South Georgia Traverse

Overview

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In the footsteps of Shackleton across South Georgia

Introduction

On 20 May 1916, Sir Ernest Shackleton stumbled into the busy whaling station at Stromness, hungry, exhausted and covered in grime. He had just made the first ever crossing of South Georgia from King Haakon Bay. This epic story of survival, which began with the sinking of his ship, Endurance, in the Weddell Sea six months before, symbolises heroic Antarctic exploration.

This expedition follows the route taken by Shackleton during his epic journey. A voyage from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia, where you will then attempt a traverse of this windswept, mountainous island from King Haakon Bay to Stromness. You will be moving through the mountains as a self-contained expedition, carrying your own clothing, food, fuel and tents.

Experience Required

For those who wish to make the traverse of South Georgia, you should have glacier travel and winter camping experience, preferably in an expedition setting. You need to be familiar with crevasse rescue techniques, which can be gained on an Alpine course.

Our Alpine Summer Courses provide good skills preparation for this trip.

Additional Information

If you wish to discuss any aspect of the expedition or your suitability for it, please phone +44 (0)114 276 3322 or contact us.

Dates & Prices

Date	With Flight	or Meeting in	Availability
Fri 31 Oct – Sat 22 Nov 2025	UK	Ushuaia from	Available Book now »
	£24,235	£21,565
Sat 7 Nov – Sun 29 Nov 2026	UK	Ushuaia from	Available Book now »
	£25,995	£22,995

This expedition is available to book in GBP, USD and EUR.
Click to Change currency for prices on this site.

For comparison, this expedition starts from £1,078 (GBP) per day (price Without Flights).

With Flight pricing

Our 'With Flight' price includes an Economy class return airfare from the UK. The cost is based on a group fare that we have already reserved, or individual seats that we have budgeted for. Note that in some circumstances, the earlier you book, the less expensive the airfare and the 'With Flight' price.

Prices

The South Georgia Traverse is offered in conjunction with AE Expeditions. The 'land only' prices published on our website are joining in Ushuaia for the least expensive cabins and include the 'Shackleton's Crossing on Foot' Option. Please contact us to discuss the type of berth you would prefer, so that we can check availability and quote you a price. For UK-based customers, our 'with flights' package includes your international flights to/from Ushuaia, as well as transfers and a hotel night in Buenos Aires.

Please note:
It is also possible to join the voyage without undertaking the traverse of South Georgia, remaining on board the ship and landing at various parts of the island for sight seeing and wildlife watching with expert naturalists. Please ask us what the price reduction will be.

Know Before You Go

Jagged Globe supports the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) 'Know Before You Go' campaign. We recommend that you read the FCDO Travel Advice for South Georgia on the FCDO Website.

What the price includes

• Flights package from UK - see PDF for details (unless 'land only')
• All airport transfers in Ushuaia
• 1 nights' hotel accommodation with breakfast in Ushuaia on day 2
• Half-day tour of Ushuaia on Day 3, prior to embarkation
• On-board accommodation during voyage including daily cabin service
• All meals, snacks, tea and coffee during voyage
• Beer, house wine and soft drinks with dinner
• Captain’s Welcome and Farewell reception including four-course dinner, house cocktails, house beer and wine, non-alcoholic beverages
• All shore excursions and Zodiac cruises
• Shackleton's Crossing on Foot option
• Educational lectures and guiding services provided by Expedition Team.
• Complimentary access to onboard expedition doctor and medical clinic (initial consultation).
• One 3-in-1 waterproof, polar expedition jacket.
• Complimentary use of Muck Boots during the voyage.
• Comprehensive pre-departure information.
• Port surcharges, permits and landing fees.

What the price does not include

• Airport arrival or departure taxes.
• Passport, visa, reciprocity and vaccination fees and charges.
• Travel insurance or emergency evacuation charges.
• Hotel accommodation and meals unless specified in the itinerary.
• Optional excursions and optional activity surcharges.
• All items of a personal nature, including but not limited to alcoholic beverages and soft drinks (outside of dinner service), gratuities, laundry services, personal clothing, medical expenses, wi-fi, email or phone charges.

Insurance

You will need a travel insurance policy that caters for the activities you will undertake on your trip with Jagged Globe. It is a requirement of our booking conditions that you have such a policy. For a list of insurers who specialise in mountaineering, trekking and skiing, please see our Travel Insurance page »

Itinerary

Here is an outline itinerary for this trip. A more detailed day-to-day itinerary is available as a downloadable PDF »

Typical Itinerary

Please note that this is a typical itinerary from Ushuaia - contact us for a more detailed day-to-day itinerary. If you are flying from Europe, you would typically need two days to travel to Ushuaia via Buenos Aires and two days to return home, making it a 24 or 25-day itinerary including international flights.

Day 1:	Fly to Ushuaia
Day 2:	Ushuaia
Day 3:	Embarkation
Day 4 - 5:	Drake Passage Crossing
Day 6 - 9:	Antarctic Peninsula
Day 10 - 11:	Scotia sea
Day 12 - 16:	South Georgia Traverse
Day 17 - 18:	At sea
Day 19 - 20:	Falklands - Malvinas
Day 21:	At sea
Day 22:	Disembark in Ushuaia, fly home
Day 23 - 24:	Fly home from Buenos Aires

Photos & Videos

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Reports & Reviews

First Expedition: Nov 2001
Total: 8 trips

Have you been on this trip? If you'd like to contribute a trip report then we'll post it up on the site.

Team Member Reviews

• “A great sense of achievement to have repeated one of the most historic journeys of all time among a group of congenial, like minded people with expert, but unobtrusive leadership.” DH, 2002
• “South Georgia is a magical place; we had a trip of a lifetime.” MM, 2002

Leader Reports

• South Georgia Traverse - 24 Feb to 20 Mar '11
  “Team members: Mungo Ross (leader), Ian Johnston, Paul Toomey, Mike Price, Roger Smith and George Szwender As part of Aurora Expedition’s “Shackleton’s Odyssey Expedition – March 2011" we had the chance to attempt a crossing of...”
  report added 19/May/11
• South Georgia Traverse - 24 Feb to 20 Mar '11
  “When Shackleton, Crean and Worsley set out at 3 am on the 16th of May 1911 to walk across South Georgia they had spent the previous 16 days sailing the 800 miles from Elephant Island in the James Caird (never mind the 6 months...”
  report added 21/Mar/11
• South Georgia Traverse - 26 February to 21 March 2004
  “The March South Georgia crossing turned out to be a much tougher outing for the party of 14 (11 climbers and 3 guides) than anticipated, as much of the snow had melted from the galciers since the earlier January crossing. This...”
  report added 19/Mar/04
• South Georgia Traverse 25 February to 20 March 2003
  “REPORT ON SHACKLETON CROSSING OF SOUTH GEORGIA IN MARCH 2003 INTRODUCTION This is a brief report on a South Georgia Crossing via the Shackleton Route made between 9 and 10 March 2003. The expedition was a commercial one...”
  report added 13/Apr/03
• South Georgia Traverse - 16 November to 9 December 2001
  “Our first traverse of South Georgia, following in the footsteps of Ernest Shackleton and his team during their epic journey in 1916, was successfully completed on 24 – 26 November. Twelve climbers and three guides (leader Greg...”
  report added 27/Dec/01