Ushuaia ~ Argentina travel pictures & information

Welcome to Ushuaia at the End of the World!

From the cruise ship port, walk about six blocks east along Av Maipu to this sign. Continue on, and turn left on Yaganes. A few blocks north is the Museo del Presidio and the Museo Maritimo. 'Ushuaia', which gets its name from the Yamana word for 'bay that points to the west', or so I was told, is 3040 kilometres (1,889 miles) south of Buenos Aires. It's at nearly the same latitude south (54.47S) as Moscow is north (55.45N). Happily, with its seashore location, the climate in Ushuaia is more moderate.

Bahia de Ushuaia (Ushuaia Bay)

This was the scene that greeted me when I checked into the hotel, looking south -- the bay (part of the Beagle Channel), the mountains, and the port. This early November afternoon, the temperature reached 21C (70F). Each day a ship was in port, a steady stream of tour buses rolled out to pick up those passengers heading for day trips around the area.

Another view of Ushuaia bay

There are many channels, islands and fiords throughout most of the entire southern coast. While Ushuaia bills itself as 'The End of the World', you can go further south, to Chile's Puerto Williams, across the Beagle Channel. In the eastern part of town, there are a number of vacant factories that were built to create jobs and so attract settlers from other parts of Argentina to the remote south. After the 'economic meltdown' a few years back, most of the factories closed. Some workers found new jobs, and stayed on.

Ushuaia Artisans' Market

Across Av Maipu from the hotel, just west from the port, artisans sell jewellery (copper, silver), yerba mate cups, paintings and more from these stalls. In the block just west of here, there are offices that arrange day trip excursions; one block to the east, at the entrance to the pier, there's an official tourism information office offering maps, brochures, and friendly smiles.

Av Maipu, looking west

Visitors arriving by air follow a route from the airport that runs along the far side of this bay, where there are more hotels, as well as the road that leads to the start of the End of the World park and train tour. The old airport is across the bay, just to the left in this view. You will have pointed out to you several times the old houses built by convict labour. In the foreground, across the street, is where the day tour offices are located.

Ushuaia as seen from the pier

The wide pier easily handles the demands of all the bus and foot traffic. As well, other ships and yachts dock along its length. There are a number of retail outlets -- shops and galleries and coffee shops -- along the west side, as well as a small post office/telephone office. Locals say Ushuaia's weather changes about four times each day, and that each year, there are only about 8 of these perfect days -- sunny, warm, no wind. Sure enough, the next day it rained, and the high was down to a still very pleasant 15C (59F).

Ushuaia Municipal buildings

Looking from Av Maipu, east of the pier. From the shore, the streets climb sharply for a few blocks to the shopping streets and more restaurants. In mid afternoon, the streets and coffee shops were thick with teens, talking and laughing loudly and just generally being teens. Watch your step -- lots of broken pavement. Most restaurants, many featuring front window displays of their large pit barbecues full of wood ashes, usually open for dinner nightly between 9-10 p.m., though coffee shops remain open throughout the day. Many retailers, too, close for a few hours (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) each afternoon.

Volver Restaurant

I had my first of many stellar meals featuring Argentine beef at Tia Elvira, located near the recommended Volver. Alas, the Volver was cerrado (closed) when I needed my dinner, but the Tia Elvira happily stepped up to the plate. Argentine beef is justifiably famous, is all I can say. Always delicious and perfectly prepared, though quite an anomaly to my usual mostly vegetarian diet. Favoured cuts are strip loin (New York strip) callled 'bife de choriza' and T-bone steak, 'bife de costilla'. Request it cooked 'Bien hecho' and you get medium well on your plate.

Museo del Fin del Mundo

The End of the World Musuem is located in former bank premises (Av Maipu at Rivedavia) about three blocks east from the pier. These twig teepees are displayed in the east garden; the west garden area holds martime and farm artefacts. One of the most interesting customs of the Yamana, the aboriginal people shown here, is that they wore only a loin cloth and a sealskin cape. There's a post office inside that will stamp mail and emboss passports with a seal that confirms you were indeed at the end of the world.

Inside the Museum

There are four main areas inside the museum. This is the room showing more than 180 species comprising the Birds of Fire display. Other rooms feature Aboriginal Groups and Voyagers, The Grocery Store and The Prison. There is also a 3400+ volume library, mostly relating to various aspects of Tierra Del Fuego, and a selection of books for sale. See Museo del Fin del Mundo (in English; there are options for other languages).

Ushuaia across the bay

A short drive west from the pier around the bay takes you past a causeway built by convict labour in 1930, to the site of the 'old' airport. The current airport, south of here, opened in 1997, to replace this one with north-south runways that ran at right angles to the prevaling winds, and short runways that couldn't handle large planes. The portion of the bay shown here is to the sheltered west of the causeway, and a safe harbour for pleasure boats.

Hotel del Glaciar

I took this photo from the parking lot area just above the Hotel del Glaciar, and near Hotel Las Hayas. These hotels are located north west of town, on a mountain.As such, it's a cab ride to city restaurants and shops. Not a big deal, though, and likely a good trade off to be well away from the *very* noisy town traffic that continues until nearly midnight. These hotels command wonderfully sweeping views when the weather is clear. Ushuaia, spread out below, becomes invisible on rainy, foggy days.

Cerro Martial

After taking the picture above, I simply turned 180 degrees to take this shot of the Ushuaia ski hill -- Cerro Martial and its glacier, Glacial Martial, about 7 kms (4 miles) from town. If you've already seen the local sights, but not spent time here, it's easy enough to take a cab from town rather than sign up for a city tour, and take a ride on the Aerosilla (chairlift).

One young snowboarder intentionally referred to the snow here as 'power' rather than the usual term, 'powder'. "I call it 'power snow' because it makes you go so fast," he said.

Sign At the Ushuaia pier

Just in case there's any doubt as to where you are, this sign greets visitors at the town end of the pier.