What to Pack for Antarctica and the Arctic
Cold Weather Travel Clothing

Essential - Good boots

Waterproof for those wet zodiac landings, rugged and comfortable enough for extended walking on a variety of terrain. This modern take on rubber wellington boots is increasingly used by tourists and guides. A stout molded lower boot and sole are firmly bonded to a neoprene upper for warmth, waterproofness, comfort and toughness. Your non-waterproof trousers get tucked into them waterproof over-trousers go over the top. Many cruises hire out boots, so check first before buying some specially.
Men's   Women's

...and socks - Make sure you get some good warm long socks to go with them too. merino wool is the gold standard for warmth and comfort.
Men and Women's

Essential - A wind and water proof outer layer

It is unlikely that you will experience very low temperatures as your visit will be in the Austral summer, however Antarctica is the windiest continent and it certainly penetrates! The warmest pullover or fleece soon becomes useless as the katabatic winds blow down from the great Antarctic ice-cap and straight through it. Water resistance is also vital when cruising and travelling by zodiacs from your cruise ship.

Gore-Tex breathable waterproof rain jacket Men's  Women's
3-in-1 Jackets, wind and water proof outer shell + insulating inner jacket, wear alone or together
Men's   Women's
Polar parka, with down or synthetic insulation Men's   Women's

Some tour operators issue their clients with outer jackets to use on the trip and keep afterwards. These make a nice souvenir of your cruise and can save you money and the effort of carrying it on the outward journey. However they are not always the best quality, some tour guides much prefer to use their own gear rather than that supplied unless their employers insist on it.

Essential - Insulating layer/s

Fleeces are ideal for this they come in a variety of weights and styles.
Men's   Women's

You might prefer a down-filled parka or a down-sweater, these are extremely warm and can easily be thrown on over a shirt for immediate serious insulation like when there's a call for an exciting wildlife sighting for instance. While largely wind proof and to a lesser degree, water resistant, they should not be relied on as the outer shell layer for all conditions unless specified as such with substantial shell material. A thinner one makes an excellent warm but lightweight layer.
Men's   Women's

Warm trousers. Thick warm trousers of a natural material such as moleskin or heavyweight synthetic material such as polyester. Insulted "snow pants" are unnecessary most of the time, if you have waterproof over-trousers that will be fine for the great majority of people. If you are concerned about feeling the cold, take a pair of light or mid-weight thermal longjohns that can be used if necessary or left behind in your cabin when you don't need them.
Men's   Women's

Personally I have worn moleskin (a kind of cotton, named for its texture and not made from either the skin or kin of moles) trousers in both polar regions and wouldn't consider wearing anything else, for all round warmth, comfort and practicality they have no rival
Men's moleskins   Women's moleskins

Essential - Waterproof rain over-trousers

Over-trousers for riding in the zodiac and staying dry during landings, light-weight is fine and will be easier to put away into your backpack. Long zips down each leg make it much easier to get them on and off over your boots.
Men's   Women's

Essential - Head and ear protection from the cold

There's a saying that a good hat is worth an extra layer. Make sure the hat has ear flaps or can be pulled down to cover your ears, the wind is unrelenting. Choosing a hat made of windstopper material means it is less bulk and can be easily slipped into a pocket, pom-poms will make it difficult when using a hood over the top. Merino wool is a good material too, acrylic is cheap, bulky and not so warm.

Men's   Women's   Balaclavas

When your feet are cold, cover your head - Inuit saying

Essential - Good quality warm gloves

Water-resistant gloves are always very useful when in and around small boats. Ski-type are good as they are warm and water resistant with it. A thin pair of glove liners as well as a warmer pair means that you'll be able to take photographs without taking them off. Mittens are much warmer than gloves, though reduce dexterity dramatically.

Men's Ski Gloves | Women's Ski Gloves
Men's lightweight gloves (liners) | Women's lightweight gloves (liners)
Men's Mittens | Women's Mittens

Essential - Scarf of Neck Gaiter

A scarf or insulated "neck gaiter" of some kind to insulate the neck, also to keep warm air from pumping in and out of the body region, and stop wind-driven snow from getting into the clothing where it could melt and become very uncomfortable. My son voted this item as his most useful and favorite item of clothing when we went on an Arctic cruise around Spitsbergen. You can pull it up as far as over your nose if needed or it sits in a well-behaved manner out of the way when required rather than flapping around like scarves tend to.

Thermal Underwear

A warm comfortable base-layer can be the under clothing you already have. As long as you have a good insulting layer and outer layer, you won't need "thermal" underwear unless you feel the cold very badly. You may however like to get some nice baselayers, tops can be worn as a comfortable outer layer around the ship, it is easy to pull other layers over the top quickly when going outdoors. Merino is the gold standard, synthetic is also good, cotton is best avoided.

Insulated base layer tops - Men's  Women's
Insulated base layer bottoms - Long johns - Men's   Women's

Camera. Get a good quality camera, most people are fine with a digital camera of about 15-25 mega pixels. This will give plenty of scope for cropping the pictures later and allow enlargements up to about A3 size (11" x 14") and a very impressive image on a screen or projector.

A digital single lens reflex (DSLR) is preferable (but more expensive) with at least a wide angle to short telephoto lens, 20-50mm ish, and a short telephoto zoom 50-200mm ish. Anything over a 300mm lens is an extravagance for Antarctica that you'll hardly ever use and will be much heavier to carry. More information.

Spare batteries, and spare spare batteries.  Lots of memory, more than you think you'll need.

Good quality sun-glasses with full u.v. protection. It gets really bright in Antarctica, especially when the sun reflects off the sea and ice or snow.

High factor sun-cream for the same reason. If you've never been burnt under your nose from reflections from snow or sea now's your chance.

Lightweight waterproof backpack to carry your stuff ashore while leaving arms free to clamber in and out of the Zodiacs. Around 20-30L is a useful size.

Full size waterproof liners for your backpack will protect everything inside from the sea splashing on a bumpy zodiac ride or in case you drop it in the sea (a rare occurrence but not entirely unknown).

These may be available to hire from your ship or tour operator, though they also make ideal carry-on bags for the flight to your ship, much more flexible and versatile than the usual carry-on luggage.

Luggage - you'll need something to lug your stuff around in.

Ships cabins are smaller than hotel rooms, so space matters. Soft bags can be compressed and pushed under beds whereas large rigid cases can be more troublesome. They also tend to weigh less, so making them easier to carry and taking up less of your baggage allowance.

Binoculars  - A must if you're a wildlife fanatic and a "nice to have" if you're not.

Binoculars are described by two numbers "10 x 50" for instance. The first number is the magnification and the second is the diameter of the front lens in millimeters. This tells you first of all how much bigger things appear and then how much of it you see at that magnification.

A magnification of 10 or 12 is about as much as most people can manage to hand-hold without shaking and is generally most useful. 8 or 10 x magnification with 20 to 30 mm front elements will slip into a coat pocket fairly easily.

Powerstrip - Powerpoints in ships cabins are very thin on the ground and we are increasingly addicted to our gadgets. A lightweight short cabled powerstrip (preferably with surge protect) enables you to charge everything up at the same time with just the one adaptor to plug into the wall. It can be very frustrating having spent the last 8 hours charging the wrong device when the battery light on what you are using turns red.