The Emperors

A rare journey to the emperor penguin colonies of the deep south. A private, tailored journey of 13-16 days in The Weddell Sea & Emperors, Antarctica, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$26,000 per traveler.

Antarctica is the last true wilderness, a continent with no residents and no crowds, where a private expedition places the great white silence entirely at your own unhurried pace.

When to go

Travel November through March, when the Antarctic summer opens the ice and daylight barely fades; December and January bring peak wildlife, while November delivers pristine snow and March offers the finest whale watching. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.

The experiences

A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:

• A rare approach to an emperor penguin colony out on the fast ice of the deep south.
• A guided walk across the sea ice toward the emperors, escorted at a respectful distance.
• A Zodiac cruise beneath the sheer walls of vast tabular icebergs.
• A slow passage through the pack, watching for seals hauled out on the floes.

A sense of the rhythm

Reaching the emperors is one of the rarest journeys in polar travel, pushing deep into the Weddell Sea where the ice dictates every mile. Success is never guaranteed and that is precisely the point; the finest ice-strengthened vessels give you the best possible chance while the day unfolds on the ice's terms. When it comes together, few wildlife encounters on earth compare.

The classic Peninsula, or the emperors of the Weddell?

The Peninsula is more certain and more accessible; the emperors are rarer, harder-won and deeper south. If the tallest penguin on earth at its remote colony is your reason to sail, the Weddell is the only way to reach it.

How to do it well

The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:

• Set expectations with your advisor; ice may keep the emperors just out of reach.
• The season for the emperor colonies is narrow; book far ahead.
• This is the deep south, colder and more committing than the Peninsula.
• Flexibility is everything; the vessel goes where the ice permits, not where the map says.

What only your advisor can open

The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.

Who it's for

Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.

Estimated investment

From US$26,000 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.

Designed entirely around you

Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.

Your Virtuoso privileges

As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.

Continue exploring The Weddell Sea & Emperors

Part of our The Weddell Sea & Emperors travel guide. Related private journeys:

• Heli-Expedition
• The Photographer's Far Ice
• The Deep South

Begin the conversation

Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design The Emperors around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →

More of what these days can hold

• Fly by small aircraft or helicopter to a remote emperor colony on the fast ice, a privilege granted to only a handful of travelers each year.
• Sit at a guided distance on the frozen sea as emperor chicks huddle and the adults return from the open water with full crops.
• Cross the pack ice of the Weddell Sea with an ice pilot reading a route no chart can promise.
• Stand in the vast quiet of a colony hundreds of miles from any other soul, the only warmth for hundreds of kilometres your own small party.

This is the most weather-dependent and rarest of Antarctic journeys, built around a single extraordinary goal that the ice may grant or withhold. Days flex constantly around flying and sea conditions, demanding patience and flexibility in equal measure. When the colony opens to you, the reward is unlike anything else on earth.

Fly-in colony or ship through the Weddell?

A fly-in gives the surest access to the emperors but is costly and utterly beholden to flying weather. A ship pushing into the Weddell pack ice offers a broader expedition and the drama of the sea, though it cannot guarantee reaching the colony. Choose the flight if the emperors are the whole point; choose the ship for a richer, less certain adventure.

Practical notes

• Come in late November or early December, before the chicks fledge and the colonies disperse.
• Treat every dated plan as provisional, because emperor access lives entirely at the mercy of the ice.
• Allow a wide buffer of ten days or more so weather has room to cooperate.
• Do not fixate on a single perfect day; the most common disappointment comes from travelers unwilling to let the ice set the schedule.