What to do in Ushuaia Argentina - 4 days on a budget

[Music] foreign [Music] [Music] the Southernmost city at the end of the world fin del mundo which sounds so much nicer in Spanish it's almost eleven thousand kilometers away from our hometown of Toronto and took 30 hours of travel to get here in this video we'll show you what we did and what it cost to visit this part of Argentina you can decide if it's worth the hype or not to visit usuaya even if you don't have plans to hop on an Antarctic Cruise we flew from El calafate as it's the most direct route without multiple border crossings and buses than traveling by Road the city sits in the Beagle Channel within the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and is known as the gateway to the Antarctic being only 680 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula portal Williams its Chilean cousin sadly always gets second billing even though technically it is the southernmost inhabited place on Earth there's so much Rich history here in this region of Argentina the area was named Tierra del Fuego literally translating to land of fire when it was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. as he sailed through the northern street now named after him the smoke from the many distant fires in the mountains that kept the native inhabitants warm looked as if the land was on fire the Beagle channel was named after the British ship the HMS Beagle where a young Charles Darwin took passage aboard while exploring the area with all this history we think the city is much more than just a stopover as most people head straight off on their Antarctica cruises by way of usual we weren't visiting for this reason no surprise it's quite expensive to cruise to Antarctica but had lots to see and do without feeling like we were missing out on something I've heard people describe this town as ugly and a waste of time but I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder on this one we really enjoyed our time here and there's a certain thrill knowing that you've traveled to the end of the road before hopping off the continent [Music] foreign [Music] place you wouldn't think the city is bustling with 80 000 patagonians calling it their home there's a Main Street San Martin with many shops that's quiet in the wee hours of the morning but becomes quite Lively as the day grows you sometimes forget that you really are quite far south at the tip of South America [Music] I didn't think it was possible but there are even more chocolate shops here than in El Carafate we only tried a couple the much acclaimed chocolates at a tiny but adorable shop and you get a free sample with any purchase [Music] the one that got our vote though was Sergio Gonzalez paticierre chocolates artisanales wow that's a mouthful but all good the chocolatier himself rooted us there with a sample of just made chocolate-covered fresh cherries hands down their chocolate is at the level of the Swiss Masters [Music] this region is home to parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego the main reason why we wanted to come here there are various group tours into the park but we took the public shuttle Vans which you can catch each morning at the bus terminal I would highly recommend the coastal Costera Trail about eight kilometers one way to get to the trailhead we got off at the second stop after the park entrance at Ensenada saratiagui the famed post office at the end of the world is located right here on the lake the entrance to the hike is just to the right of the lake the trail meanders along beautiful La patea Bay and is a fairly easy hike with no major elevation changes [Music] there are great Lakeside views along the way [Music] eight kilometers later the hike ends abruptly off the main road and it's a short walk to the alakush visitor center where you will find a cafeteria and restrooms one must-do activity is to take a boat ride out onto the Beagle Channel [Music] I definitely recommend going on a smaller vessel such as the Patagonia Explorer as you're not fighting the crowds on the larger cruises for views there were only 20 of us and it had a very relaxing Pace as well it also feels more personalized as you can chat with your host as much as you want you get very close to the sea lion colony and the Cormorant rookeries you could almost jump off the boat to the island the animals didn't seem bothered by the glocking tourists as the boat was very quiet we were lucky on this trip to see two different colonies foreign [Music] the boat stops at one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world as well as being the oldest one in Argentina it's still in operation today guiding the sea entrance into usuaya it was made Infamous by Jules Verne's book The Lighthouse at the end of the world of course this wasn't the one he was referring to but it is the one that was used by his editor on his book cover on the way back to the port the boat stops off at a private island for a short one kilometer hike to view usuaya and the surrounding Mountains from the water the perfect ending to a perfect day [Music] [Music] if you're wanting to see more glaciers on your visit without getting on an expensive tour consider the marital Glacier just on the outskirts of town if you've seen the ones at Torres Del pione or perito Moreno don't expect this one to top those nevertheless it's an interesting windy route to get there through some residential areas and can be done walking from town if you wanted to avoid a taxi [Music] the trail is also very quiet and you'll likely pass very few people so you can stop and admire the lovely wildflowers that grow there in the summertime foreign the route passes through the ski hill by the Alpine Club we walked it clockwise which meant going up that hill which I think is actually easier than walking down [Music] of course the reward for that hard work is the views overlooking the town [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] with all that hiking we worked up an appetite and I had to check out the Empanada shops in town I'm pretty sure we found the best empanadas in all of usuaya and also of our entire trip in southern Patagonia I would highly highly recommend that you visit Empanada un buen Lugar a small takeout only restaurant that makes Empanadas To Order it will take a little longer but it is so worth it we ate 12 in one sitting we went back another day but they were closed that may have been even more disappointing than not getting fresh crab as it was out of season fourth I can't stop eating this you're so good we found another great one at La Riviera which sold empanadas and pizza we're now on the hunt to see if we can find empanadas that good in Toronto [Music] not us [Music] if you enjoyed our video so far please consider subscribing and giving the video a like to help our little Channel out you can also check out our other videos on Torresdale Pinay and Fitzroy if you haven't seen those of course we welcome any kind of feedback as well for this portion of our trip we spent 812 US dollars for two people not including food the cost of accommodations here was extremely affordable we did find that the blue dollar exchange rate was not as favorable here as it was in El Charleton or calafate [Music] I love learning how to pronounce the names of places properly and asked our Taxi Driver how to correctly say usuaya I still trip over this one and get it wrong about half the time we based ourselves at an Airbnb a couple streets North of San Martin up on the hill it's a steep climb going up from town think San Francisco Steve however it's only a couple streets up and worth it to wake up to that million dollar view from our apartment every morning [Music] it's very affordable as it was only five minutes away from the heart of town and there are fancier ones that are closer to the harbor with nice views but expect to pay more for them for the boat tour prices range quite a bit one being quite expensive at around 150 US dollars per person and stops at a penguin Island whichever operator you choose go with a small boat to have a more intimate experience you might also want to pre-book as I heard the tours get sold out quite often in High season to get to teradel Fuego National Park there's a little booth at the bus terminal they charge 6 000 pesos per person at the time we visited No Reservations are taken you just show up a half hour so before in paying cash there are three to four departures which can change so swing by the day prior to confirm times with the ticket attendance the buses make about four stops inside the park and you can take any of them to return just make sure you keep your tickets dub as you'll need it for your return trip back to town our journey to swaya has come to an end we now had a 12 hour bus ride back to Punta Arenas in Chile considered flying back to Santiago but Crossing countries by air adds a significant cost versus going by bus there are many stops along the way including a short ferry ride across the street of Magellan lunch is provided by the famous Panaderia La Union which is one of the stops as there are strict rules in what you can bring into Chile remember not to pack fresh meat and nuts as it will be confiscated there is an x-ray and a dog sniffing security at the Customs Crossing to make sure you don't usually was the last leg of a 33-day journey to Southern Patagonia it was an amazing adventure thanks for being along with us and don't forget to like And subscribe see you on the next Trail thank you [Music] these are really good these are the best empanadas ever so far

Channel: YYZ Wanderers

Views: 18,745

Keywords: Patagonia, Ushuaia, tierra del fuego, tierra del fuego national park, magellan, hiking, Argentina, Argentinian Patagonia, travel, adventure, epic, trek, south america, glaciers, southern patagonia, travel guide, travel tips, explore, walks, bucket list, end of the world, fin del mundo, beagle channel, strait of magellan, ferdinand magellan, budget travel, things to do in ushuaia, ushuaia argentina, glacier martial

Id: zyxq8CEwJOY

Length: 14min 40sec (880 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 08 2023