Port Stanley on Foot
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Port
Stanley/Falkland Is/Islas Malvinas
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$75.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 2 Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
The colorful seaside town of Stanley, on the windswept tip of East Falkland, is steeped in natural and military history. This guided walking tour explores the highlights of this ruggedly beautiful corner of the world.
Set out from the pier with your guide, making your way to the center of town. All along the way, you will encounter reminders that Stanley is a British outpost -- red phone booths, round post boxes, and the 19th-century Christ Church Cathedral, which is the southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world.
See the mizzen mast of the SS Great Britain on Victory Green, and walk past the Liberation Monument -- a tribute to the 255 British troops who gave their lives during the 1982 Falklands conflict. As you take in its solemn beauty, your guide will explain why Britain and Argentina went to war to settle a longstanding dispute over ownership of these remote islands. Alongside this memorial is a bust of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who was the Prime Minister in 1982.
Heading west along the water’s edge, you will come upon the rambling Government House. Although the house was built in the 1840s, it was 1859 before the first Governor took up residence here. Shackleton stayed at Government House after his Antarctic misadventure and described his stay here as being colder than his time on the ice. Whether he was referring to the weather or the welcome is still up for debate.
Cap off your excursion with a visit to the historic dockyard and museum. This brand-new complex offers an astounding amount of information about the social and natural history of the Falklands. A Victorian kitchen and a 1930s community store give a sense of life on the island in other times. Exhibits outline the islands’ involvement in both World Wars as well as the 1982 conflict with Argentina. A Natural History room displays rock samples, fossils and mounted bird species. Peek inside the recluse hut, relocated from the Antarctic -- it offers a glimpse into the life of early explorers who traveled to the white continent.