The popular attraction of Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia, Argentina is absolutely beautiful, but prices to visit can be high. There is a cheaper alternative of Playa Larga, where you can see the stunning scenery of Tierra del Fuego without the steep price tag. Or you can do both of course. For me, the walk to Playa Larga is absolutely one of the best things to do in Ushuaia.
Tierra Del Fuego National Park
Thankfully, prices have been reduced since we visited back in 2019, so it’s more affordable these days. To visit Tierra del Fuego, the bus to the park costs 850 pesos each ($12 USD), and entry to the national park costs 560 pesos ($7.30 USD). If you visit in the winter like we did, park entry is free. Remember Argentinian winter is different to Europe and North America – it’s between June and August.
Playa Larga & Beyond – One of the cheaper things to do in Ushuaia
The walk along Playa Larga Ushuaia and beyond is so worth doing. It was one of my favourite things to do in Ushuaia. The walk takes a few hours and is along breathtaking coastline. At the end, head through the forest and then prepare to gape at stunning views over the Beagle Channel and the surrounding mountains. This walk will cost you barely anything and the scenery is almost identical to Tierra del Fuego National Park.
To do this walk, I recommend downloading the app Mi Bondi as it has the route and stops for the Ushuaia buses. Also for the walk, download the Maps.me app for offline walking maps. Both apps are free.
Bus to Playa Larga from Ushuaia
To get to Playa Larga from Ushuaia take the A bus (heading east) from near the Beagle Channel tour agencies on Avenida Prefectura Naval Argentina. You will need a SUBE bus card and for some strange reason they are hard to pick up in Ushuaia, so pick one up in Buenos Aires and hang on to it.
If you don’t have a SUBE card, ask one of the locals if you can borrow theirs and pay them back in cash (in Spanish its “puedo usar su SUBE por favor”). Using each random people’s SUBEs seems common in Argentina.
You can top-up a SUBE card in most newsagents – when we were there it only costs about ARS 18 per journey per person. And you only need 1 card between multiple people.
Where to get off
Get off at stop 462. The bus stop to return to Ushuaia is 470. The bus journey takes around 15 minutes.
To start the Playa Larga walk
Walk east on Perito Moreno Francisco and then turn right along a semi-paved track, heading over a bridge. Carry on for a kilometer or so and you’ll get to the first beach and nature reserve. We walked along the beaches then back up on to the main road and carried on, following the Maps.ME route until we got to a very basic lighthouse. Here you’ll see a car park and the start of a forest – you can walk through the forest and out the other side until you get to an amazing viewpoint. I recommend not skipping this bit (lots of people do), it’s the best bit!
Once you get to the view point, just walk back the way you came to the bus stop.
When we visited it wasn’t busy and seemed to mostly be popular with locals. In the summer bring a picnic if you like, and in the winter a flask of something warm.
We got amazing views all the way along the walk of the beautiful mountains and the Beagle Channel and could even just about make out the sea lions on the rocks in the channel. During our walk, we met a Patagonian fox, so keep your eyes pealed for wildlife.
Visiting Patagonia in Winter
If you are visiting Argentina or Chile in the winter, and think you’ve made a stupid decision – fear not. We had an amazing time exploring Patagonia in the winter time!
Here are some amazing things to do in Ushuaia (Argentina) in winter:
- Tierra Del Fuego Parque National: Tierra Del Fuego is full of lakes, glorious mountains and fairy tale forests. Whilst less of the walks are open in the winter, it’s still stunning and worth visiting. And in the winter, there’s no park entry fee! Due to the late sunrise in winter, the first mini bus in the morning is 10am from Maipu Ave and Juana Fadul street. There is no public transport, just a mini bus service. The return trip is from the restaurant car park and info centre is at 3pm or 5pm. It cost us 850 pesos each to get the mini bus. If you are on a budget, you can hitch hike like a french family did that we met.
- Tierra Del Fuego Train: You can take the end of the world train as part of your trip to Tierra Del Fuego. The national park bus can drop you off and pick you up from the station and the train will then take you into the park. Check latest end of the world train prices and schedules.
- Craft beer boat trip: Or if you aren’t a beer snob you can do a normal boat trip… There aren’t many of the famous penguins around in the winter, however you can still do boat trips to see sea lions, cool birds, seals and the lighthouse. We went with Yate Tango and had a great day.
- Dog sledding: Ushuaia was actually one of the few places we saw dog sledding available in Patagonia. We saw dog sledding for 2,400 pesos, but Argentinian prices are always subject to constant change!
- Skiing in Ushuaia: We didn’t ski in Ushuaia, but only because we wanted to ski in Bariloche. Bariloche was a busy hectic nightmare, so I’d suggest looking into doing it in Ushuaia.
- Scuba diving: If you are mad you can scuba in Ushuaia during the winter months (apparently the water is nice and clear…). It costs around $160 USD and you can dive with with Ushuaia Divers.
- Museo Maritimo & Presidio: Ushuaia’s maritime and old prison museum is cool as it is based in a prison block, but it was a little random at times. Entry is 600 pesos per person.
