Hafnarhólmi

About Hafnarhólmi

Hafnarhólmi is a small grassy islet at the harbor of Borgarfjörður eystri where you can stand a few meters from nesting puffins. About 10,000 pairs breed here each summer, and wooden stairs and viewing platforms take you right up among the burrows without any cliff-edge scrambling.

The islet used to sit just offshore, but in the 1970s it was joined to the mainland when the small harbor was built. Fulmars, kittiwakes and common eiders share the rock with the puffins, and a covered shelter lets you keep watching in bad weather. Across the harbor, Hafnarhús café looks straight at the colony.

Timing matters more than anything else here. The puffins usually return in early to mid-April and leave around mid-August, and by the end of August they are all gone. Early morning and evening tend to bring the most traffic at the burrows, and an hour on the platforms is usually enough.

Hafnarhólmi is about 5 kilometers past the village of Bakkagerði along Road 947, and the village itself is roughly 70 kilometers from Egilsstaðir over a mountain pass. Plan on a little over an hour each way from Egilsstaðir. Stay on the boardwalks and keep your voice down, since the birds are nesting right beside the paths.