Ushuaia

Ushuaia calls itself “the end of the world,” and for once the marketing is true. At the southern tip of Argentina, this is the southernmost city on Earth, where jagged Andes peaks meet the icy Beagle Channel. Life here has always been about survival, adventure, and a touch of drama.

Long before ships arrived, the Yamana people lived along these windswept shores. They paddled bark canoes through freezing waters and built fires in their boats. Early sailors named the region Tierra del Fuego, or “Land of Fire,” after spotting coastlines lit with campfires.

In the 19th century, Argentina planted its flag here to secure the far south. Missionaries came first, then settlers, and eventually prisoners. Ushuaia’s prison, opened in 1902, was modeled after Alcatraz.

It held Argentina’s toughest inmates, who also built much of the city. Many of the oldest roads and rail lines trace back to prison labor. Today the prison is a museum where kids explore cells and hear stories of escapes that almost always ended in frostbite.

The city also became a hub for polar exploration. The Beagle Channel itself is named after Charles Darwin’s ship, HMS Beagle, which sailed here in the 1830s. A century later, Antarctic expeditions launched from Ushuaia, and today cruise ships heading south still make this their final stop before the ice.

Ushuaia hasn’t had an easy history. Fires destroyed wooden homes, the economy collapsed more than once, and its fierce weather still challenges newcomers. Yet toughness has become part of its charm. Locals proudly call themselves “Fueguinos,” people of the fire.

For visitors, there is no shortage of things to do. Families can ride the “End of the World Train” through lenga forests, hike in Tierra del Fuego National Park where foxes and condors roam, or take a boat through the Beagle Channel to spot sea lions and penguins.