AUSTRAL
Charting the ice edge…
VoyagesAntarctica · Arctic · Far South Itinerary ExplorerDay by day, ice to ice The ShipDeck plan explorer Suites & StateroomsFind your cabin Life OnboardDining · Spa · Science Expedition Team24 specialists Reserve a Berth2026 / 2027 seasons
Expedition ship anchored below snow-covered peaks
Ship beneath a mountain range at dusk
Ship in a still glacial fjord
Expedition vessel at sea under open sky

68°S · Season 2026 / 27 · 148 Guests

Where the charts stop, we begin.

Ice-class expedition voyages to Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland and the Northwest Passage — twenty-four naturalists aboard, two guests per Zodiac, and no fixed itinerary when the ice has a better idea.

Ice Class1A Super · Polar 6
Guests / Crew148 / 124
Expedition Staff24 specialists
Zodiacs Aboard17 + 2 subs
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Since 1994 · Tromsø & Ushuaia

Not a cruise.
An expedition that
happens to be
beautifully served.

Most ships sail a printed schedule. Ours sails the ice chart. Every morning our captain and expedition leader read overnight satellite imagery and decide where the day actually goes — a fast-ice edge with emperor penguins, a calving glacier front, a fjord no other operator can enter.

What doesn't change: the down-filled parka waiting in your cabin, the Nordic table at dinner, the glaciologist who will sit with you at breakfast and explain exactly what you saw at 06:40.

"We carry 148 guests on a hull built for 260. The missing hundred is the point — it is what lets everyone ashore at once."
Ingrid Sørhaug · Founder & Expedition Director
Two Zodiac boats on polar water with mountains behind
Expedition guests landing on a polar shoreline
31Antarctic seasons
0Guests maximum
0Naturalists aboard
0Landings per voyage
0Guests who return

The 2026 / 27 Programme

Eight voyages. Two hemispheres.

Departures from Ushuaia, Longyearbyen, Reykjavík and Tromsø. Every fare below is per guest, twin-share, and includes flights from the gateway city, the parka, all landings and the open bar.

Signature Voyage · 14 Days

Antarctic Peninsula & the Weddell Ice

Tap any point on the chart to see what that day actually looks like — the landing, the wildlife, the alternative if the ice says no.

Tierra del Fuego South Shetlands Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea
Sailed route Landing siteIce edge, 14 Feb
Day 01

M/V Austral Solitaire · Built 2024, Ulstein X-Bow

Seven decks, read from the inside.

Select a deck to light it up on the profile and see exactly what sits where — including the two-storey observation lounge and the hangar that launches 17 Zodiacs in eleven minutes.

Stern X-Bow · Bow
Guest cabins
Public venues
Deck height

Accommodation · 74 Cabins

Find your berth in ninety seconds.

Filter by deck, view and party size. Add up to three to the compare tray and we'll price the voyage live — including the flights, the parka and the open bar.

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Life Onboard

A Nordic table at 68 degrees south.

Elegant restaurant dining room aboard the ship
Deck 5 · Fram Restaurant

One seating, no set times

Norwegian king crab, Patagonian lamb, and bread proved overnight in the ship's own bakery. The wine list runs to 240 labels, and the sommelier will open anything by the glass.

Elegant observation lounge with bay windows over water
Deck 7 · Observation Lounge

270° of moving ice

Double-height glass, a 3,000-book polar library, and a barista who knows your order by day two.

Wooden sauna with a view over polar water
Deck 3

Ice sauna

Open-air deck pool facing a glacier
Deck 6 Aft

Glacier pools

Table and chair by a window overlooking the ocean
Deck 4 · Science Centre

Citizen science, properly done

Phytoplankton sampling, cloud observation for NASA GLOBE, and a wet lab where your photographs become real data.

Working deck of an expedition vessel
Deck 2

Zodiac hangar

Armchairs and table in the ship library
Deck 7

Polar library

Polar bear on the water
Svalbard · JunePolar bear

Ninety-one sightings last season, every one logged with the Norwegian Polar Institute.

Whale tail above the sea
Wilhelmina Bay · FebruaryHumpback

The bay they call Whale-mina — feeding aggregations of forty and more at dusk.

Penguins beside a boat in polar water
South Georgia · NovemberKing penguin

Salisbury Plain holds 250,000 pairs. You land at 05:30, before the light gets hard.

Seabird flying past an iceberg
Drake Passage · AlwaysWandering albatross

Eleven-foot wingspan, and it will follow the stern for six hours without a single flap.

Twenty-four Aboard

The reason the same guests keep coming back.

One expedition specialist for every six guests — glaciologists, marine biologists, polar historians and two full-time photography instructors.

Portrait of expedition leader in a snow jacket

Dr. Lars Fenn

Expedition Leader · Glaciologist

Nineteen Antarctic seasons. Co-authored the Larsen C calving survey. Will wake you at 04:00 if the light is worth it.

Portrait of marine biologist in a parka

Dr. Amara Okoye

Marine Biologist · Cetaceans

Runs the ship's hydrophone programme. Her humpback fluke catalogue now holds 3,100 identified individuals.

Portrait of polar historian aboard a boat

Callum Reid

Polar Historian

Retraced Shackleton's South Georgia crossing twice. Tells the story standing on the actual ridge.

Portrait of photography guide

Sofia Lindqvist

Photography Director

Two-time World Press finalist. Runs Zodiac shoots at golden hour and edits with you the same evening.

Guest Log

Field Notes

From the bridge log

All dispatches →

Before You Sail

The honest answers

Expedition boat beside an iceberg

Reserve · 2026 / 27

Nine berths left on 14 February.

Tell us the season and the cabin, and a voyage consultant — not a call centre — will come back within one working day with a held option and a full costing.

  • Deposit 20%, fully refundable for 45 days
  • Gateway flights, parka, boots and all landings included
  • Single-occupancy supplement waived on eight cabins per sailing
  • Charter enquiries: the whole ship, 148 guests, from €1.42M per week

No payment now. A consultant holds the cabin for 72 hours while you decide.

Your berth is being held.

Reference AUS-0000 — a voyage consultant will call within one working day.