There are some places in life which one feels lucky to get to once. Now we were on our 3rd visit to Ushuaia and it was just as beautiful as ever. We had a week to kill before a cruise – time to go beagling!

My article about Ushuaia from December 2017 is still largely accurate, bar the prices which have grown lots of noughts. However, we did fit in a few more things around the edges which I will cover here.

We landed from Buenos Aires at 9.30 pm, the flight having been delayed. This gave our car rental the excuse of charging us an extra ARS 35,000 as they would have to keep the office open past 8 pm.

Tierra del Fuego National Park

We piled in and headed out to Tierra del Fuego National Park to camp at Laguna Verde, near the end of the road (Ruta 3). We found this to be as pretty a spot as ever when we woke up.

After a trip into Ushuaia to buy provisions, we re-entered the park. Entry is now A$30,000 for one day or A$45,000 for two – each! There was no-one on the gates at 10 pm the previous night, they don’t check when you are in the park or on the way out so you can be as honest as you like!

We did the Costera Walk which leaves from Bahia Ensenada where the old Post Office clings doggedly to a pier. The route follows the rugged indented coastline and can be a little hilly in places when it cuts across a headland but it is very beautiful.

We stopped for lunch after about an hour at a pretty bay with rocky headlands. The route is 6 km one way so if you don’t want to yomp back on the roads, this is as good a spot as any and you could happily turn back here.

Of course we carried on and after a stiff climb over a headland there were more nice bays, plus another climb back to the road. The track comes out near the new Visitor Centre which has been built on the site of an old hotel which burnt down.

It serves coffee, cakes and empanadas in a large airy cafe with super picture view windows. The museum to the other end seems to be a bit of an afterthought, but covers the basics. It is a good loo stop too!

Just beyond is Lago Roca, where the Sendero Hiro XXlV leaves to amble around the lake to the Chilean border. It is popular with tour buses, as is the End of the Road where a sparkling new boardwalk gives good views over the inlet.

There is a further 1 km walk to a lighthouse which was rather muddy on our visit as we coincided with one day of torrential rain. Nevertheless, we did some of the minor walks around the campsite which are actually quite pretty.

One led to an apparently unoccupied beaver dam (La Castorera / 300 m) and another new boardwalk led 500 m to Laguna Negra and a colourful bog. We saw rabbits and horses en route, so not terribly native!

Ruta J to Harberton & Beyond

We decided to drive out to Harberton Estancia which dates back to 1886. It has an interesting history and does house and museum tours which are well worth it – as is the cafe. The road leaves the main Route 3 road just to the north of Ushuaia and heads east – it turns into a thrilling drive along the Beagle Canal.

We had visited Harberton on our last visit so we just wild camped at their Rio Camberces campsite to enjoy the Beagle views (Simon calls it Beagling!).

We were surrounded by very noisy cows who woke us up the next morning so after a wander along the beach and up to the viewpoint hill, we carried on to the end of the road which at the moment ends at a little naval station.

It marks the start of the Mitre Peninsula, a wild protected area of hills and bogs. A popular 5 km walk leads to the lighthouse at Cabo Saint Pio so we decided to do it.

As we approached the naval building a dog barked and a man came out. He asked us how long we were going to be and I replied about 3 hours, but I got the impression that we could have gone in as long as we liked – which gave us the idea of returning to do a more extended trip into the region.

Mitre Headland is largely undulating mountains although the coastal walk to the lighthouse is fairly flat. We enjoyed the wide ranging views out over the Beagle to Chile as we followed an ATV track through the bogs.

The lighthouse when it came was only a giant metal tripod with a light on top but there was certainly an end of the world feel and only one Argentinian sailor in 50 km!

We had a well deserved picnic and started back, this time picking our way along the pebbly beach or following horse tracks near the edge.

When we finally got back to the car we only drove 5 km up the road before pulling in for tea at a grassy area above the beach. We liked the spot so much that we decided to camp there for the night. A log provided a handy seat to enjoy the wide sea views.

The next day we had a long beach walk and then moved 10 km west to a rugged outcrop crowned by a lighthouse. We had wonderful views of the comings and goings of the various boats as well as all the birdlife – I even spotted a couple of small penguins.

Puerto Almanza, a small fishing village further west, is another worthwhile stop – we had found a wonderful campsite there in 2017 and were pleased to find it still existed. There are also numerous places to eat seafood – La Mesita de Almanza is usually a safe bet.

Ushuaia

We returned to Ushuaia and did one further walk, which was rather stunning for little effort. Departing from the end of the coast road which leaves Ushuaia in the opposite direction to the Park, the Estancia Tūnel walk leads 2.5 km through glorious coastal vegetation and scenery to end at an old, sadly neglected, but very picturesque estancia.

The route continues for another 3 km to the Rio Encajonado where there is a narrow canyon which the river rushes through noisily to disgorge on a bird strewn beach. There are lovely views over the Beagle en route and I found the whole walk quite enchanting. It is possible to follow the track all the way through to Puerto Almanza – one for another time!

Ushuaia has smartened up a bit since we were last there in 2017. The old El Almacén Ramos Generals still exists and still churns out everyday multilingual menus for the tourists in a dusty old barn-museum atmosphere.

However the cafes have improved immensely and there are better places for coffee and cake these days: try Ana y Juana for truly blissful chocolate cakes and cheesecakes, with good coffee to boot – warning, it might cost more than your average lunch!

NOTES

We used Booking.com to book Rosas 3 for a night, a handily placed apartment two blocks up from the sea – be aware that Ushuaia is very hilly and if you go far inland, a big climb will be involved.

Exchange Rate (December 2025) £1 – ARS 2000