A private tour puts your party, and nobody else from your ship, in the vehicle with a guide. You set the pace at each beach, and your guide builds the day around your tender times. Fares run from $333 to $565 per person, and the private days reach places the shared tours near Stanley do not: Bertha's Beach, Kelp Point, Cape Pembroke and the 1982 sites.
Two hours on the white sand at Bertha's Beach with a gentoo colony and nobody else from your ship. Hot drinks and snacks ride along, the landowner's charge is paid, and half an hour in Stanley closes a four-to-five-hour day.
From $410 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The fullest private penguin day: an hour at Bertha's Beach, an hour at Yorke Bay and half an hour at Gypsy Cove. Lunch, drinks and a children's activity book are in the fare, for up to six, in English, French or Spanish.
From $565 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The lowest private fare per person. Your guide meets you where the tender lands, shows you the cathedral and the Lady Elizabeth, then gives Gypsy Cove forty-five minutes and Bertha's Beach an hour. Lunch included; English or German.
From $333 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Stay close to town with your own driver: an hour at Yorke Bay, half an hour each at Gypsy Cove and Cape Pembroke, and the wreck on the way. Lunch is included, and everyone in your party must be eight or older.
From $379 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two full hours with the gentoos at Yorke Bay, then the lighthouse at Cape Pembroke and Gypsy Cove, never far from the jetty. Lunch and drinks, wine included, come with it, and children aged two to twelve are welcome.
From $537 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Stanley first: three hours on the cathedral, Government House and Shackleton's story, then half an hour each at Yorke Bay and Gypsy Cove. Lunch and water are included for your party of up to four.
From $379 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The private road to the elephant seals: an hour at a gentoo colony, then an hour at Kelp Point after an off-road stretch across Fitzroy Farm. Six and a half hours, with lunch and the landowner's charges in the fare.
From $444 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A licensed guide takes your group to Goose Green, Blue Beach and the Argentine cemetery near Darwin. One price covers up to four people, with lunch and fees included. The start is given as Mount Pleasant Airport, so confirm your pickup.
From $1,102 per group, up to 4
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pick the beach, give your guide your tender time and your all-aboard time, and the day is built around them. Every private tour you see above refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead.
Check availabilityIt is a vehicle, a local guide and your own party, from the Jetty Visitor Centre and back. Your guide meets you where your tender lands, usually with a sign carrying your name. From there the day goes where you booked it to go, at the pace you set, and it brings you back before your ship sails.
What you are really choosing is the destination and the hours. Stay near Stanley and you get Yorke Bay, Gypsy Cove and Cape Pembroke Lighthouse in four to five hours. Drive out to Fitzroy Farm and you get the gentoos of Bertha's Beach or the elephant seals of Kelp Point in four to six and a half. Or you give your day to the places the 1982 conflict turned on. If you want to see every way of spending a port day side by side first, you can compare all the Falkland Islands shore excursions.
A shared tour leaves at a fixed time, and a late tender can mean it leaves without you. A private guide shapes the route around your all-aboard time instead. Give your ship's name and your times when you book, and you can stop watching the clock.
The shared tours near town go to Yorke Bay, Gypsy Cove or a gentoo colony close to Stanley. A private day can take you to Bertha's Beach and Kelp Point on Fitzroy Farm, by Mount Pleasant Airport, or to Goose Green and Blue Beach on the 1982 day. If you want Southern elephant seals, the private Kelp Point day is how you get your own vehicle to them.
On the shared shore tour you have forty minutes at Yorke Bay and thirty at Gypsy Cove. Private days give you two hours at Yorke Bay on one and two hours at Bertha's Beach on another. You can sit still, keep your 6 metres, and watch the colony at your own pace.
Most private days include lunch; the shared tours near Stanley do not. Some private guides work in English, French or Spanish, and the eco nature day runs in English or German. Tell your guide what you want to see, and you can change your mind on the way.
The alternative most cruise passengers weigh is a shared minibus tour to Yorke Bay and Gypsy Cove. Here is what changes when you go private.
| Private tour | Shared tour near Stanley | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is with you | Your party only | Up to 12, 15 or 16 travellers |
| Price | $333 to $565 per person; the 1982 day $1,102 per group of up to four | $40 to $137 per person |
| Time away from the ship | 4 to 6.5 hours | 1 hour to 2 h 40 |
| Where you go | Yorke Bay, Gypsy Cove, Cape Pembroke, Bertha's Beach, Kelp Point or the 1982 sites | Yorke Bay, Gypsy Cove, a gentoo colony, Stanley |
| Longest stop | Up to 2 hours | 35 minutes to 1 hour |
| Lunch | Included on most | Not included |
| Landowner's charge | In the fare on the farm-beach days | None at the reserve; in the fare at the gentoo colony |
| Best for | Families, small parties and long port calls | Solo travellers and couples on a short call |
Check availability — From $410
If your call is short, or your budget is, a shared tour is the sensible choice, and you still see gentoos and Magellanic penguins. If you have five hours and want time alone with a colony, the private fare buys you exactly that.
One private day is priced a different way. The 1982 memorials day costs $1,102 for your whole group of up to four, not per person, so the more of you travel, the less each of you pays. Every other private fare is per person, so check the total for your party before you compare. What every Falklands tour costs sets the fares out side by side.
You get a guide and a vehicle for your party alone on every private day, and a start and finish at the jetty on all but the 1982 day. Lunch comes with most of them; the Bertha's Beach private day gives you hot drinks and home-style snacks instead. Where your day crosses Fitzroy Farm, the landowner's charge is already in your fare.
You don’t get tips on several of them, so keep some cash for your guide. None of the private days states wheelchair access, and the Kelp Point day is not advised if you have a bad back or are pregnant, because part of it is off-road.
Booking the 1982 day? Its listing gives Mount Pleasant Airport as the start, 52 km from the jetty. Send your ship and tender times when you book so your pickup is confirmed, and read getting to the jetty and the airport before you choose.
You plan a private day around one number: your all-aboard time. Take away the time your tender needs, and you have the hours you can give your guide.
Choose the day that fits your port call and send your ship's times with the booking. You can cancel free up to 24 hours before.
Check availabilityYou will find the distance to each beach on the map of the visitor sites, what to carry on visiting the Falklands, and every tour from the jetty on Falkland Islands Tours.