Punta Arenas and Ushuaia

[bosswench]

 

Has anyone stopped in Punta Arenas or Ushuaia without anything pre-booked?  Are there operators offering tours at the port?  I am booked on Sapphire Princess this December and it's looking like my husband may not be able to go at the last minute.  I am an experienced solo traveler, and speak Spanish, so am comfortable grabbing something on arrival if I know there will be options.

 

TIA

[carlmm]

In both cities one can easily walk around and visit museums and such.

[TwoSue]

We took a double decker tour around Ushuaia. It meets right outside the port.

[soccermom4]

We did a bit of shopping in Ushuaia and walked to the Prison museum (actually a bunch of museums in an old prison),  Had a lovely day on our own.

[Dobby36]

We did both independently, ended up basically walking around and shopping, eating etc. 

 

both had some tour operators hawking tours at the docks.  Ushuaia much more so than Punta Arenas.  The tours were whale/wildlife watching boat tours mainly.  Some were fishing charter types or more harbor cruises, but there were also some land-based ones that went to the penal colony or the mountains, I recall. 

[cccole]

Our afternoon trip to see the penguins was cancelled because of weather so we just walked Punta Arenas.  There is a fabulous cemetery that many walked to.  We walked to the cemetery and took an Uber back to the ship.  Punta Arenas is a beautiful city.  Friends of ours went to the Mirador Cerro de la Cruz and walked down thru town and then to the cemetery.   Cherie 

[hdcanal05]

On 8/8/2024 at 6:27 PM, cccole said:

Our afternoon trip to see the penguins was cancelled because of weather so we just walked Punta Arenas.  There is a fabulous cemetery that many walked to.  We walked to the cemetery and took an Uber back to the ship.  Punta Arenas is a beautiful city.  Friends of ours went to the Mirador Cerro de la Cruz and walked down thru town and then to the cemetery.   Cherie 

Hi, we haven’t booked anything on Punta Arenas yet. We are planning two other penguin excursions.

 

we are thinking of just walking around as well

 

Did you happen to see the replica of Magellan’s ship museum or know anyone who did? Wondering if it’s worth it??

also how far from the ship is town? You mentioned taking an Uber back to ship

thank you so much in advance

[cccole]

@hdcanal05  Hi.  We tendered in punta arenas and were at a dock in town.  It was a bit chaotic since the afternoon penguin excursions had been cancelled and there were some unhappy adults behaving like two year olds..  We had not been notified prior to leaving the ship, but always knew that the p.m. excursion was often cancelled for weather. We walked from the dock to the cemetery and enjoyed the walk. My husband was recovering from a hip replacement so we ubered back. I think most walked both ways. 
 

We did not go to the Magellan’s ship museum. The rest of the city begins @3 blocks  from the pier.  There is a grocery close if you want any snacks or local products.  It was a relaxing/enjoyable day for us. Cherie 

[Torquer]

We went to  Nao Victoria Museo (Magellan's ship museum).  It is a small outdoor museum and not in the greatest state of repair.  Still it is interesting to see how small the ships were that made those amazing explorations hundreds of years ago.  You will need Uber or a taxi to get there.

 

Definitely don't miss the Sara Braun Public Cemetery.  It has an amazing assortment of large and ornate tombs.  It is probably better than the cemetery in Buenos Aires where Evita is burried.

Edited August 14 by Torquer

[lynn2002]

How far is the cemetery from where the ship docks.  I'm doing a 3 hour tour which doesn't include the cemetery but would like to do it once the tour finishes.

[Torquer]

19 minutes ago, lynn2002 said:

How far is the cemetery from where the ship docks.  I'm doing a 3 hour tour which doesn't include the cemetery but would like to do it once the tour finishes.

From Google Earth, it looks like about 1 mile from the pier.  So you should be able to do it in the other half of your day in port.  You might want to take an Uber or taxi, since in addition to the 2 mile round trip, it is a very large cemetery with lots of walking.  By the way, there is a charge of about 5 USD per person to enter the cemetery, but we thought it was well worth it.  We spent over an hour exploring.

[lynn2002]

Thank you.  I'm travelling solo, are Ubers safe and reliable in Punta Arenas?

[Torquer]

3 hours ago, lynn2002 said:

Thank you.  I'm travelling solo, are Ubers safe and reliable in Punta Arenas?

I can only speak from our experience.  We (my wife and I) used 3 Uber rides in Punta Arenas.  All were clean and we felt perfectly safe.  The are also incredibly cheap compared to other parts of the world...but things in general are inexpensive in Chile.  In general, our experience in Chile and Argentina was that they are very safe countries...sort of like European countries.  Our guides told us that is not necessarily true for other countries in South America.