Chile · Patagonia
Punta Arenas
The biggest city on the Strait of Magellan, where a boat ride puts you among tens of thousands of nesting penguins.
The largest city on the Strait of Magellan is a windswept port that wool built: a grid of low tin roofs running down to the water, with the stone mansions and marble mausoleums of the sheep barons at its heart. Most visitors pass through on the way to Torres del Paine or an Antarctic ship, and the ones who stay a day or two come for the penguins of Isla Magdalena, the city's pioneer history and king crab eaten within sight of the strait.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
Spanish
Currency
CLP
Timezone
UTC-3
Why you'll love Punta Arenas
Penguins Isla Magdalena, a short boat ride up the strait, is one of the biggest Magellanic penguin colonies anywhere, and you walk right through it.
Wool-boom grandeur French-style mansions and a cemetery of cypress avenues and marble tombs tell the story of the sheep fortunes.
The strait itself Magellan's passage runs past the end of every street, with tankers, fishing boats and expedition ships on the water.
Gateway energy a jumping-off point for Torres del Paine, Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, with the restless feel of a frontier port.
Best time to visit
Dec-Feb
14-15° days
53.163° S, 70.908° W
UTC-3 · America/Punta Arenas
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Weather & when to go to Punta Arenas
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Dec-Feb
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Punta Arenas
May-Aug is the dark, cold half of the year, with short days, ice on the roads and no penguins, as the colonies empty out and the boats stop running. Pack for wind in any month.
Top things to do in Punta Arenas
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Isla Magdalena - walk through the penguin colony
nature wildlife 👍 PopularBoats cross the strait to the Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos, where a roped path climbs past burrows packed with Magellanic penguins to a lighthouse. The season runs roughly from late spring to early autumn, and crossings are cancelled when the wind is up.
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Plaza Munoz Gamero - the Magellan monument
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe main square, shaded by old trees and ringed by wool-era mansions, centres on a bronze Magellan above figures of the region's indigenous peoples. Rubbing the polished toe of the seated figure is said to guarantee your return.
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Cementerio Municipal Sara Braun - pioneer tombs and clipped cypresses
history ⭐ Highly recommendedOne of the most striking cemeteries in South America: avenues of sculpted cypress hedges lead between the grand mausoleums of the Braun and Menendez families and the simple graves of the Croatian, British and Chilote settlers who worked for them.
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Museo Regional de Magallanes - inside a wool baron's mansion
history culture artsThe Braun-Menendez house on the edge of the plaza keeps its original furniture, chandeliers and imported fittings, with galleries on the region's settlement history beyond the family rooms.
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Museo Nao Victoria - full-size replica ships
history ⭐ Highly recommendedOn the shore north of town stand walk-aboard replicas of Magellan's Nao Victoria, Shackleton's lifeboat the James Caird and other ships tied to the strait's history. Small, hands-on and especially good with children.
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Museo Salesiano Maggiorino Borgatello - peoples of the far south
culture arts historyA dense, old-fashioned museum run by the Salesian order, with collections on the Selk'nam, Kawesqar, Yagan and Aonikenk peoples, stuffed regional wildlife and the early missions.
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Cerro de la Cruz - the view over the roofs
scenicA short walk uphill from the centre ends at a lookout over the city's coloured roofs and the strait, with Tierra del Fuego on the horizon on a clear day.
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Centolla and Patagonian lamb - eating the far south
foodKing crab from the southern channels and lamb roasted on an iron cross over open coals are the local signatures, followed by anything made with calafate berry. Local lore says whoever eats calafate comes back to Patagonia.
Best areas to stay in Punta Arenas
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Centro
First-time visitors $$Wool-era grid around the main plaza
Explore hotels in Centro →
Costanera del Estrecho
Sea-view seekers $$$Waterfront hotels facing the strait
Explore hotels in Costanera del Estrecho →
Cerro de la Cruz hillside
Budget travellers $Quiet residential streets with guesthouses
Explore hotels in Cerro de la Cruz hillside →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Punta Arenas
Getting to & around Punta Arenas
Getting there
Fly into Punta Arenas from Santiago or Puerto Montt; the airport is about 20 minutes north of the centre
Flight
Presidente Carlos Ibanez del Campo International (PUQ)
The airport sits about 20 km north of the city on Ruta 9. Taxis and shared minivans reach the centre in around 20-30 minutes, and some Puerto Natales buses pick up at the terminal for travellers heading straight to Torres del Paine.
Coach
Bus company offices in the centre
Frequent buses run down Ruta 9 from Puerto Natales in about three hours, and long-distance services arrive from Ushuaia and Rio Gallegos in Argentina, a full day on the road.
Ferry
Tres Puentes ferry terminal
Car ferries cross the strait from Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego, and a slow ferry threads the channels up from Puerto Williams.
Cruise
Punta Arenas port
Expedition ships sail from here for Antarctica in the southern summer, and Patagonian channel cruises link the city with Ushuaia by way of Cape Horn.
Getting around
Walking
The centre, the waterfront and Cerro de la Cruz are all walkable, though the wind can make it hard work.
Free
Colectivo
Shared taxis on fixed numbered routes cover the city cheaply; flag one down and pay the driver.
TBC
Taxi
Plentiful and the easiest way out to the Nao Victoria museum, the ferry terminal or the airport.
TBC
Rental car
Worth having for Seno Otway, Fuerte Bulnes and Tierra del Fuego; roads beyond town turn to gravel quickly.
TBC
Day trips from Punta Arenas
Isla Magdalena
Half dayPenguin island
The city's signature outing: a boat across the strait to an island taken over each summer by Magellanic penguins, with a walking path through the burrows to the lighthouse. Some trips add the sea lions and cormorants of neighbouring Isla Marta.
Getting there
ferry | tour
About 1-2 hr each way by boat up the strait
Fuerte Bulnes and Puerto Hambre
Half dayColonial fort and ruins
A reconstruction of the 1843 timber fort where Chile planted its claim on the strait, on a headland above forest and water, with the site of Sarmiento de Gamboa's doomed sixteenth-century colony nearby at Puerto Hambre.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hr south by car or tour
Seno Otway
Half dayLand-based penguin colony
A smaller Magellanic colony on the shore of a sound, watched from boardwalks and hides across the steppe. The easy alternative when wind cancels the Magdalena boats.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hr north-west by car or tour
King penguins of Bahia Inutil
Full dayTierra del Fuego colony
A small colony of king penguins, rare this far north, on the shore of Tierra del Fuego's Bahia Inutil, viewed from a set distance. The ferry crossing and the empty island steppe are half the trip.
Getting there
ferry | tour | car
A long day by tour or car, crossing the strait by ferry
Torres del Paine
2 daysPatagonian granite massif
Long day tours run from the city, but the towers, lakes and glaciers deserve at least a night at Puerto Natales or inside the park. Most people treat Punta Arenas as the arrival point and move on.
Getting there
bus | car | tour
About 3 hr by bus to Puerto Natales, then about 2 hr more to the park
A little history of Punta Arenas
Magellan threaded the strait in 1520, and Spain's attempt to hold it ended in starvation at the colony later called Port Famine. Chile claimed the passage in 1843 with Fuerte Bulnes, then moved the settlement north in 1848 to a sandy point the English sailors already knew. For decades it was a penal colony and a coaling stop for ships rounding the continent.
Sheep brought over from the Falklands in the 1870s turned it into the capital of a wool empire. Immigrant families such as the Brauns and Menendez built estancias across Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and mansions around the plaza with the profits. The expansion of the estancias also brought the near destruction of the Selk'nam of Tierra del Fuego. The Panama Canal ended the shipping boom in 1914, and the city now lives on oil and gas, fishing, the free-trade zone and tourism, including much of the traffic to Antarctica.
Ferdinand Magellan's fleet sails through the strait that now bears his name.
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founds Ciudad Rey Don Felipe on the strait; its settlers starve, and the site becomes known as Port Famine.
Chile establishes Fuerte Bulnes, asserting sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan.
The settlement moves north to the present site of Punta Arenas.
Sheep arrive from the Falkland Islands, starting the Patagonian wool boom.
The Panama Canal opens, and shipping through the strait falls away.
The tug Yelcho sails from Punta Arenas under Luis Pardo and rescues Shackleton's stranded men from Elephant Island.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Limited
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type C / L
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+56
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
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FAQs about Punta Arenas
▸ When is the best time to visit Punta Arenas?
December to February is the best weather, with long days and the penguin colonies at their busiest. The boats to Isla Magdalena run only in the warmer months, roughly late spring to early autumn. May to August is cold and dark, with short days, ice on the roads and no penguins. Expect strong wind in any month.
▸ How many days do you need in Punta Arenas?
Two days covers the centre, the cemetery and the museums plus a morning on Isla Magdalena. Add a third for Fuerte Bulnes or the king penguins on Tierra del Fuego. Most people then continue north to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine.
▸ Can you visit Torres del Paine from Punta Arenas?
Yes, but it is far for a day trip: about three hours by bus to Puerto Natales and two more to the park. Long day tours exist, but most people base themselves in Puerto Natales or the park itself and use Punta Arenas for the flight in and out.
▸ Which penguin colony should I visit, Isla Magdalena or Seno Otway?
Isla Magdalena is far larger and you walk right among the burrows, but it needs a boat and calm enough water. Seno Otway is smaller and seen from boardwalks, reached by road, and makes a good fallback when the wind cancels the boats.
▸ Is Punta Arenas expensive?
It is one of the pricier places in Chile, as Patagonia generally is: food, tours and rooms cost more than further north. The duty-free zone on the north side of town keeps some imported goods cheaper.
More in Chile
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✓ best Oct-Mar