To do all the best adventures in Ushuaia you will need a little time, 3-5 full days, and some good hiking shoes. Rental cars are pretty expensive down here but luckily cabs are easy to use to get around. Hotels and hostels are a bit on the expensive side as well but you can find a bed for $25 a night if you don't mind sharing. hostels can be a great place to find other adventure seekers with whom to share cabs as well.
The big adventures that are accessible from the town of Ushuaia are boat cruising on the Beagle Canal, hiking to Martial Glacier, exploring Tierra del Fuego National Park, and Lagunas de los Tempanos. Here are my thoughts on each.
Beagle Canal Cruise: You have three choices here for cruising; a short cruise that goes to the 'end of the world' lighthouse, sea lion and cormorant rock, and a short walk on an island, or a medium length cruise that does all of that plus visits the penguin colony rock, or the long cruise which actually lets you get out and walk with the penguins.
Island in the Beagle Canal
Heidi and I chose to do the short, least expensive cruise and really enjoyed it. You get some great photo opportunities of sea birds, sea lions, the lighthouse, and the town with mountains behind it plus a few snacks and draft beer towards the end. We've had great encounters with similar penguins in South Africa but if you have never seen penguins it would be worth going on the medium length cruise. They pull the boat very close to the shore so you get a good view.
Martial Glacier: This glacier used to be more impressive but has receded out of reach for the non-rock climbing hiker. However you can still get a very close up look, a bit of exercise, and some beautiful views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Canal from the top of this hike. It is located just behind the town and is easily done in a half day so we combined this with our Beagle Canal cruise adventure day. A taxi was 135pesos up to the non-functioning chairlift at the base of the hike. If you are feeling very energetic you can hike all the way up and then all the way back into town to your hotel.
Austral Parakeet
I was delighted with the alpine tundra views and sweeping landscape. The glacial river cascading down the valley makes for a very good long-exposure subject, especially with the hanging glacier in the background. A bonus for us on this hike was a couple of close wild bird encounters with a dandelion-eating Austral Parakeet and the Southern Lapwing.
Tierra del Fuego National Park: No trip to Ushuaia is complete without a trip into the National Park at the very end of the trans-American highway, Tierra del Fuego. This is a bird watchers and hikers paradise. The entrance to the park is a 400 peso r/t bus ride plus a 210peso entrance fee. You continue deeper into the park on the same bus, or pay a bit more for a ride on a cute little steam train called 'The End of the World' train. This looks really fun during winter with snow all around. There are hikes to fit all skill levels and shuttles heading back at 3, 5, 6, and the last at 7pm. There is also a restaurant and little museum in the park but most people pack their own lunches in and eat on the trail.
Southern Caracara
The toughest hike is a thigh burner up Guanaco Creek to a 900meter summit with a beautiful view of the park. Keep in mind you could be enjoying sunny conditions at the start of you 7hr hike and wind up with snow and hail at the summit so dress accordingly. The Hito XXIV hike meanders along a large lake and takes you to the international border with Chile. There is only a tall red tower to mark the border so we decided to go have a picnic in Chile before heading back to the Argentinian side.
If you keep your ears out while in the park you may be lucky enough to come across a Magellanic Woodpecker, Southern Caracara, or an Andean Fox. It is possible to do multiple days in the park, however with the high bus fare and entrance fee we felt we had gotten a good feel for it in one full day.
Lagunas de los Tempanos: This was the big one. This full day adventure consist of a 170pesos one way taxi fare, a walk through a beautiful valley, then a muddy climb through forested mountain sides, past a waterfall, across a high elevation meadow, up a rocky slope to a beautiful lake at the base of a large glacier.
Part of the fun is getting a bit muddy so wearing rubber boots is really the way to go on this one. It is amazing how many different ecosystems you end up going through, all beautiful in their own right. We had a lot of rain and wind this day and it was still well worth it. The lake is beautiful and you can even explore ice caves at the terminus of the glacier. But keep in mind that the glacier is a moving, shifting river of ice so going into the caves is always a risky endeavor. If you've made it this far though I'm wagering you are up for a little ice cave exploring.
Always hope you are enjoying coming along on the adventure!
-Dai Mar