Visiting the End of the World Post Office in Ushuaia

Sending mail from the End of the World Post Office was something I knew I wanted to do during my visit to Ushuaia!

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world and it really relishes its status. It’s right here at the very bottom of Patagonia that you’ll also find the post office at the End of the World, ride the train at the End of the World, and tour the prison at the End of the World.

Talk about ticking off bucket list items!

In this blog post, we’re going to focus on how you can visit the End of the World Post Office, send some postcards, and get your passport stamped with an End of the World stamp.

Because if you’re making it all the way to the bottom of the Earth, you may as well relish the achievement!

Where is the End of the World Post Office?

The post office at the end of the world is located in Tierra del Fuego National Park in Ushuaia, Argentina.

It’s only an 11-kilometre drive from the city of Ushuaia to the park’s entrance and there are a variety of ways to get there.

You can catch a shuttle from the Ushuaia Bus Terminal, you can take a taxi, or you can visit the park as part of a guided tour.

Once you reach the park and have paid your admission fee, you follow the main road (Ruta 3), and then turn left on the dirt road that leads to the trailhead for Senda Costera, or the Coastal Path.

Right at the edge of the water on Bahía Ensenada Zaratiegui is where you’ll find the End of the World Post Office!

If you have the time, you can spend the whole day in the park and hike after visiting the post office. That’s exactly what we did but more on that later!

If you’re pressed for time, this half-day tour to Tierra del Fuego National Park might be a good idea. This 4-5 hour tour includes a visit to the southernmost post office for a stamp, a quick hike to Lago Roca, and a visit to Bahía Lapataia where the Panamerican Highway ends.

Sending mail from the End of the World

Made of corrugated metal and wood, this tiny post office sits atop a pier on the shores of the Beagle Channel and it’s the last chance to send mail before reaching Antarctica.

The post office at the end of the world is super cozy with a wood-burning stove, an all-wood interior and a skylight.

The exterior is plastered in stickers from travellers who’ve reached this place from all over the globe, and inside the walls are covered in postcards, maps, magnets and currencies from faraway lands.

There can be long lines at the post office at the End of the World if you happen to be there at the same time as a tour bus. In that case, there will usually be a long line that stretches out of the post office, but it does move fairly quickly.

To give you an idea of prices for mailing a postcard, we paid the equivalent of $4.40 USD for international postage and we were told it would take around 20 days for the postcard to arrive.

And yes, it did make it all the way to Canada!

Where can I get a passport stamped in Ushuaia?

Aside from sending mail, you can also get your passport stamped at the post office at the end of the world.

Getting your passport stamped costs the equivalent of $2.50 USD in pesos, and you get a collection of stamps that fill one passport page.

During my visit, I was given a sticker commemorating Carlos de Lorenzo, the postman at the end of the world, whose post office was at one point located on Isla Redonda 2 kilometres from shore.

Next was a double stamp featuring a penguin next to a postbox which read ‘Correo del Fin del Mundo Ushuaia, Argentina’ which translates to ‘Post Office at the End of the World Ushuaia, Argentina’. There was a little penguin wearing a scarf and a hat next to that one.

There was another stamp that read ‘Argentina’ with a small Argentine flag next to it.

And lastly, a stamp with the date of my visit.

But fret not if you can’t reach the Post Office at the End of the World during your stay in Ushuaia, because there are two more ways to get your passport stamped!

You can go to the Tourist Office in Ushuaia just east of the pier where boat excursions depart from, or you can also get a stamp during your Beagle Channel cruise (crew members come around with a stamp and anybody who wants one can get one).

Hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park

After visiting the End of the World Post Office, sending postcards and getting our stamps, we decided to spend the rest of the day hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park. I mean, we were already there!

We hiked the Senda Costera, which is the coastal trail that starts at Bahía Ensenada Zaratiegui directly west of the post office.

This trail hugs the coastline and runs past numerous coves and beaches, with plenty of opportunities for bird watching along the way.

We’d recommend packing a picnic because there are lots of nice places to stop along the way!

It takes anywhere between 3-4 hours to hike the Senda Costera and it’s considered medium-level difficulty.

The trail ends in Alakush, which is where the Visitor’s Centre is located and inside there’s a cafeteria where you can celebrate completing the hike with a cup of coffee and a slice of cake!

This is also where the shuttle back to Ushuaia departs from, so it’s the ideal place to end your hike.

And that’s our guide to visiting the End of the World Post Office in Ushuaia. Now you know how to get there, how to send mail, how to get a stamp, and where to hike.

That takes care of one full day of your Ushuaia travel itinerary! You can get more ideas of fun tours in Ushuaia here.