I’ve been to the bars in McMurdo (coffee house has the best vibe by far of the official bars), and Vernadsky. Vernadsky is a characterful place - the bar was built by the Brits in the 80’s out of a shipment of lumber that was intended for a new pier, and the Ukrainians turn a significant portion of their potato rations into rather stonking zamagonka - the kind that has you deciding to go frolic with the penguins and then jump in the banya - and at the time, speaking crappy Russian and having a shared interest in gravity waves with a couple of the guys there was enough to make fast friends and the moonshine flow freely.
I only spent a few days at/around Vernadsky, but the guys there were ridiculously hospitable - it probably helped that we were the first new faces they’d seen in a month.
Vernadsky is much easier to get to than McMurdo, there are some vessels which go there from Ushuaia on 3 or 4 day trips to the peninsula - McM, you’ve either gotta go with NSF or a contractor, or find a tourist boat that goes there - although the latter is a “once every five years” type affair, and I’m not sure anyone is going there at the moment. Or of course you can take your own boat/charter, but most of the year you’ll also need a helicopter to get to shore at McM - the sound is iced over most of the time.
I only spent a few days at/around Vernadsky, but the guys there were ridiculously hospitable - it probably helped that we were the first new faces they’d seen in a month.
Vernadsky is much easier to get to than McMurdo, there are some vessels which go there from Ushuaia on 3 or 4 day trips to the peninsula - McM, you’ve either gotta go with NSF or a contractor, or find a tourist boat that goes there - although the latter is a “once every five years” type affair, and I’m not sure anyone is going there at the moment. Or of course you can take your own boat/charter, but most of the year you’ll also need a helicopter to get to shore at McM - the sound is iced over most of the time.