Travel Antarctica

This three-mast rigged ship called Europa offers passengers a close look at the Antarctic landscape on Dec. 16, 2005. Visitors to Antarctica can choose from a variety of vessels, including yachts and modern cruise ships.

Tourists take in the ruins of an old whaling station on Deception Island, a dormant volcano in Antarctica on Dec. 13, 2005. Travelers worldwide are realizing this vast crystalline wilderness at the bottom of the world is well worth the trouble to visit.

A Zodiac boat is lowered on the side of a ship before a short excursion for tourists to get close to icebergs and the Antarctic coast December 2005. It may be the coldest continent in the world, but the weather can be surprisingly pleasant during the December days of the austral summer. Temperatures often get above freezing, even into the 40s on the peninsula.

A Gentoo penguin feeds two recently hatched chicks by regurgitating a snack on Ardley Island, Antarctica, in this December 2005 photo. Some 26,000 visited in the past year, and the number increases annually.

Strong winds carve intricate shapes in blocks of ice throughout the Antarctic coastline, December 2005. It may be the coldest continent in the world, but the weather can be surprisingly pleasant during the December days of the austral summer.

A sign next to Chile's Frei Station on King George Island lets people know how far they are from home.

Hikers stretch their legs on Deception Island, where a caldera on the volcanic island has created a natural harbor.

Tourists get close to icebergs and the Antarctic coast during short excursions on a Zodiac boat in Brown Bluff, Antarctica, December 2005.

After a short boat ride from a cruise ship, tourists observe scores of Adelie penguins at Brown Bluff on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula on Dec. 12, 2005.

The port town of Ushuaia, Argentina, is framed by a mountainous landscape in this December 2005 photo. Many trips to Antarctica leave from Ushuaia.

Crabeater seals loll on slabs of ice in Paradise Bay, Antarctica on Dec. 16, 2005. The bay mountains here are covered with glaciers, which press down in a still, jumbled bluish-white fury of ice.