Stanley itself is best seen on a single half-day walking circuit of the waterfront, taking in Christ Church Cathedral, the Whalebone Arch, the Historic Dockyard and the 1982 Liberation Memorial. The Falkland Islands Museum can comfortably fill a wet afternoon.
The real reason to come to Stanley, though, is as a base for the wildlife sites scattered across East Falkland. Volunteer Point — the great King Penguin colony — is a full day-trip by 4WD. Gypsy Cove, much closer, gives Magellanic penguin viewing with no special transport. Battlefield tours of the 1982 sites (Mount Tumbledown, Goose Green, Mount Longdon) are run by local guides, often by veterans.