“This remote eastern fjord offers Iceland's easiest puffin viewing, from a platform metres away, and is the reputed home of the queen of the country's elves.”
About Borgarfjörður Eystri
Borgarfjordur Eystri has long been one of Iceland's most isolated inhabited fjords, steeped in elf folklore centred on the Alfaborg rock. In recent years the community built the Hafnarholmi viewing platform at the harbour specifically to let visitors watch the large puffin colony up close without harming the nesting birds.
What Borgarfjordur Eystri is
Borgarfjordur Eystri is a remote fjord in the far east of Iceland, reached by a scenic mountain road, and it has two big draws: it is one of the best and easiest places in the country to see puffins, and it is the reputed capital of Iceland's elves. A small harbour with a purpose-built viewing platform puts you within metres of nesting puffins through the summer.
A small harbour with a purpose-built viewing platform puts you within metres of nesting puffins through the summer.
Puffins and Elves
At Hafnarholmi, the harbour, a boardwalk and platform let you watch thousands of puffins come and go from their burrows without disturbing them, often at eye level. Above the village rises Alfaborg, the 'Elf Rock', traditionally said to be the home of the queen of Iceland's elves, the huldufolk. The pairing of accessible wildlife and deep folklore makes this far-flung fjord worth the long drive east.
The Experience
The drive in crosses high, colourful rhyolite mountains before dropping to the small fjord. At the harbour platform you stand among burrowing puffins, often close enough to watch them land with beaks full of fish. The wider area offers excellent hiking, and the quiet, end-of-the-road feel is part of the appeal.
Why It Matters
Borgarfjordur Eystri shows how a small Icelandic community can open its wildlife to visitors responsibly, with a platform that protects the colony while giving extraordinary access. Together with the Alfaborg elf lore, it captures the eastern fjords at their most authentic and least crowded.
Borgarfjordur Eystri shows how a small Icelandic community can open its wildlife to visitors responsibly, with a platform that protects the colony while giving extraordinary access.
Why Visit
Make the drive for the easiest, closest puffin viewing in Iceland, strong hiking and a deep seam of elf folklore, all far from the crowds. Allow most of a day given the distance.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Visit between May and August for the puffins; they leave by late summer.
- 2
Use the Hafnarholmi harbour platform for close, responsible viewing without disturbing burrows.
- 3
Allow extra time; the access road over the mountains is scenic but slow.
- 4
Look up at Alfaborg, the rock traditionally said to house the elf queen.
