The Atlantic Puffins in Iceland #ricksteves #ricksteveseurope #puffins #icelandpuffins

The Atlantic Puffins in Iceland #ricksteves #ricksteveseurope #puffins #icelandpuffins

Iceland’s unofficial mascot is the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica)—that adorably stout, tuxedo-clad seabird with a too-big orange beak and beady black eyes. Some 10 million puffins summer in Iceland—the largest population of any country on earth. They usually arrive in Iceland in April/May, then take off again at summer’s end—making the window for seeing them quite short.

The biggest puffin populations (about one million) are in the Westman Islands; along the South Coast (particularly around the Dyrhólaey promontory, and farther east, at Ingólfshöfði cape); in the northeast an hour beyond Egilsstaðir in the tiny coastal village of Borgarfjörður Eystri; and along the Westfjords (at Látrabjarg, Hornbjarg, Hornstrandir, and Breiðafjörður). The islet called Lundey (“Puffin Island”)—with a relatively small population of about 20,000 puffins—is a handy destination for a puffin cruise from downtown Reykjavík’s Old Harbor.

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Rick Steves, America’s most respected authority on European travel, writes European travel guidebooks, and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio.