The Antarctic coastal zone is characterized by complex and poorly understood interactions between the ice-sheet margin, icebergs and sea ice (both landfast (‘fast’) ice and pack ice). Here, we investigate and emphasize the regional importance of interactions between different elements of the Antarctic cryosphere and the atmosphere and ocean using remote-sensing and other data, with some emphasis on fast ice. Case studies are presented on: (1) an apparently strong mechanical coupling between very thick perennial fast ice and the floating Mertz Glacier tongue, and the role of decadal-scale calvings of the Ninnis Glacier tongue (150 km to the east) and grounding–ungrounding frequency of the resultant icebergs; (2) the potential role of fast ice in the timing of recent ice-shelf break-up events, for example the Wilkins Ice Shelf in 2008/09; and (3) the strong coupling between fast ice in Terre Adélie and the Mertz Glacier polynya. Depending on location, fast ice can be either annual or perennial and forms both by thermodynamic and dynamic processes, the latter involving interception of pack ice by assemblages of grounded icebergs in waters ≤~450 m deep and/or existing fast ice. On annual and longer timescales, fast-ice distribution is also shown to depend in certain areas on variability in remote sea-ice processes that are also strongly related to the configuration of the ice-sheet coastal margins and ice-sheet–sea-ice interactions within the coastal zone, as well as wind direction and speed. By the same token, fast ice has an impact on the evolution of the ice-sheet margin and iceberg drift, while icebergs that calved in one sector (e.g. the Ross Ice Shelf) can subsequently have a large impact on sea-ice characteristics thousands of kilometres away. Possible future scenarios are discussed, related to climate change impacts on the different cryospheric elements and their interactions.