Rio for their cruise on the 16th to Valpariso. I am looking forward to hearing their thoughts first hand. Mind you they will be in a Suite which is the way to go!! ;) ;)

Jennie

Nice report. Very beautiful part of the world.

A suite is very nice. Just had one on the Amsterdam...

Thanks for all the good information. We leave on the Infinity 2/13/05 and was not aware that you could see penquins from the boat trip. We will definitely do that one. Looking forward to the trip and worst part is knowing how much clothing to take for cold and warm weather!! That is a good problem to have. Have a good day.

Don

Thanks for the report, Roger. A couple of questions:

What was the weather like when you were there?

How is Ushuaia pronounced? I've been saying Oo shy ya but don't know if that's correct.

We leave a week from today, can't wait!

I was wearing a shirt and pants with a sweatshirt and was very comfortable. When I went on the deck of the boat, I put on a light jacket because of the wind. The temperature was around 55 to 60 during the day. The day would start out sunny and around 10 it would rain a little and then the sun would come out until around 2 and it would rain a little more and then the sun. It was windy most of the time. Most of the tourists were all wrapped up in ski jackets and the like but I don't know how they did not over heat and I am not someone who likes it cold.The way I hear it pronounced was “You SHWAY e ah”. It is a local Indain word and it is not pronounced anything like you would think so when they said it in the local Spanish, I was not recognizing what they were saying until I was there a couple of days

Regards

Roger

Where was the best chocolate shop you found? I swear there was one every block...and it was all good! It was very cold the day we were there (about 30 F with a stiff wind although clear and sunny) and we were there in late November, so I think it is pretty variable in their spring. We wore down coats, mittens and stocking caps and were still cold walking around town (which is why we had to nip into the chocolate shops for a good cup of hot cocoa!). It is a beautiful location though even if you do not go outside of town.

Thank you very much for a wonderful report.

Our cruise is only a month away!!! We Sail on jan 3rd out of Ft Lauderdale on the Infinity to SA via the Panama Canal and then all the way down and around the Horn.

I am very excited.

Ushuaia was the one of the ports where I could not find an independent tour operator to provide a private tour so am acutally doing one of the ships tours.

BC - we used Port Compass two weeks ago for a 10 hour excursion that we created with them. It was just the two of us, granted we were overnighting in Ushuaia so we had an opportunity for a longer excursion, but I'm sure they'd work with you to create whatever you wanted, or you could pick from what they have available on their website. My main concern with them prior to the excursion is that you have to prepay. I had never done this before but was assured by other CC posters that they were a reputable company and there would be no problem. They were absolutely right & we had a fantastic day! I'd use them again in a heartbeat.

Roger, what time did the catamaran trip end? You said they started something like 9 or 9:30. We booked a catamaran tour through Worldnextdoor. Later I got quite concerned that we wouldn't get back to get back to the ship by 12:30. Jamie Toth who heads Worldnextdoor says it's the same boat that HAL uses and it SHOULD be ok. However, this morning I cancelled it, and now HAL's tour is waitlisted. Glad you listed a lot of other suggestions for what to do there. The train you are taking sounds interesting. I see that HAL does a similar excursion, do you think they have booked all the seats on that morning train?

If I can stick my two cents in, Rumbo Sur is the company that runs a lot of the boat excursions in Ushuaia and they are who many (all?) of the cruise ships use. I know Princess used Rumbo Sur boats last year and this year Quark's agent in Ushuaia was Rumbo Sur. They are big into servicing the cruise ships and tourists. You can contact them directly (rumbosur.com), and I think you can book directly with them, assuming the ship hasn't taken all the spots. The catamarans are parked right next to the cruise ships i.e. there is no other transportation involved except your feet. Rumor had it last year when we were on Princess that the train is in fact entirely booked by the cruise ships - it's not that large - I thought it was a nice little excursion but if I had to pick Rumbo Sur catamaran vs. the train, I'd pick the catamaran.

Hi Laura - welcome back and thanks for the email.

Ushuaia excursions - just my opiniated opinion - two kinds - you can be transported around or you can do the wilderness thing and exhaust yourself in nature. If you like the second kind then the train trip is a bit frustrating, because there is very little opportunity to get out and put your feet on the ground - even though you could. With a boat trip, it's easier to accept being a passenger (after all what is the alternative?) On the catamaran you will see water, wildlife, the coastline at less of a distance and a view of Ushuaia from the water. On the train you will see the national park, the work camps of the convicts, a truly tacky mock Yamanas settlement (peopled, lovingly built from modelling clay etc) some nice scenery and you will smell the forest, hear the wind in the trees and the waterfalls. From memory you can get off and walk about twice.

so it is really hard to say which one is better. Last time I was joining a small boat cruise from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas with 2 or three landings every day with naturalist guides onto the uninhabited bits of tdf. So the catamaran did not appeal. But if it sails very close to those same bits of coast, then it would be worth doing.

20 days and counting..... Ushuaia here I come (again). WE are using a small local firm to organise our excursions, but I know that Laura had trouble getting them to reply, so I will wait until I return in mid January before posting more details about their services.

I found the website for information on rambosur --

http://www.rumbosur.com.ar/ingles/rexcursiones.htm

I am emailing them to see what pricing they quote.

Question -- If you book in person at the dock, do you need pesos, USD, or credit cards?

Thanks.

We are very likely to book the catamaran when we arrive at the pier, but here's a question...

It sounds like most of the cruise ships go thru Beagle Channel. If that is the case, how different is the catamaran cruise?

Also, is there a 'town' near the pier to walk around and shop or have lunch?

Thanks.

We went through the Beagle Channel on the Amsterdam but it was at nite so did not see much. You do get right up close to the seals and birds so do see more than on the ship if it comes in during the day. The main shopping street is one block up the hill after you get off the dock. There are also some small shops on the pier that sell leather and jewelry

Regards

Roger

We were there last Christmas Day, so not much was open. We took the excursion that began with the catamaran ride and returned by train/bus. It was a very good trip and worthwhile. Scenery is beautiful.

I plan on staying in Ushuaia after I get off the Cruise ship Le Diamant for 5 days and would like to hike into the national forest. Does anyone know of any hostels, hotels, rooms for rent or otherwise near its entrance?