Tierra del Fuego National Park

Tierra del Fuego has a number of well-marked walking trails to scenic viewpoints. The scenery in the park is fabulous, but the trails offer the softest of adventures, rather than hikes that take you into the wilderness. They're particularly popular with local tourists, and cruise passengers heading to or from Antarctica and are thirsty for a sight of something green. 

One of the most popular viewpoints is found at the Mirador Lapatia, which looks out across the Beagle Channel. Another good option can be found at Bahía Ensenada, home to the Correo del fin del mundo, better known as the southernmost post office in South America. After getting your passport symbolically stamped here, forested trails along the coast quickly take you to some beautiful vantage points looking out to Navarino Island. 

Tierra del Fuego National Park is an absolutely brilliant place for birdwatching for two main reasons. The first is the variety of ecological zones in the park, offering the chance to see seabirds as well as those living in the forests and mountains. The second is that its extreme southerly latitude means that you can find species not just from mainland South America, but those more associated with the Southern Ocean and even Antarctica.

The forests along Lago Roca (where you have a good chance of seeing a Magellanic woodpecker) and the shoreline of Lapataia Bay are both particularly good birding sites. Dedicated birdwatching tours with expert local guides can be arranged from Ushuaia. 

The neat and tidy station of the Fin del Mundo train (the 'End of the World' train) belies a dark history. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ushuaia was Argentina's forlorn penal colony. The train line for what became the Fuegian Southern Railway was built by convicts, who used it to bring logwood back to Ushuaia. 

Today, a sparklingly clean steam train makes hour-long trips on the narrow gauge line, passing through thick forest to the scenic Río Pipo Valley and the Macarena Station Waterfall. It's quite a touristy experience, but the guides give a good account of the area's history, from the Yaghan people to today.

More of Ushuaia's penal history can be seen at the excellent Museo Marítimo & Museo del Presidio, which is housed in a slightly haunting manner inside the city’s old prison. 

There are a handful of campsites in Tierra del Fuego, but they can be busy to the point of overcrowding with local tourists travelling with their own vehicles, so are not generally recommended as offering a peaceful stay.

The majority of visitors to Tierra del Fuego National Park stay in Ushuaia, where there is a wide selection of accommodation.

The western boundaries of Tierra del Fuego National Park lie very close to Ushuaia. The park entrance is around 7.5 miles (12 km) from the centre of Ushuaia – a quick drive on a mostly empty road. 

From the park entrance, it's about the same distance to Bahía Lapataia, where the road runs out: the symbolic end of the Pan-American Highway that has threaded its way south all the way from Colombia. It's a great tradition to have your photo taken at the sign where the road finishes.