Antarctica Tours When To Go

Antarctica Tours - When To Go

It is virtually impossible to have tours to Antarctica during winter due to the severe level of coldness and the ice surrounding the continent. There are only four months when it is feasible to conduct tours to Antarctica – November, December, January and February. This period is actually the Antarctic summer.

Of course there is no real tourist accommodation on Antarctica, the actual accommodation is on the tour ships themselves with everything from entertainment, sightseeing, hotels and restaurants being available.

When you actually decide to go on an Antarctica tour depends on your particular interests. Of the four months that make up the tour period – November to February, November is the still somewhat cold with the ice just starting to break up. At this time birds, including penguins start to court and mate. December going into January represent midsummer with much warmer temperatures and extremely long days with over 20 hours of sunlight at times. February is late summer and is a good time to go whale watching and also the time when penguin chicks hatched earlier in the summer are coming into their own.

Most people would imagine that even in the summer a tour to Antarctica would be a rather chilling experience and so would want to dress accordingly. Antarctica summers are not as brutal as one would imagine, so on a tour the best way to dress is to wear layers of lighter clothing that you can add or peel off as the temperature demands.
A good idea nevertheless is to have at least one piece of windproof layer to shield from any colder winds if you do depart the cruise ship for any time.

Of course if you plan to spend most of your time on the ship, the rooms are going to be heated and you may not need to carry that many layers. With regards to footwear, your best bet is to pack at least one waterproof boots, especially if you plan to go on land. Otherwise, normal sneakers or causual shoes should do just fine for onboard wear.