Published on Jan, 2025
As with many of my reviews, I want to start by talking about the benefits of private tours over the large coach tours offered by cruise lines. A private tour offers flexibility, and can give you access to places inaccessible to a coach bus. They also offer a better learning opportunity with a guide who knows and loves their region, who can answer your questions, and who can give you information about the history, culture and fauna of the area. Our tour of Ushuaia and Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego with Gabriella from Exploring Ushuaia UVT provides a good example of this. She grew up in Ushuaia, and is a very fluent English speaker. Throughout our trip, she told us about the history of the region, which was originally settled as a penal colony. She was also able to tell us about the plants, birds and other animals we saw, as well as the geological features of Tierra del Fuego and "El Fin del Mundo" (The End of the World) as they call it.
Gabriella started by taking us to the End of the World Train Station (Estacion Fin del Mundo). It was originally built by prisoners as a means to exploit the natural resources of the area, but it is now a tourist train. (We did not actually ride it. Another advantage of a private tour is the ability to avoid "tourist traps".) Next we continued on to the National Park at the southern terminus of the Pan American Highway, including the former site of the "Post Office at the End of the World", which is now closed. All along the way, Gabriella stopped to point out various birds and geologic features. With her local knowledge and English fluency, she was able to answer any and all questions we asked. After this, we returned to Ushuaia for a tour through the city and a couple more photo opportunities.
If you are looking for a personalized and informative tour of Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park, then you will not find a better guide than Gabriella and Exploring Ushuaia EVT.