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Ushuaia excursions


jayjaycan

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jayjaycan, here is what I in my review of the excursion we took January 2, 2012.

 

Ushuaia is a beautiful city. We got on a bus and travelled about an hour to a train station to board the Southern Fuegian Railway or “End of the World Train”. Along the way we passed the world’s most southern most golf course (were told it was $90 for 9 holes). We got to the train station and boarded the train. We were seated in bench seats facing those across from us. It was a pleasant train ride with nice views and a there is a narration of the history of the train which was originally built to transport prisoners out to the forest to cut down trees. After the train ride, we rode for a short while to Ensenada Bay which was picturesque. Then back to Ushuaia for some shopping. This tour was OK but not our favorite and kind of overpriced. We wondered if we should have taken the Beagle Channel tour by boat instead.

 

If you are a railroad enthusiast would probably be an interesting tour. If you are interested, you can see pictures of the excursion using the following link as it may give you a better idea of what it was like. Ushuaia begins around picture 236.

 

http://smengelt.shutterfly.com/1665

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jayjaycan, here is what I in my review of the excursion we took January 2, 2012.

 

Ushuaia is a beautiful city. We got on a bus and travelled about an hour to a train station to board the Southern Fuegian Railway or “End of the World Train”. Along the way we passed the world’s most southern most golf course (were told it was $90 for 9 holes). We got to the train station and boarded the train. We were seated in bench seats facing those across from us. It was a pleasant train ride with nice views and a there is a narration of the history of the train which was originally built to transport prisoners out to the forest to cut down trees. After the train ride, we rode for a short while to Ensenada Bay which was picturesque. Then back to Ushuaia for some shopping. This tour was OK but not our favorite and kind of overpriced. We wondered if we should have taken the Beagle Channel tour by boat instead.

 

If you are a railroad enthusiast would probably be an interesting tour. If you are interested, you can see pictures of the excursion using the following link as it may give you a better idea of what it was like. Ushuaia begins around picture 236.

 

http://smengelt.shutterfly.com/1665

Is there anyway to do this tour independently as our ship does not do the train excursion?

Kathy

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Kathy, I'm sure there is but since we did the tour via the ship not able to offer you any personal experience with a private tour. We did see taxis at the train station and again at the park, but not sure how expensive that would be. I did a google search on "Southernmost railway tours Ushuaia" and a lot of information popped up. Here is one example:

 

http://www.viator.com/tours/Ushuaia/Tierra-del-Fuego-National-Park-Half-Day-Tour-with-Optional-End-of-the-World-Train-Ride/d933-5239USHTDF

 

So you might want to check with some of the companies you find and then determine if doable, or maybe someone else who did this excursion independently will chime in. If you book something, you should get something in writing that if ship does not make it into port (per Princess board, Star missed Ushaia today to do political differences between Falkland Islands and Argentina) you will get a refund if you are asked to make a deposit or pay in advance.

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Just seen on the BBC that the Argentaian Authorities have refused a ship entrance tonthis port because it had previously called at the Falkland Islands. Don't know which ship but they had to move on to a port in Chile instead.

 

It's the Star Princess and also a P&O ship. Have a friend on board and the Captain is cruising the glaciers instead. I'm flying to Santiago, Chile tomorrow to get on the Star on Saturday for a 16 day cruise up the coast to San Fran:D

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  • 2 weeks later...

I saw the train but did not take it. Looked pretty small-- IMHO more of an amusement park size than a regular historic train. End of the world is a term used for Tierra del Fuego. The train goes into the national park. Not sure how far. As noted, if you're a big train enthusiast, it may be worlthwhile. I had more than one day in Ushuaia (long story). I took a local bus into the park (2-3 different stops available) and walked around, and then book a bus back to town.

 

There are lots of boat tours which you can book at kiosks at the harbor, just a short walk from where you'll dock. Some go to see sea lions, some to see a penguin island (though these boats dock offshore and you view the penguins from there; the only tour that takes you onto the island is, or at least was, a longer tour involving transport by bus and zodiac, and could take more time than you'll have). Walking around the picturesque town, with its scenic locastion and steep streets, is enjoyable. Lots of restaurants, shops and a small number of museums (best was a former prison). I thought Ushaia was more picturesque than Punta Arenas. BTW, it calls itself the southernmost city in the world, though there is a town across the Beagel Channel, in Chile, that is further south (but, our guide told us, the Argentinians consider it a town, not a city).

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We used a company by the name of Latitud Ushuaia. The tour was excellent. The driver was the tour guide as well. He had a mike so that everyone in the van heard what he was telling us. We actually saw more than what the cruise ship tours did and it was definitely more reasonable than the ships tours. If you go on the train ride it costs you an additional $40 per person. It is a very short train ride and they stop part way up so that you can take pictures. Yes, it was touristy and would I do it again. No.

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My husband and I also toured with Mario and recommend his services. His english is very good, the car we were in can hold up to 4 though he did mention having a van also, and he is very knowledgable about his home. We were fortunate to just accidentally aquire his taxi at the pier, but found out he does have a website and can be prebooked.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Cintact Mario Maglia. He has a website. Well recommended in prevoius posts and we used his tour last month,

 

My husband and I also toured with Mario and recommend his services. His english is very good, the car we were in can hold up to 4 though he did mention having a van also, and he is very knowledgable about his home. We were fortunate to just accidentally aquire his taxi at the pier, but found out he does have a website and can be prebooked.

 

Does anyone have his website? Thanks in advance.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We were in Ushuaia last week and booked a tour through Pira Tours. http://www.piratour.com.ar/indexEnglish.php It was a highlight of our trip.

 

How did you prepay for their tour? I am trying to book for 2013 and they want me to send a credit card # plus a photo copy of both sides of the card. I am uncomfortable emailing this.

 

Thanks,

 

Jan

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Payment in advance seems unusual. We booked several private tours with local guides in South America earlier this year. We confirmed a few days before and paid after the tour in local or US currency or a mixture of both.

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We were in Ushuaia last week and booked a tour through Pira Tours. http://www.piratour.com.ar/indexEnglish.php It was a highlight of our trip.

We did the Pira Tours trip to walk with the penguins - it was fantastic as they only let 20 people onto the island at a time. The penguins were everywhere and would walk right up to you. We had to be careful where we trod. We purposely did not visit penguins at the earlier port, choosing instead a private trip to Peninsula Valdes (where there were a few penguins) and many seals.

Ushuaia was great - we got back in the early afternoon and then had a bite to eat and a look round before reboarding.

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We prepaid the Pira Tours trip - paid by credit card but don't think I had to send a scan of front and back.From memory, there was a booking form which I filled out,scanned and emailed. I then had to show the original credit card to the office when we were ready to go on the tour.

Most of our other tours either had a deposit (20%) or were paid in full at the end of the tour.

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  • 1 month later...
We did the Pira Tours trip to walk with the penguins - it was fantastic as they only let 20 people onto the island at a time. The penguins were everywhere and would walk right up to you. We had to be careful where we trod. We purposely did not visit penguins at the earlier port, choosing instead a private trip to Peninsula Valdes (where there were a few penguins) and many seals.

Ushuaia was great - we got back in the early afternoon and then had a bite to eat and a look round before reboarding.

 

 

Can you provide any insight or advice on which area to visit? We are cruising next year and I can't decide which way to go from Puerto Madryn, the penguins or the peninsula? We will be there the end of February 2013. Appreciate anything you can contribute to making this decision.

 

Thanks.:)

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How did you prepay for their tour? I am trying to book for 2013 and they want me to send a credit card # plus a photo copy of both sides of the card. I am uncomfortable emailing this.

 

Thanks,

 

Jan

 

We did not prepay the whole fee in Chile or Brazil but we did a hefty deposit. We used paypal and it worked perfectly. Just paid for tours in China and Thailand by paypal last month and all worked almost instantly. Easy to set up but do have to arrange it before hand by giving your bank information.

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If you prepay anything with your credit card, make sure that you tell the credit card company before the charge comes through. They can and will put a hold on a foreign transaction until they find out that you approve the charge. My daughter booked a hotel room in Japan on her card and a conference fee and the card was "quarantined" for a few days which messed up her lifestyle as she does not use cash--she forgot to notify because this was 3 months before the travel for a conference in western Japan.

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Can you provide any insight or advice on which area to visit? We are cruising next year and I can't decide which way to go from Puerto Madryn, the penguins or the peninsula? We will be there the end of February 2013. Appreciate anything you can contribute to making this decision.

Hi traveld - it is a difficult call. We visited Peninsula Valdes with a private guide at Puerto Madryn. It was a full day. The main reason we did this was that SIL who was with us wanted to see the peninsula and I wanted to see the penguins at Isla Martillo. The tour stopped at the information centre and a couple of other beaches doing the driving loop of the peninsula. We were too late in January for the whales but there were many sea lions and also some elephant seals. There were quite a few babies including a just born one. We could not walk near them but viewed them from a path above the beach. There were also a few Magellan penguins (quite close) at another stop. We saw a few other animals but not a lot which was a little disappointing and apparently not usual. It was very windy I remember and quite cool. Our friends went to Punto Tombo to the penguins and reported there were thousands of them. At Ushuaia we pre booked the tour to see the penguins and it was a real highlight. It was about 45 minutes in the small mini-bus. The first part was on bitumen but then there was about 20km on gravel which was very slow going. When were arrived at Estancia Harberton we boarded a small boat to go to the island refuge. There were less penguins than at Tombo but we could get very close to them and as there were only 20 of us on the island it was quite a special feeing. There were a lot of (large) babies which were still covered in down and a small group of Gentoo penguins as well. We saw a larger boat stop with its bow facing the beach and people looking at the penguins on the beach. Its passengers were not allowed to land at all. Our guide on the island was excellent. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the island. I was a bit nervous about the standard of the boat beforehand but it was fine. Again it was very windy. We arrived back in Ushuaia mid afternoon and had lunch and a look around. Our friends did a hike and river canoe trip on this day and also enjoyed it. Hope this helps - it is a hard choice as there are lots of interesting things to do in such a short time. Sea kayaking at Punto Arenas was also fun even though we did not actually get into the sea as it was too rough - we were in a small stream parallel to the beach.

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Hi traveld - it is a difficult call. We visited Peninsula Valdes with a private guide at Puerto Madryn. It was a full day. The main reason we did this was that SIL who was with us wanted to see the peninsula and I wanted to see the penguins at Isla Martillo. The tour stopped at the information centre and a couple of other beaches doing the driving loop of the peninsula. We were too late in January for the whales but there were many sea lions and also some elephant seals. There were quite a few babies including a just born one. We could not walk near them but viewed them from a path above the beach. There were also a few Magellan penguins (quite close) at another stop. We saw a few other animals but not a lot which was a little disappointing and apparently not usual. It was very windy I remember and quite cool. Our friends went to Punto Tombo to the penguins and reported there were thousands of them. At Ushuaia we pre booked the tour to see the penguins and it was a real highlight. It was about 45 minutes in the small mini-bus. The first part was on bitumen but then there was about 20km on gravel which was very slow going. When were arrived at Estancia Harberton we boarded a small boat to go to the island refuge. There were less penguins than at Tombo but we could get very close to them and as there were only 20 of us on the island it was quite a special feeing. There were a lot of (large) babies which were still covered in down and a small group of Gentoo penguins as well. We saw a larger boat stop with its bow facing the beach and people looking at the penguins on the beach. Its passengers were not allowed to land at all. Our guide on the island was excellent. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the island. I was a bit nervous about the standard of the boat beforehand but it was fine. Again it was very windy. We arrived back in Ushuaia mid afternoon and had lunch and a look around. Our friends did a hike and river canoe trip on this day and also enjoyed it. Hope this helps - it is a hard choice as there are lots of interesting things to do in such a short time. Sea kayaking at Punto Arenas was also fun even though we did not actually get into the sea as it was too rough - we were in a small stream parallel to the beach.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Can I ask who you used and what the cost was for your Valdez Peninsula tour? Did you think that it was worthwhile, or given what you know today, would you do Punta Tombo instead? I have contacted Pira Tours and have not heard back yet on their ability to modify their schedule. They depart at 8 and 2:30, unfortunately, we are not scheduled to arrive (anchor) until 9, so I don't know if that option will be available to us. I know these ports are all about seeing wildlife, penguins especially, so I don't want to miss that experience. Did you go on the Patrick Watts tour in the Falklands?

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We used Forastero Tours for our trip to Peninsula Valdes. Cannot actually remember the price - there were to be 4 of us (though in the end only 3 went). Forastero were great - a young guide and his father as driver. Van was good and a home made lunch included. It was good - would I do it again? Not sure. I was a little disappointed with the lack of wildlife variety and I think there were other things to do in Puerto Madryn. But would we go to Punto Tombo instead? If Pira Tours cannot move their tour time then I would go to Punto Tombo. Our friends loved it and said they got very close to the penguins when they under the walkways etc. We used Jaimie's company (it is something shorex from memory) in Punto Arenas and the next port call. He was excellent and personally met all his tours at one port. (Sorry brain is a bit addled and i need to go back and look). There is a great blog on this board with lots of pictures - it is almost the same as what we did.

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