Ushuaia 1-day itinerary

Take a remis (taxi) or bus from downtown to Tierra del Fuego National Park, 12km west of Ushuaia — the only national park in Argentina accessible by road that reaches the Beagle Channel. Enter through the Lapataia sector and walk the Senda Costera trail (6km return) along the shore of Lago Roca through lenga beech forest coloured gold and red from November onwards. The trail ends at Bahía Lapataia, where the Route 3 marker declares it the end of the Pan-American Highway, 17,848km from Alaska. Beaver dams along the way are the work of Canadian beavers introduced in 1946, now an ecological disaster.

Return to Ushuaia and join an afternoon Beagle Channel catamaran tour — the most popular and worthwhile activity in the city. The 3-hour tours depart from the port at 3pm and navigate through the channel that Darwin sailed in 1833 aboard HMS Beagle. Stop at Isla de los Lobos (sea lion colony), Isla de los Pájaros (cormorant and penguin nesting sites), and if weather allows, pass Les Éclaireurs Lighthouse — often misidentified as the "Lighthouse at the End of the World" from Jules Verne's novel. On clear days, the snow-capped Chilean peaks across the channel are dramatic.

Walk the waterfront Paseo del Centenario as the evening light turns the Beagle Channel copper and the Martial mountains behind the city glow. The port area has several restaurants serving centolla — southern king crab unique to these waters, regarded as the finest shellfish in Argentina. A half centolla at a mid-range restaurant costs $15-25. More budget-friendly options include calafate sour cocktails made with the local Patagonian berry, and lamb stew at the covered market on Avenida Maipú. The city is small enough to walk end to end in 20 minutes.