Not to miss

Saunders Island

Just north of mainland West Falkland, Saunders Island was the site of the first British garrison on the Falklands, built in 1765, and it was their ousting by the Spanish in 1767 that nearly caused a war between the two countries. After the British left voluntarily in 1774, the Spanish razed the settlement, and all that remains today are a few jetties, block-house foundations and the garden terraces of the British marines. Aside from the ruins, the island boasts large colonies of seabirds (including several types of penguin) and elephant seals.

Stanley

In reality, the Falkland Islands' capital is little more than a village that, by historical accident, acquired a political status totally out of proportion to its size. Outside Government House, home of the islands' London-appointed governors, there's a visitors book that tradition insists you sign.

As many of its homes and businesses were pieced together from locally quarried stone and timber salvaged from shipwrecks, Stanley has a certain ramshackle charm, accentuated by its brightly painted houses, sprawling kitchen gardens and the smell of peat fires drifting on the breeze.

Christ Church Cathedral is a massive brick-and-stone construction with a colourfully painted metal roof and impressive stained-glass windows. It was completed in 1892 and now houses several plaques honouring the Falklands' war dead. On the small square next to the cathedral, look for the recently restored Whalebone Arch, commemorating the 1933 centenary of British rule in the Falklands. At the far western end of town, the Falkland Islands Museum is the local candle-burner for the islands' history.

Carcass Island

Despite its unappealing name, small but scenic Carcass is one of the most popular islands in the Falklands. It has always been free of rats and cats and, as a result, has lots of small birdlife including the tiny, light brown Cobb's wren. The Carcass Island settlement, surrounded by a dense stand of trees, is one of the most picturesque in the Falklands.

Aside from the wrens other birdlife includes black-throated finches, Falklands thrushes, Upland geese and Johnny rooks, which can be found around the elephant seals at Northwest Point. Magellanic and gentoo penguins also call Carcass home.

The island takes its rather macabre name from the HMS Carcass which surveyed the island in 1767. If you plan to visit book well ahead, since Stanleyites like to visit the island for weekends and holidays.

Hill Cove

Hill Cove's principal claim to fame is its status as the Falklands only forest. Some of the spruce trees at the heart of the wood are looking a little grim but the trees on the periphery are fine. The forest area is home to crowds of small birds, particularly black-chinned siskins and Falkland thrushes.

Behind the forest is the Hill Cove cemetery and you may catch a glimpse of Hill Cove Farm's miniature horses, which will probably be on view, just above the grass, in one of the paddocks.

Sea Lion Island

Tiny Sea Lion Island is less than 1.6km (1mi) across but teems with wildlife. Among the common sightings are five species of penguin, enormous cormorant colonies, giant petrels and the foolishly tame Johnny Rook. Hundreds of elephant seals crowd the sandy beaches, while sea lions pepper the narrow gravel beaches below the island's southern bluffs.

Thanks to the progressive farming techniques of past owners, the flora and fauna of the island flourished right alongside the farm's sheep and Sea Lion is now one of the only working Falkland farms with any substantial cover of native tussock grass. Sea Lion Island is one of the best places in the Falklands to see killer whales (orcas) and Peale's dolphins.