Aerial photograph of the Antarctic interior at midnight under continuous summer daylight, the kind of landscape Marula Hill clients fly into from Cape Town

Antarctica Travel Guide

Antarctica, the trip we book more than once a season

Almost no one goes this way.

Why Antarctica

The seventh continent, reached the only sensible way

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, highest, windiest place on Earth. Fewer than five hundred thousand people have ever set foot on it. Almost everyone who does goes by ship from South America, two days each way across the Drake Passage to a cruise stop on the Antarctic Peninsula.

We book it differently.

Our clients fly direct from Cape Town. The flight is five and a half hours on a wide-body Airbus, lands on a private blue-ice runway in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica, and puts our travellers inside the Antarctic interior the same day they leave South Africa. No ship. No Drake Passage. No two days of seasickness either side. Twelve guests per camp, heated pods, food cooked at the level of a proper restaurant, and certified mountain guides for every excursion on the ice.

Where Antarctica sits

A geography worth knowing

The four regions of Antarctica we plan around, and how they sit in relation to each other.

What this country does best

What Antarctica with us looks like

01

The Cape Town departure

The flight from Cape Town is the unlock. Five and a half hours of business-class flying over the Southern Ocean to a blue-ice runway, instead of a fortnight at sea. We put our clients in our favourite Cape Town hotels for the buffer days either side. The Winelands fill any weather delays.

02

Three camps in Queen Maud Land

There are exactly three camps in the area we book. One sits in a rare ice-free oasis among more than a hundred freshwater lakes. One is a futuristic glass-walled camp on a vast glacier, designed in conversation with an astronaut. One is the alpine-style staging camp at the foot of a mountain that looks like a tyrannosaurus skull. Six suites per main camp. Twelve guests at full capacity.

03

The Geographic South Pole

From camp, a Basler turboprop flies five hours to a refuelling camp at 83 degrees south. Refuel and overnight, then onward to the Geographic South Pole at 90 degrees south. Stand at the bottom of the world. Stamp your passport at the United States science station. Sleep one night under canvas on the High Polar Plateau before flying back to camp. Fewer than five hundred travellers reach the Pole this way each year.

04

Emperor Penguins at Atka Bay

A two and a half hour flight from camp to the fast ice on the Princess Martha Coast. PistenBully out across the ice to the colony. Walk among the Emperors at a respectful distance under research protocols. In November, the chicks have just hatched. By December, they wobble. The colony was filmed for a National Geographic series.

05

Blue ice everywhere

Blue ice tunnels carved by meltwater under the surface, lit cathedral-blue from above. Blue rivers in late season, glacial water flowing across the ice in iridescent ribbons. The ice plunge after the sauna. The cocktail at the runway bar where the ice in the glass is ten thousand years old.

06

Activities scaled to anyone

Ice climbing, rappelling, ice cave walks, fat biking, glacier treks, hikes up rock peaks rising out of the ice sheet, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, abseiling, the zip-line at the glass-walled camp. Every activity led by certified mountain guides. The age range goes from ten to eighty-five. The activities scale to fit.

Emperor Penguin colony on the fast ice at Atka Bay on the Princess Martha Coast, accessed by Basler turboprop on the Marula Hill Antarctica itineraries

When to be here

When to go, and what each month offers

Antarctica is open four months of the year. Each month does something different. Pick by what most matters to you.

Early season

Emperor chicks and blue tunnels

November

The chicks have just hatched at Atka Bay. Tiny, fluffy, and starting to take their first wobbling steps off their parents' feet. The blue ice tunnels under the surface are at their most accessible. Six days on the ice. From around USD 70,000 per person sharing.

High season

South Pole and Emperor Penguins

December to January

The most popular itinerary, and the one that puts the two flagship Antarctic experiences into a single eight-day trip. Conditions are at their best, daylight is continuous, the colony is at full strength. From around USD 105,000 to USD 110,000 per person sharing.

Late season

South Pole and Blue Rivers

January to February

The Blue Rivers only flow for a few weeks each year, when meltwater carves iridescent channels across the ice. Hike in to a remote section, picnic on the bank, hike back out. South Pole on the same itinerary. Same price band as high season.

Day trip

Antarctica in a single day

Entire season, November to February

Cape Town to the ice and back inside twelve hours. Land on the blue-ice runway, descend into an ice cave, abseil down a glacier wall, glass of champagne at the runway bar, fly home. From around USD 16,000 per person. The fastest way to log the seventh continent.

Antarctica month by month

JanuaryJan
FebruaryFeb
MarchMar
AprilApr
MayMay
JuneJun
JulyJul
AugustAug
SeptemberSep
OctoberOct
NovemberNov
DecemberDec

Hover or tap a month for details.

ShoulderDryMidOff-season

Where, specifically

How the trip is structured

Cape Town as the departure point for the Marula Hill Antarctic expedition, where the safety briefing happens and where the wide-body flight to Queen Maud Land leaves from

Cape Town

Every Antarctic trip we book starts and ends in Cape Town. Our clients arrive at least two days before the polar flight, for the safety briefing and to build a weather buffer. We book one of our preferred Cape Town hotels and fill the buffer days with the Winelands, a Cape Point drive, the seafood places we know are not on the brochure list, or a quiet morning at Kirstenbosch. Two more nights on return, for the same reason. Antarctica decides when our clients fly home, not the calendar.

Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica, the heart of the Marula Hill Antarctica region with its three private camps and blue-ice runway

Queen Maud Land

The flight from Cape Town lands at a private blue-ice runway in Queen Maud Land. The Antarctic interior, not the peninsula. From the runway, an Arctic Truck transfers our clients to one of three camps. One sits in a rare ice-free oasis among freshwater lakes. One is on a vast glacier surrounded by exposed rock peaks, designed for the future. One is alpine-style and used as the launch point for the South Pole expedition. Twelve guests per camp at full capacity, six suites at each of the two main camps.

Atka Bay Emperor Penguin colony on the fast ice off the Princess Martha Coast, accessed by turboprop from the main camps on the Marula Hill Antarctic expedition

Atka Bay

The Emperor Penguin colony sits on four hundred and forty square kilometres of fast ice that anchors itself to the ice shelf each winter. A two and a half hour Basler flight from camp gets our clients to the landing site. From there, a PistenBully runs out across the ice to the colony. Visits are conducted at a respectful distance and operate under Antarctic Treaty research protocols. The colony was filmed for a National Geographic series. November means newborn chicks. December and January mean wobbling juveniles and the full colony in motion.

The Geographic South Pole at 90 degrees south, reached on the Marula Hill flagship eight-day Antarctic expedition

The South Pole

The Geographic South Pole sits at ninety degrees south, three thousand metres above the ice on the High Polar Plateau. From the main camps it is a two thousand four hundred kilometre journey into the deep interior. A Basler turboprop flies five hours to a refuelling camp at 83 degrees south for an overnight stop under canvas, then onward to the Pole. Our clients stand at the southernmost point on Earth, where every direction is north. They get their passport stamped at the United States Amundsen-Scott Station. They fly back to a celebratory dinner with champagne. Fewer than five hundred travellers make this journey each year.

Wide editorial photograph of the Antarctic ice sheet stretching to the horizon under continuous summer daylight, the visual scale that defines a Marula Hill Antarctic expedition
Aerial of the Antarctic interior on the eight-day flagship Marula Hill itinerary, taking in the South Pole and the Emperor Penguin colony at Atka Bay

A signature Antarctica journey

Eight days on the ice, the flagship Antarctic itinerary

The trip we book most often. Cape Town to Queen Maud Land by wide-body Airbus, three nights at one of the main camps, the South Pole expedition with an overnight at 83 degrees south, the Emperor colony at Atka Bay, ice climbing, glacier hikes, and the cocktails on ten-thousand-year-old ice. Eight days on the ice, sandwiched between buffer nights in Cape Town.

  • Nights8
  • RouteCape Town to Queen Maud Land
View the full itinerary →

A starting point, not a fixed package. We rebuild every itinerary around the traveller.

What it costs

What an Antarctic expedition costs

All trips are quoted per person sharing. The pricing is per person per night sharing. Rates include the wide-body flight from Cape Town and back, every night in a heated camp, every meal, all drinks, every guided activity on the ice, professional photography, and the loan of polar kit. Solo travellers welcome. Exclusive use available for families and groups.

4-star plus

From around USD 16,000

per person, per night, sharing

A single day on the ice. Cape Town to Antarctica and back inside twelve hours. Ice cave, abseil, a cold drink at the runway, fly home.

5-star

From around USD 70,000

per person, per night, sharing

Six days on the ice in November. The Emperor chicks have just hatched and the blue ice tunnels are at their most accessible.

5-star premium

From around USD 105,000

per person, per night, sharing

Eight days on the ice. Includes the Geographic South Pole at 90 degrees south, an overnight under canvas at 83 degrees south, and either the Emperor colony or the Blue Rivers depending on month.

Antarctica is enquiry only. Trip dates are fixed and the season is short, November to February. Around three hundred travellers reach the interior this way each year. We book early, often twelve to eighteen months out for the high-season departures.

Most journeys are not one country

What Antarctica pairs with

The Cape Town departure makes Antarctica unusually easy to combine with the rest of Africa. The pairings we book most: the Sabi Sand for the leopards, Botswana for the Okavango Delta in flood, the Cape Winelands and Hermanus for whales, or Rwanda for the gorillas. We design the whole journey as one trip. Light-aircraft connections in and out of South Africa, one Marula Hill point of contact, one billing structure. The Antarctic week sits in the middle, with recovery nights in Cape Town on either side.

Questions we hear most

A few things worth knowing

Why Cape Town, not Argentina?

Argentina is the cruise route. Two days each way across the Drake Passage on a ship, then a few hours at a time on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Cape Town flight is a different trip altogether. Five and a half hours into the East Antarctic interior on a wide-body Airbus, heated pods on the ice, twelve guests per camp, the South Pole, the Emperor colony, and no time at sea. We book the flight route because we are in Cape Town and we know it works.

How fit do I need to be?

The trip scales. Activities range from a gentle hike on a frozen lake to ice climbing, abseiling and rock climbing under certified mountain guides. Our clients do as much or as little as they want. The age range we have booked goes from ten to eighty-five. A medical check within thirty days of departure is required, and travel insurance with emergency evacuation coverage of at least USD 500,000 is mandatory.

What if the weather grounds the flight?

Antarctic weather decides when flights leave. We always build two buffer nights in Cape Town before the polar trip and two after, which is why the Winelands are part of every plan we write. The pilots running these flights are some of the most experienced in polar aviation, and the runway is groomed for twenty-two hours before each landing. If a flight is grounded, the trip lengthens or shortens, but the experience stays intact.

Can I combine Antarctica with a safari?

Yes, and most of our clients do. Antarctica out of Cape Town pairs naturally with the Sabi Sand for big cats, Botswana for the Okavango Delta in flood, the Cape itself for the Winelands and the whales at Hermanus, or Rwanda for the gorillas. We design the whole journey as one trip with one set of transfers and one point of contact. The Antarctic week sits in the middle, often with three nights of recovery in Cape Town before our clients head north to the bush.

How sustainable is this?

The operator we book through has been carbon neutral certified since 2007 and was the first Antarctic operator to use sustainable aviation fuel. The camps are demountable, built without foundations, and leave no trace. The company dedicates roughly half its logistics each season to flying scientists to their bases, and the foundation it runs funds Antarctic science grants. The Antarctic Treaty governs every visit to a wildlife site.

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Prefer to write to us directly? sian@marulahill.com · WhatsApp +27 82 459 0648