Polar opposites: holidays in the Arctic and the Antarctic

Arctic or Antarctic: which of the extremes is better for adventurous travellers? Chris Carter compares the north and south poles.

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The Northern Lights: a warming experience
(Image credit: AlexConu)

North or south? Polar bears or penguins? Choosing your polar escape is about setting your goals, says Wanderlust magazine. The Arctic is admittedly much easier to get to for most of us. But then again, Antarctica's remoteness is all part of its appeal. Just to set foot on the "Great White Continent" is an achievement. On the other hand, it has no answer to the Arctic Circle's sheer variety of landscape and wildlife 98% of it is covered in ice. What it does have, however, is 20 million breeding penguins. And who could resist the sight of tens of thousands of king penguins on South Georgia's Salisbury Plain?

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.