Ingólfshöfði Puffin Tour – Birdwatching and History Trip

• Tractor-drawn hay cart ride
• Guided walk
• Sightseeing
• Bird watching
• 99% chances to see puffins from mid May until mid August

Cape Ingolfshofdi is an isolated headland on the coast half way between Skaftafell in Vatnajokull National Park and Jökulsárlón ice lagoon. This historical nature reserve is home of thousands of nesting seabirds, like puffins and great skuas. The cape is named after the first settler of Iceland, Ingolfur Arnarson, who spent his first winter in Iceland there in the year 874 AD.

To get to Ingólfshöfði we cross 6 km of waters, marshes and sands in a tractor-drawn hay cart. The drive takes about 25 minutes each way, so we spend about 1.5 hour hiking around the cape. The circle we hike around the nature reserve is 2-3 km long. In the beginning we need to walk up a steep sand slope, and then through rocky terrain, but then it gets more easy, mostly hiking on flat grass land and we make many stops along the way. We don’t recommend that people participate in this trip unless they can do this hike.

Be careful to bring good outdoor clothing for this trip, the area is exposed to winds and rain, and sometimes sand storms. Perfect trip to try out your gore-tex outfit and gloves and hats, but on the other hand, sometimes it is possible to wear shorts and t-shirts on the trip. The Icelandic weather is included in the Ingólfshöfði Puffin Tour.

• 2.5 hour, Hay cart ride takes 25 -30 min each way

• Meeting place: Ingólfshöfði Check in Hut 2 km south of main road
• Departure times: 10:15 and 13:30
• Extra departures: sometimes also 9:00 11:45 and 14:30

• 1.5 hour guided walk on Ingólfshöfði nature reserve
• Tractor-drawn hay cart ride
• Guided tour

• Clothing
• Hat and gloves
• Camera

• Difficulty: Easy but hiking 2 – 3 km involved, the first part up a steep sand slope
• Season: 11th May – 22th August
• No tours on Sundays

Crampons are metal spikes that we attach to the soles of your hiking shoes, these enable you to walk on the glacier ice without slipping. Crampons will be used during glacier hiking, please make sure you have good hiking shoes. We recommend hiking shoes that are thick, sturdy and waterproof.

Please refer to below photos as reference: