Just 23 Photos That Will Give You All the Feels for Antarctica

Nothing compares to the epic white wilderness that is Antarctica, a land of snow, rock, ice and water. It’s simply stunning.

There is no place in the world quite like Antarctica. Its surreal remoteness, gargantuan ice sheets, vast and jagged mountain ranges, and myriad alien life forms challenge you to embrace life to the fullest. Anyone who’s been will tell you that you must earn the respect of this continent, not the other way around. Unlike any other destination in the world, ice –not clocks, magazine trends or tourism calendars – determines all rights of passage here.

Its charm, you ask? Inspiration. Antarctica is untameable. It is a land in which any savvy explorer will experience an indescribable feeling of being a small speck in a vast, surreal, unkind and harshly beautiful land. Here you are insignificant, and at the mercy of Mother Nature in all her ferocity. This is a land where ice palaces reign supreme, where unexplored and untouched mountains reveal themselves in an instant through a veil of deadly marine mist, where the weather has its own menacing and dark rhythms. And If you’re lucky enough to go, you’ll join an exclusive ‘it club’ entirely free of humankind’s imprint. In short, Antarctica is pure elemental magic.

From emperor penguins in Port Lockroy to the icebergs of the Lemaire Channel, the snow-capped peaks of South Georgia to giant, leaping humpback whales navigating the Drake Passage, here are 23 photos of Antarctica that will give you all the feels.

Want more stunning pictures? Check out these amazing places in the U.S you probably never knew existed!