Museo Marítimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia — Attraction in Ushuaia

The Maritime Museum of Ushuaia is located in the building of the former Prison of Ushuaia (or Re-offenders Prison of Tierra del Fuego). The building of the prison, which was closed down in 1947, was declared a National Historic Monument by the National Congress in April 1997. Nowadays, the Argentine Navy and the Maritime Museum of Ushuaia are recovering its facilities for visitors. This Web site provides some information about its history. The Maritime Museum of Ushuaia is run by a non-profit Civil Association having no funding from national or provincial governments. This means that the improvements made on the historic building, the salaries, the utilities bills and any other works are funded by the entrance ticket and the profits from the selling of books and souvenirs In this historic building, the Director Lic. Carlos Pedro Vairo, supported by the Civil Association, created the Maritime Museum of Ushuaia, the Prison Museum, the Antarctic Museum José María Sobral, and the Marine Art Museum of Ushuaia. All of them as a whole create a live museum where you can find a variety of features including naval models collections, the history of the discovery of Antarctica and several other aspects such as southern fauna, gold seekers, first settlers, life in the prison and, most important of all – the expeditions and research under...

Despite the various negative reviews I had read I decided to go there because I considered it a must (given the historical importance) but you can definitely avoid it (especially if you have a limited budget). The museum is absolutely not worth the price you are going to pay (5000 pesos in November 2022, price for foreign tourists). It is perhaps one of the most expensive museums in all of Argentina. It is also perhaps the only indoor place where you will feel cold in Ushuaia. The museum needs a museological reform, it is almost only very long explanatory panels (in English and Spanish) that tire even the greatest museum lovers like me. You can avoid paying and read almost everything online. They say there is an audio guide but it doesn't always work (I just gave up but it should also be available in Portuguese and Italian). Definitely not suitable for children, they will get tired. The number of people who can enter is not limited or well managed so that sometimes it is just too crowded. The ticket includes other museums, or rather other rooms or exhibitions, which may be interesting but once again are absolutely not worth the price you are going to pay. You can return again with the same ticket within 48 hours if you have it stamped at the entrance and you still...

As others have noted, this feels expensive, but it’s 3 or 4 small museums in one, and the ticket is good for one return visit within 48 hours. Especially if you are not a fluent Spanish speaker, accessing the free audio guide is a must (get on the free Wi-Fi to access it; bring your own headphones). The prison museum is memorable, but there’s also excellent content on the Indigenous people of this region; on Antarctic wildlife and exploration; on the naval and maritime history. There’s also the region’s only art museum, which is quite absorbing all by itself (again, the audio tour transforms the experience). In all, it’s a little unsettling because you absorb a lot of tragedy and hardship, but it’ll give you a much stronger sense of where you are and what this place has meant to...