Borgarfjörður Eystri

Borgarfjörður eystri

East

At Hafnarhólmi, the small harbor islet at the end of Route 94, around 10,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins nest from mid-April through mid-August. Boardwalks and viewing platforms bring you within a couple of meters of the colony — close enough to watch birds land, stand around, and carry sand eels back to their burrows. Access is free. A small harbor building serves refreshments. No boat trip, no clifftop scramble: this is the most straightforward puffin access in Iceland. Getting here takes about 75 minutes from Egilsstaðir. The road is paved all the way but crosses a mountain pass with tight hairpins. The village has a guesthouse, a café, and a small shop. It also anchors the Víknaslóðir multi-day hiking trail network through the coastal mountains. A hike of two to three hours from the village leads to Stórurð, a high valley of enormous glacier-deposited boulders with clear turquoise pools between them. Snow lingers there well into summer, so mid-July through September is the safer window. Combining puffins with Stórurð makes the detour worth a full day or overnight stay.

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