Antarctica, Falkland Islands & South Georgia

Both these island groups share a rich diversity of wildife, scenery and history. The Falklands boast fantastic rockhopper penguin rookeries, nesting black-browed albatrosses and breeding seal colonies which in the summer months are preyed upon by pods of killer whales, while more than two million southern fur seals - 75 per cent of the world's population - migrate onto the beaches of South Georgia every year.

It is here too that the legendary Antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, lies buried at the once-active whaling station of Grytviken, his 800-mile journey from the Shetlands to South Georgia in an open 22-foot boat one of the truly epic feats of survival and endurance.

Sample cruise itinerary

Day 1:  Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego - embarkation.  2-4:  Falkland Islands.  5-10:  South Georgia.  11-16:  Antarctic Peninsula.  17-18:  Drake Passage.  19:  Ushuaia - disembarkation.

Ships:  Akademik Ioffe & Sergey Vavilov, Akademik Sholalskiy