Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world

If you're looking to explore southern Patagonia, Torres del Paine National Park, or Tierra del Fuego, you'll likely start your journey here, or at least make a stop in Punta Arenas. Although the city may not seem to offer much at first glance, it actually holds some unexpected surprises behind its colorful wooden facades.

There are a few highlights you don't necessarily need to see. We take the time to rest after a late-night flight in from Santiago, do some grocery shopping for our hikes in Torres del Paine, and explore the city center on foot.

One place I highly recommend is the Penguin Island, Magdalena Island. About 250,000 Magellanic penguins call this place home. We visited the island as part of our expedition cruise through the fjords of Patagonia.

Two days in Punta Arenas is ideal, but three days is better. One night at the start, one night at the end of your Patagonia round trip, or even more. If you're not visiting the fjords from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia on an expedition ship-and thus missing out on Magdalena Island with the penguins-you should stay at least 2 to 3 days.

This highlight topped my list of things to do in Punta Arenas. For this is what Punta Arenas is best known, and those who have followed my blog for a while know that I got a penguin tattoo in Cape Town (specifically of the relative species, the African penguin found there).

The small island, Magdalena Island, is located about 35 kilometers off the coast of Punta Arenas. This island is home to over 120,000 small Magellanic penguins! In this limited space, it's impossible not to see penguins, which makes visiting Magdalena Island such a popular activity for tourists.

You can visit Magdalena Island either on your own via the public ferry or choose to go for an organized tour.

I recommend doing activities independently whenever possible, simply because you'll have more freedom and time, and it's generally cheaper.

But not for this tour.

The public ferry is quite slow, taking over three hours to reach Magdalena Island. Once there, you only have an hour on the island before you have to take the ferry back to Punta Arenas. That doesn't sound ideal to me.

Additionally, the ferry costs almost 100 euros per person, which seems quite expensive.

An organized tour costs only slightly more, and it's worth it. The travel company boats get you to the island faster, and you'll have much more time on-site to observe the penguins. Having a guide is also a great bonus, as you'll learn about the penguins and the area. For example, we learned that the penguins have many fleas and we should keep our distance.

I suggest you book this tour with GetYourGuide in advance. On this tour, you will visit not only Magdalena Island but also Santa Marta Island, where you can see 1000 Patagonian sea lions and cormorants. With some luck, you might also see dolphins and whales during the fast boat ride.

During the tour, you'll receive a briefing on how to behave on the penguin island. There is a marked path around the island. However, the penguins often cross the path or waddle in front of or behind you. If they didn't stink so much, it would be a spectacle you could follow all day. A fantastic experience.

These penguins are the second largest penguin species in the world (after the Emperor penguin), and I still regret not having the time to visit the King penguin colony.

You need another day for that, which we did not have. You must take the ferry to Tierra del Fuego (which we also used on our way to Ushuaia) and then drive another 1.5 hours to Parque Pingüino Rey to reach the King penguins. Much more conveniently, you can take a tour as you will receive useful information about the King penguins from the guide, and you'll make a few other stops along the way.

Explore the city on foot. This is easily done since the place is not very large. We had half a day to do this, which was sufficient. You will pass by the cemetery, viewpoint, and the Maritime Museum.

If you'd like to learn more about Punta Arenas, you can join a guided tour.

It's astonishing to find such an impressive monument in such a remote location. The square is surrounded by lush greenery, and the highlight of the square is a statue of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan set sail in 1519 with five ships from Spain to find a western route to the Spice Islands.

Along the way, he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and was the first European to cross the Pacific. Legend has it that if you kiss or touch the toes of the statue, you will have good luck and will return to Punta Arenas in the future.

Around the Plaza de Armas, you will find magnificent city palaces and mansions of the former sheep barons.

The best view of Punta Arenas, the Strait of Magellan, and Tierra del Fuego is from Cerro de la Cruz.

Insider tip: You can get a stamp for Patagonia with penguins at the tourist information for your passport.

One of the most fascinating cemeteries in South America is located in Punta Arenas and is definitely worth a visit. Here you will find not only impressive mausoleums and exquisitely decorated graves but also a mix of different nations in the modest graves of immigrants who once came to Patagonia in search of a better life.

Presidente Carlos Ibáñez International Airport (PUQ) is located about 15 kilometers from downtown Punta Arenas. The airport is served daily up to 10 times by LATAM, Sky Airline, or Jetsmart from Santiago, Chile, at affordable prices.

There are also many buses and flights from Punta Arenas to reach popular tourist destinations such as Torres del Paine National Park or Ushuaia. Hence, Punta Arenas has become somewhat of a tourist hub.

Most visitors spend a maximum of one or two nights in Punta Arenas. We also didn't stay longer. Nevertheless, the place grew on us somehow.

Upon our arrival in the middle of the night, we booked the "Fin del Mundo" transfer for 5,000 CLP. Perfect, because UBER or a taxi (about 17,000 CLP from the port) is far too expensive. Still, we had to rely on a taxi when, after our cruise in the fjords of Patagonia (from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas) due to a severe storm, we docked much later and thus had only limited time in the city.

The distance from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales is 248 km (about 3 hours). You can take the bus, which regularly goes there, at a low cost to reach the departure point for Torres del Paine National Park. We picked up a rental car in Punta Arenas (rented from Sunny Cars before the trip) to hike for 14 days in southern Patagonia on both the Chilean and Argentine sides and enjoy the nature.

After Torres del Paine, we booked a bus ticket to take us to Ushuaia. We traveled with Buses Barria from Punta Arenas' bus terminal to Ushuaia. The buses take about 12 hours (including the ferry which connects Patagonia with Tierra del Fuego). Nowadays, there's even a website where you can book your ticket directly. The ticket cost 45,000 Chilean Pesos (about 50 euros).

Punta Arenas is a small city on the southern coast of Chile, along the Strait of Magellan in the world-famous region of Patagonia. It is home to about 120,000 people, making it the largest southernmost city in the world. Once, its wealth came from sheep farming and fishing, but today the residents increasingly rely on tourism. Because Punta Arenas is the ideal place to start a round trip in Patagonia.

For many, Punta Arenas, Chile, is the starting and/or ending point for an adventure in Patagonia or Antarctica.

Have you been to Punta Arenas? What are your favorite sights and tips? What was your highlight? If you have more tips, I'd love to hear them in the comments at the end of this article. If you're currently planning your trip and have questions, feel free to leave them here as a comment!

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