Polar Tourism
Antarctic and Arctic Travel

Arctic

Season

• Ship-based cruising late April to September
• Land based trips March-November
• Travel is possible outside these months though daylight is short or absent and temperatures are very low.

Access

Many points where flights can be taken into the Arctic

• Major hubs are Reykjavik, Iceland, Oslo, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, Ottawa and Edmonton, Canada, Nome, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska, Petropavlovsk and Anadyr, Russia.

Weather and daylight

• Temperatures more variable by destination than the Antarctic, typically expect 20F to 50F  / -6C to +10C for most areas, month and location make this quite variable.
• Typically Arctic trips take place closer to the pole than Antarctic trips, the Arctic Circle is easier to reach and seeing the midnight sun is certainly possible in midsummer. Many High Arctic areas have 3-4 months of continuous daylight, on a trip in high summer, you may be in constant daylight.
• It will be windy, dress accordingly.

Methods of Transport

If you are cruising in the Arctic, you will almost certainly fly to join your ship in the Arctic and fly home again, rather than travel there or back by ship. You are less likely to meet rough seas in the Arctic than the Antarctic, fjords, channels and a lack of long open sea sailing mean that sea passages are usually smoother.

Charismatic Megafauna

• Polar Bears
• Musk Ox
• Reindeer / caribou
• Whales
• Seals
  
  

Polar Bears - you need to go to the Arctic to see polar bears, you won't see them anywhere else.

As the Arctic has been home to humans for thousands of years and as there is a continuing culture of hunting, the wildlife is often quite wary of people. It tends to be more spread out than in the Antarctic and less approachable. There is also the fact that polar bears could see you as dinner or at least a light snack, so keeping something of a distance is not necessarily a bad thing.

Culture

The Arctic has a permanent population of about 4 million, there are a whole host of native peoples who between them are circumpolar. All of these native peoples have a long and rich history of living on and with the land, whether Sami reindeer herders to those groups who build igloos as a traditional hunting shelter and many groups between. This human population and history is arguably the biggest difference between the poles.

Antarctic

Season

• Ship-based cruising October to March
• No tourist access outside of these months due to sea-ice closing off all shipping and flights, daylight is short or absent and temperatures very low.

Access

Two main access points

• Tip of South America, ships leave from Ushuaia, Argentina or Punta Arenas, Chile, flights from Punta Arenas, Chile.
• Australia and New Zealand, ports most commonly used are, Invercargill / Port of Bluff and Lyttleton / Christchurch, New Zealand and Hobart, Australia. Often cruises leave from one port and return to another. No flights.

Weather and daylight

• December to February 20F to 50F  / -6C to +10C.
• Most Antarctic trips do not cross the Antarctic Circle, so don't necessarily expect the midnight sun, though 20+ hours of daylight are likely.
• It will be windy, dress accordingly.

Methods of Transport

To reach the Antarctic Peninsula you have to cross the Drake Passage, this is a 2 hour flight or a 2 day sail. Flying is very reliable but aircraft could be grounded due to weather conditions. The Drake Passage can be very rough, though conditions can vary widely. In the Eastern Antarctic, you will have an open sea crossing of 6 to 7 days from New Zealand or Australia, you are more likely to encounter rough seas there.

Charismatic Megafauna

• Penguins
• Albatrosses
• Whales
• Seals
  
  

Penguins - you need to go to Antarctica to see penguins, some species also live other places like parts of Australia, South Africa and the Galapagos, but for variety of species and authentic icy backdrop, there is no match.

Antarctic wildlife is more plentiful than Arctic and generally shows little or no fear of humans, neither will any of it try to eat you. You will be able to see the wildlife at closer quarters in the Antarctic.

Culture

There are not and have never been any native Antarcticans, no one even saw Antarctica until 1820 and the first year-round habitation was in 1898. There are no cities, towns or villages, the only human presence is on nationally run scientific stations with a total, continent wide summer population of up to around 5,000 and winter of 1,000. A cruise to Antarctica may well visit one of these stations which certainly delivers a dose of a kind of culture, though not as it is understood across much of the rest of the world.