The Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust: In only an hour or so, visitors can get a grasp of the Islands’ local, maritime, military, and natural history, with a touch of Antarctica to boot, before exploring the rest of Stanley.

Johnson's Harbour and Volunteer Point: Johnson’s Harbour on East Falkland is a key stop for its large and growing king penguin colony, which spends the entire year at the lagoon at scenic Volunteer Point. There’s even more to see in the summer.

Bleaker Island: For visitors on a budget, Bleaker has excellent accommodations and much of the same wildlife as Sea Lion, but its penguins, cormorants, and petrels are more dispersed.

Sea Lion Island: Sea Lion may be one of the Falklands’ most expensive destinations, but there’s more wildlife in a smaller area than any other easily accessible part of the Islands.

Port Howard: On West Falkland, guests at Port Howard Lodge can enjoy the comforts of the former manager’s house in what is now the last survivor of the large sheep farms that once monopolized the Islands’ wool industry. Since construction of the West Falklands road, it’s a great base for visiting other settlements and wildlife sites on the island.

Pebble Island: In addition to penguin and petrel colonies, Pebble has endless crescent beaches and lagoons full of wildfowl, all within easy reach of one of the Islands’ best-run lodges, Pebble Island Lodge.

Saunders Island: Both the hiking and the wildlife — especially the black-browed albatrosses — are extraordinary on mountainous Saunders, whose historic resources include ruins of Britain’s original 18th- century outpost.

Carcass Island: The Falklands may be a more commercial destination than they were 20 years ago, but Rob and Lorraine McGill’s wildlife-rich West Falkland ranch still feels like a throwback to the days when it would never have occurred to any islander to charge for bed and breakfast.