PONANT unveiled its 2024-2025 sailing itinerary program for Antarctica, with a vast untamed land of ice and icebergs up for exploration.

With the first departure in the 2024-2025 season scheduled for 19 October, the austral summer will see 26 sailings across three ships in the company’s fleet crossing the remote territories below.

PONANT offers Antarctic expeditions from October to March, each month of which offers something unique and the full season covering the entire reproduction cycle of the penguins which populate the White Continent.

November is special as this is when the penguins breeding and nesting take place on the Antarctic Peninsula against a backdrop of snow-covered mountain peaks where icebergs drift in the distance. In January, new-born penguins take the stage, while February is sees the chicks growing and the end of summer snow makes hiking easier.

Aboard the company’s three small ships, Le Lyrial, L’Austral and Le Boréal, the PONANT experts – captains, expedition leaders, naturalist-guides – will share their passion and knowledge of the region. Guests will have an opportunity to see Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins, orcas, seals, elephant seals, albatrosses and southern fulmars, all in conditions that fully respect the environment.

Must-see voyages for the season include The Southern Adventure, which promises a 15-day polar expedition in the highest latitudes between the Falkland Islands and untouched lands of the Antarctic; The Great Adventure which takes in the southern region’s most beautiful sites; and Expedition to Southern Lands which follows in the wake of the greatest explorers in South Georgia along shores of the White Continent on a 17-or-18-day voyage through time.

Check out details on the expeditions below

The Southern Adventure

This polar expedition to the planet’s southernmost lands begins with the discovery of the Falkland Islands. Escorted by Rudolphi whales, the ship follows in their wake through this archipelago of 200 islands, before approaching the frozen shores of the – almost – inaccessible Antarctica. Outings and landings in Zodiacs or sea kayaks, always supervised by professionals, bring guests as close as it is possible to be to the ice.

• From Ushuaia to Ushuaia, 14 nights onboard Le Lyrial and Le Boréal.
• Two sailing, from 1 November 2024 to 16 November 2024.
• From AUD 22,320 per person plus 30 per cent Ponant Bonus (conditions apply).

The Great Adventure

L’Austral and Le Lyrial go back in time as she sets sail for South Georgia. It is here in the midst of black sandy beaches, watched over by snow-capped mountains, that Sir Ernest Shackleton washed up during the famous Endurance Odyssey in 1916. Further south on L’Austral, the Orkney Islands emerge just beyond the latitude of the mythical Screaming 60s. Throughout the voyage, this territory that is home to penguins, albatrosses, seals and whales is revealed.

• From Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, 17 nights onboard L’Austral.
• From 9 November 2024 to 26 November 2024.
• From AUD 23,900 per person plus 30 per cent Ponant Bonus (conditions apply).

• From Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, 17 nights onboard Le Lyrial.
• From 3 March 2025 to 21 march 2025.
• From AUD 25,180 per person plus 30 per cent Ponant Bonus (conditions apply).

Emblematic Antarctica

At the border between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, guests enter Drake Passage. In the latitudes of the 50s and 60s, the wind blows and waves beat against the bow; in the sky above, Cape petrels lead the ship to their kingdom, up to the first lands of the White Continent. The ice is there and evolves throughout the summer, in all its forms, to give life to the reproduction cycle of the Adelie, gentoo and chinstrap penguins. A mountainous landscape opens up to give way to huge carving glaciers, as tabular icebergs drift in the ocean and sea ice shimmers in the distance.

• From Ushuaia to Ushuaia, 10 nights onboard Le Boréal and Le Lyrial.
• 16 sailing from November 2024 to march 2025.
• From AUD 16,970 per person plus 30 per cent Ponant Bonus (conditions apply).

Falklands, South Georgia & Valdes Peninsula: in the heart of the wilderness

Le Boréal will set sail for a polar expedition in the southern seas to discover stunning wildlife, in the heart of three rich and unique ecosystems: South Georgia, the Falkland archipelago and its 200 islands, and the Argentinean province of Chubut. Magellanic, gentoo and king penguins, elephant seals, fur seals, albatrosses and orcas inhabit these wild lands. The richness of the landscape will go from the black sand beaches encircled by the snow-capped mountains of South Georgia to the rich beauty of the shores of the Falkland Islands, where white sand beaches, sharp cliffs and windswept moors meet, before giving way to the desert lands of the Chubut province.

• From Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, 18 nights onboard Le Boréal.
• From 11 March 2025 to 30 March 2025.
• From AUD 16,790 per person plus 30 per cent Ponant Bonus (conditions apply).