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What to do in Stanley, Falkland Islands??


Kiwi_cruiser
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We have never been to the Falkland Islands before.

 

I was wondering would you recommend doing here for the day??

 

If you have been to Stanley, Falkland before, what did you do there for the day??

 

We are going to be in Stanley in February, What's the temperature going to be like there then?? cool? / cold?

 

Any ideas / suggestions are very welcome clear.png?emoji-grin-1677

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I think most people go see the penguins when they are here. I don't know what the temperature is usually like. The day we were there (in February) it was very warm and we got sunburned. We heard that the weather was so bad the day before that another ship wasn't able to stop there at all. So it might depend. We went to a British place called Bittersweet, just up the road from the port. They charge a small fee for wifi and they have gluten free food. We had a lovely coffee frappe thing and some wifi, then we just walked along the waterfront. We saw lots of interesting things in the water - a wrecked ship, some seals - and we popped into a few shops on the way back. There's a candy shop just down the street from Bittersweet and we bought some chocolate penguins. We paid for them and the girl was nice enough to hold them for us so we didn't have to worry about them melting while we explored. It was a nice unstructured day for us. But most people went off on penguin tours.

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Even though February is summer, the weather (especially the wind) can vary enough that Port Stanley, a tender port, is at the top of the list of missed ports. We were there in late December 2016 and it had rained for days before our arrival but had thankfully stopped the day before. It was cool and very windy at Volunteer Point.

 

As AmberCascades mentioned, most passengers are there to see the penguins, especially the King penguins at Volunteer Point. We can recommend Patrick Watts for that excursion. From what I've heard and read Estancia is also a great company. If you have any interest in history - or are just old enough to remember the war between Argentina and the Falkland Islands (UK) in the early 1980s there is lots of history that the guides can share. We found our guide's stories fascinating.

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I did a tour out into the countryside to visit the penguins. Small tour van took us to the preserve where we transferred to 4x4 vehicles in order to get to the colonies of the birds. Before returning, the tour included tea and very good cakes in a small cafe built near the area. Very pleasant tour and the guides, both on the tour van and the 4x4 were great. Did not have time to visit Stanley, but it did look like an interesting town just to wander through.

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I was in the Falklands on March 6 this year. I was fortunate to have a mild and partly cloudy day with light wind. I went on a tour to Volunteer Point with Estancia Excursions who I can highly recommend. It was one of the best excursions I have ever been on. Our driver had been in the English navy during the Falklands War and told us about his experience and pointed out key battle sites on our way to and from Volunteer Point. The penguins were wonderful to see, particularly the King Penguins. After the tour there was time to walk around Stanley which is a small but cute town. I wrote a review of my cruise on Emerald Princess which is in my signature if you are interested. I had a great day and hope you do too.

 

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Edited by PurpleTraveller
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I was on stanley few years ago in january, we went to see pinguins, the war museum and walked around the city which is very interesting. We got good weather in the morning and chilly winds in the afternoon. We had good and decent fish and chips in a small restaurant downtown.

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Its all about the King Penguins. Book a private excursion to see them at Volunteer Point. It is an awesome experience. You can see lots of photos of our Falkland Islands tour in our review on our website that is linked to in my signature.

 

Ant_Mike-1339.jpg

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We did a private tour that visited several Falkland Islands War sites, lunch in a B&B and penguins in the afternoon. If you are interested in military history there are several interesting sites to see.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Another vote for Patrick Watts. We had an outstanding day travelling to see the penguins! So good we would do it again if we are ever fortunate enough to return to the Falklands.

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We were not that interested in more penguins so we went on the bus to Gypsy Cove and walked about - there were some penguins in the distance. We then went to the museum which was quite interesting, saw the whalebone arch and went into the Cathedral. We walked around town and had lunch in a nice pub - the Voctory Bar and bought some diddle dee jam and saw the berries growing wild. The local gardens were great- we saw some unusual plants and lots of vegetables being grown. We loved the Falklands!

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Every chance I get, I'm going to go to Volunteer Point, have been there 8 times. :) This is the only place on your itinerary to see a 2000 pair rookery of King Penguins. 2 other rookeries also there, Gentoos and Magellanic. the transit is part of the tour. :)

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I was there two years ago in Feb. It was bone chilling wind. I thought a long sleeve shirt and windbreaker would be enough, I was mistaken. Penguins, that bar in town and it is kind of neat to see all of the land mines.

 

Would a rain jacket and a jumper be better?

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  • 7 months later...

Thank You everyone for there information, very helpfully :classic_smile:

 

We are wait listed with Patrick Watts and another tour operator.

 

Tip:for anyone reading this thread in the future, if you want to see the Penguins, make sure you book your Penguins at the same time as you book your cruise as Patrick Watts and a lot of the other operators book out very early! (in my case they have been booked out two months before we booked this cruise!)

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16 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

Thank You everyone for there information, very helpfully :classic_smile:

 

We are wait listed with Patrick Watts and another tour operator.

 

Tip:for anyone reading this thread in the future, if you want to see the Penguins, make sure you book your Penguins at the same time as you book your cruise as Patrick Watts and a lot of the other operators book out very early! (in my case they have been booked out two months before we booked this cruise!)

Or not. We booked our cruise 6 weeks out from embarkation, contacted Estancia 4 weeks out, had a great day. The lady behind Estancia was very helpful, her father was one of the drivers on the day of, her mother prepared the box lunches for our lunch, the driver spun great tales about growing up on an adjacent farm and the evacuation when Argentina invaded...

 

95321BD2-2DEE-4603-AE45-6B8F71008EAA.jpeg

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22 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

Or not. We booked our cruise 6 weeks out from embarkation, contacted Estancia 4 weeks out, had a great day. The lady behind Estancia was very helpful, her father was one of the drivers on the day of, her mother prepared the box lunches for our lunch, the driver spun great tales about growing up on an adjacent farm and the evacuation when Argentina invaded...

 

 

 

Have you got any contact info for Estancia??

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It’s actually a nice little town to walk around and there’s a great little museum with local volunteers who enjoy talking people what it’s like living there. We enjoyed a chat with one who told us about things like education ( secondary age youngsters have to go away to school) and about how difficult Argentina was making life for them - for example supplies are difficult to get in.

We also treated ourselves to a lovely fish and chip lunch in the pub there.

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  • 1 year later...

I'm just home from a week on the Falklands.  I can't recommend the Historic Museum highly enough.  I only had an hour there and it was nowhere near enough to see all the exhibits.

 

The absolute highlight of my week was a helicopter tour from Stanley to Volunteer Point to see a huge colony of King Penguins.  Only about 10 minutes to get there as opposed to the 3 hours it takes off-road, and it's a fabulous experience.   falklandshelicopterservices.com        Fantastic couple of hours there, which flew by.20200131_180737.thumb.jpg.bf58dc135a3e7b73b7f59246e3a3a775.jpg

20200131_182651.jpg

20200131_194649.jpg

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We were at the Falkland’s on Feb 6 2020. We had a private tour with Peter King. Four in my group took us to Berth Beach to see the penguins  and then to Gypsy cove! Provides us sandwiches for lunch. We were able to stand right next to penguins at Bertha Beach . But it is a shorter ride to see penguins. Peter very personable and greatly enjoyed his tour. 

This  tour is varied and costs $US 540 for 4 persons, inclusive of food/drink and landowner's fees.

 

pk@horizon.co.fk

 

beba 10

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  • 1 month later...

Depending on the time you have and if you're a hiker;

you could look into a transport to Gypsy Cove and walk from there (around 5 miles) back to Stanley, along the shore;

lot's of wildlife...and for sure cheaper than a tour...the museum is nice as well...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/11/2020 at 7:25 AM, jantoby said:

I'm just home from a week on the Falklands.  I can't recommend the Historic Museum highly enough.  I only had an hour there and it was nowhere near enough to see all the exhibits.

 

The absolute highlight of my week was a helicopter tour from Stanley to Volunteer Point to see a huge colony of King Penguins.  Only about 10 minutes to get there as opposed to the 3 hours it takes off-road, and it's a fabulous experience.   falklandshelicopterservices.com        Fantastic couple of hours there, which flew by.

 

 

The road journey is 2 hours each way,  and actually could be considered an "experience" of it's self.  🙂    I actually never tire of it and have gone multiple times.     But a factor of transportation is a good consideration certainly.   🙂     Add to the mix,  there is over double the cost by air vs by drive.  

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On 2/11/2020 at 7:25 AM, jantoby said:

I'm just home from a week on the Falklands.  I can't recommend the Historic Museum highly enough.  I only had an hour there and it was nowhere near enough to see all the exhibits.

 

The absolute highlight of my week was a helicopter tour from Stanley to Volunteer Point to see a huge colony of King Penguins.  Only about 10 minutes to get there as opposed to the 3 hours it takes off-road, and it's a fabulous experience.   falklandshelicopterservices.com        Fantastic couple of hours there, which flew by.20200131_180737.thumb.jpg.bf58dc135a3e7b73b7f59246e3a3a775.jpg

20200131_182651.jpg

20200131_194649.jpg

The shorter commute sounds wonderful for those of us limited by port times. Any thoughts on if there is a contingency plan....what if the weather is not safe for flying....is there a plan B available to go on a land based tour?

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On 4/17/2020 at 6:58 PM, HALrunner said:

The shorter commute sounds wonderful for those of us limited by port times. Any thoughts on if there is a contingency plan....what if the weather is not safe for flying....is there a plan B available to go on a land based tour?

Walk up for Volunteer Point,   typically would leave prior to the helicopter tours,  you would have to be on the first tenders.    So,  likely no other option to get to Volunteer Point.   Walk up is also risky anyway with sell outs.    

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