South Georgia Island

South Georgia Trips & Tours

South Georgia Island

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4.9/5 (926 reviews)

Travel and Leisure Worlds Best Awards for number 1 tour operator in the world 2024 and number 2 tour operator in the world 2025
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Named three years running in Travel+Leisure World's Best, including No.1 in 2024
Where the wildlife outnumbers you a million to one

There's a beach at Salisbury Plain where you can barely see sand for penguins — several hundred thousand king penguins, to be precise, stretched out in a shuffling, trumpeting, tuxedoed mass that stretches to the mountains behind. That's before you factor in the elephant seals sprawled like giant brown boulders (they belch, they wallow, they occasionally block your path entirely), or the fur seals that reclaimed the beaches so thoroughly after near-extinction in the 1800s that guides now have to plot routes around them. Cooper Bay is the place to head if you want all four penguin species in one landing. Grytviken, the old whaling station turned museum, is where Shackleton is buried, and paying respects at his grave feels oddly fitting after a week spent battling the same Southern Ocean he did. Come November to March for peak breeding season, when the noise (a genuine, ear-filling racket) rivals anything you'll hear on an African savannah. Getting here means days at sea. Nobody said magnificent was convenient.

Things to do

What to do in South Georgia Island

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Why you'll love it

Why you'll love it

Few places on Earth deliver wildlife at this volume. King penguins in their thousands, seals sprawled everywhere you look, and not a fence or ticket queue in sight.

Off the beaten track

Off the beaten track

The island is about as off the beaten track as you can get, but skip St Andrews Bay for Cooper Bay, the only landing where all four penguin species turn up at once.

Something to think about

Something to think about

This is a multi-day sea crossing before you even arrive, and landings depend entirely on weather. Pack patience along with your seasickness tablets.

When to go

Best time to visit South Georgia Island

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Based on 926 Feefo Reviews

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