Expert: Cintia - 11/4/2004

Question
My husband and I will be in your country via cruise ship for a day, January 31st for a few hours.  What are the must see points and do you know of anyone who gives private tours for a short amount of time?  Thanks for your help, Lu

Answer
Dear Lu,

Thank you very much for your enquiry.

Ushuaia is a lovely destination which offers lots of different things to do and see. Honestly, by staying just a few hours there is not much you will be able to do, and if you told me exactly how many hours you will be there I could probably give you some more accurate information. Anyhow, I assume that the ship will dock by 8 AM and then you should be back by 5 PM.  If so, you could perhaps take an excursion of Tierra del Fuego National Park, and take the "train of the end of the world".  Another option is to visit Escondido lake, but I believe you should take a private excursion in this case so that it can be customized within the time frame you will have.
There are several motorboat excursions which only take 2 or 3 hours, but I assume that given you will be taking a cruise, you may prefer to take "land excursions" instead of sea ones.

If you stay in the city, you can take a city tour (there are double decker buses for this purpose).
I suggest you contact some tour companies in Ushuaia and make arrangements in advance. Usually it is much cheaper to arrange activities directly through the operators instead of doing so on the ship. These are two well known companies:

RUMBO SUR: www.rumbosur.com.ar
TOLKEYEN: www.tolkeyenpatagonia.com

I hope this helps.
Wishing you a wonderful trip,

Cintia
Buenos Aires, Argentina