Things to do in French Southern Territories

25 things to do in French Southern Territories

Listed in full below. The running order is set by votes and loads with the page.

• Observe King Penguins at Ratmanoff Beach, Kerguelen Islands

  Witness one of the largest king penguin colonies on the planet, with thousands of birds stretching along the black-sand beach of Ratmanoff on the Courbet Peninsula, a spectacular wildlife spectacle framed by the Southern Ocean.

  Ratmanoff, Courbet Peninsula, Kerguelen Islands

• Climb Mont Ross, the highest peak in Kerguelen

  Scale the glaciated summit of this remote stratovolcano at 1,850 meters for sweeping views of the Kerguelen archipelago's fjords, ice caps, and tundra-like valleys.

  Grande Terre, Kerguelen Islands

• Visit Port-aux-Français, the main base of the French Southern Territories

  Experience the isolated administrative hub and research station of the Kerguelen Islands, with its laboratories, living quarters, and tiny Notre-Dame des Vents chapel set against a dramatic volcanic backdrop.

  Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen Islands

• Witness the vast elephant seal colony at Baie de l'Oiseau, Kerguelen

  Stand at a respectful distance as massive southern elephant seals haul out, molt, and spar along the shoreline of this sheltered bay, one of Kerguelen's prime marine mammal gathering sites.

  Baie de l'Oiseau, Kerguelen Islands

• Explore the remote research station of Alfred Faure, Crozet Islands

  Step ashore at the only inhabited base of the Crozet archipelago on Île de la Possession, where scientists study albatrosses, penguins, and the island's untamed sub-Antarctic ecosystems.

  Île de la Possession, Crozet Islands

• Visit the Plateau des Albatros on Île de la Possession, Crozet Islands

  Hike up to this windswept plateau to see wandering albatrosses performing their elaborate courtship dances on the very nesting grounds that make the Crozet Islands a globally important seabird sanctuary.

  Plateau des Albatros, Crozet Islands

• Climb the volcanic peak of Mont Marion-Dufresne, Crozet Islands

  Trek to the 1,090-metre summit of the Crozet archipelago's highest mountain on rugged Île de l'Est, a dormant stratovolcano offering commanding views of the surrounding sub-Antarctic seascape.

  Île de l'Est, Crozet Islands

• Visit the historic sealers' camp ruins on Île Amsterdam

  Discover the moss-covered stone remains of early 19th-century sealing huts at Pointe Goodenough, a haunting testament to the era of Antarctic maritime exploitation on this isolated volcanic island.

  Pointe Goodenough, Île Amsterdam

• Hike to the summit of Le Pignon, Saint Paul Island

  Scale the iconic spire-like promontory of Le Pignon on the rim of Saint Paul's broken caldera for a vertigo-inducing panorama of the flooded crater and the vast Southern Ocean beyond.

  Île Saint-Paul, French Southern Territories

• Marvel at the Amsterdam albatross on its only breeding ground, Amsterdam Island

  See the entire world population of this critically endangered albatross, which breeds exclusively on the remote peat bogs of Amsterdam's Plateau des Tourbières, a true naturalist's pilgrimage.

  Plateau des Tourbières, Île Amsterdam

• Visit the Martin-de-Viviès research station on Île Amsterdam

  Arrive at this small but vital permanent base where researchers monitor climate, magnetism, and the island's unique ecosystem, surrounded by volcanic walls and the calls of endemic seabirds.

  Île Amsterdam, French Southern Territories

• Photograph the geology of Phoquier Rock, Kerguelen

  Frame the dramatic basalt stack of Phoquier rising from the turbulent sea near Baie de l'Oiseau, a photogenic monolith sculpted by relentless Southern Ocean swells.

  Phoquier Rock, Kerguelen Islands

• Sail into the spectacular caldera of Île Saint-Paul

  Navigate by Zodiac through the narrow, cliff-flanked entrance into the flooded volcanic crater of Saint Paul, an immense natural amphitheatre alive with seabirds and fur seals.

  Île Saint-Paul, French Southern Territories

• Examine the abandoned whaling station at Port-Jeanne-d'Arc, Kerguelen

  Explore the rusting infrastructure and decaying wooden buildings of this early 20th-century Norwegian whaling base, an eerie relic of industrial whaling on the shores of the Golfe du Morbihan.

  Port-Jeanne-d'Arc, Kerguelen Islands

• Spot the rare Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica) on Kerguelen

  Search for the endemic Kerguelen cabbage, a hardy plant that once saved sailors from scurvy, its glossy green rosettes clinging to the rocky shores and valleys of Grande Terre.

  Golfe du Morbihan, Kerguelen Islands

• Explore the ice cap of Cook Glacier, Kerguelen

  Approach the immense snout of Cook Glacier from the western coast, listening to the creak and calve of ice that has covered this sub-Antarctic landmass for millennia.

  Cook Glacier, Kerguelen Islands

• Trek across the Plateau de l'Observatoire, Amsterdam Island

  Traverse the lava fields and tussock grasslands of this high plateau under the watchful sky, reaching the very heart of Amsterdam Island's volcanic wilderness.

  Plateau de l'Observatoire, Île Amsterdam

• Dive with southern elephant seals in the kelp forests off Kerguelen

  Slip into frigid waters at Baie du Norway to snorkel with graceful young elephant seals weaving through giant kelp fronds, an unexpectedly interactive marine encounter.

  Baie du Norway, Kerguelen Islands

• Visit the meteorological station on Tromelin Island, Scattered Islands

  Land on the tiny, storm-lashed Tromelin Island to see its automated weather station and the ruins of an 18th-century shipwreck survivors' camp, a true castaway experience.

  Tromelin Island, Scattered Islands

• Explore the giant bird colonies on Juan de Nova Island

  Walk carefully among millions of sooty terns and other seabirds nesting on this low-lying coral island, a critical stopover in the Mozambique Channel now protected as a nature reserve.

  Juan de Nova Island, Scattered Islands

• Visit the lighthouse on Europa Island

  Approach the whitewashed lighthouse standing sentinel over Europa Island's lagoon and fringing reef, a lone beacon in one of the most pristine and militarized wildlife sanctuaries of the Indian Ocean.

  Europa Island, Scattered Islands

• Snorkel the coral reefs of the Glorieuses Islands

  Enter the warm tropical waters of the Glorieuses archipelago to snorkel among thriving coral gardens, sea turtles, and reef fish around these disputed and rarely visited Indian Ocean atolls.

  Glorieuses Islands, Scattered Islands

• Sail into the fjord of Baie de la Table, Kerguelen

  Cruise deep into this classic sub-Antarctic fjord flanked by dark cliffs and cascading waterfalls, a landscape carved by ancient glaciers and blanketed in silence.

  Baie de la Table, Kerguelen Islands

• Ascend the volcanic dome of Mont de la Dives, Amsterdam Island

  Gain the flanks of this young basaltic cone for a close-up look at recent lava flows and blast craters that shaped the eastern side of Amsterdam Island, a geologist's dream.

  Mont de la Dives, Île Amsterdam

• Witness the breeding colony of Subantarctic fur seals on Crozet

  At Cap de l'Est on Île de la Possession, watch robust fur seal bulls guard their harem territories among tussock slopes, a raw display of sub-Antarctic life.

  Cap de l'Est, Crozet Islands