Antarctic Peninsula fly & cruise

Today, you will fly to Punta Arenas, where you will meet up with the other members of your Antarctic expedition. This trip is based on a twin cabin on a seven-night cruise.

This morning you will transfer to the airport to board the flight across the Drake Passage to King George Island and board the ship.

Today is your first full day on the Antarctic Peninsula. If the weather allows, you might go ashore and take a short walk to an explorer's hut, a relic from the great age of polar pioneers. Due to Antarctica's harsh desert conditions, these simple shelters have been remarkably well preserved.

Today might see you sailing through the Lemaire Channel, a strait of water bisecting the Antarctic Peninsula and Booth Island. You'll sail past towering cliffs of ice, glaciers running to meet the water, and immense icebergs. Stay out on deck and keep a camera to hand — you'll soon see why this passage is nicknamed Kodak Gap.

You will enjoy another morning on the peninsula or cruising in a Zodiac; in the afternoon there may be an option to go kayaking. Away from the noise of an engine, you'll glide almost in silence through calm, still waters and get a real sense of Antarctica's wilderness.

Penguins are one of the biggest draws of a trip to Antarctica, and today you may be able to come face-to-face with them. If weather conditions allow, you'll go ashore to observe a penguin colony. Species include chinstrap and gentoo penguins; some crowd beaches while others make their homes on icy escarpments. From on board the ship, you might be able to see them streaking into the water, where they are much more graceful than they are on land.

Venturing ashore in the Zodiacs, today you may find yourself hiking on the Peninsula to reach a scenic viewpoint or a point of geological interest. The walks are not long, but they're a chance to immerse yourself in the Antarctic landscapes and experience something of what the early explorers must have felt when they traversed this endless-seeming white desert.

Today, your vessel may take you to Deception Island, one of Antarctica's active volcanoes. Your ship will squeeze through Neptune's Bellows, a narrow gap that opens out into a caldera edged with sheer cliffs and black sand beaches. Here you may see the remains of a Chilean research station and colonies of chinstrap penguins. Whale sightings are also a possibility in this area. The real highlight, though, is the chance to bathe in the hot springs on the island's beaches, if the tide allows.

Fly back across the Drake Passage and spend a night back in Punta Arenas.

Fly north to Santiago and transfer to your hotel.

Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.