Where do puffins live in the UK? – The best places to see puffins
Puffins are some of the most charismatic and well-known birds and within the UK there are a number of places where they live. While some locations are hard to reach there are also places where puffin spotting is easy.
In this guide, I will share some of the easy locations as well as some of the more difficult to reach with tips for making sure you visit the right place at the right time.
5 of The best places to see puffins in the UK
While there is a list of all the places to see puffins in the UK, there are a number of places where puffins can be seen that either have large colonies or are easy to reach. However, for many people, this is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter and I feel that you want to see puffins up close and personal, not through binoculars from a lumpy boat ride or walking miles of cliffs to visit the small colony.
Want to know more about puffins in the UK?
Mini-guide to Puffins in the UK
This ebook includes information about the puffin colonies, where to find them and how to visit responsibly. With 20 pages of information, maps and beautiful photographs, it will help you see the puffins on your next summer adventure in the UK.
Puffins on the Shetland Islands
The Shetland Islands are my favourite place to watch puffins. There are three main colonies. The first is at Hermaness Nature Reserve. This is on Unst, the most northerly of the islands and Hermaness Nature Reserve on the North Coast just 600m from the most northerly point of the UK and Muckle Flugga Lighthouse is home to a large and exposed puffin colony. A walk to the puffin colony will take about an hour along boardwalks, but it is a great location for sunset watching.
In the south, there is a smaller colony around Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. This is the easiest of the Shetland colonies to reach and has the added luxury of a visitor’s centre with lovely cakes. Sumburgh Head has a seasonal ‘puffincam’ so you can watch the puffins from home if you can’t make the journey.
The harder to reach is Fair Isle. This island is halfway between Shetland and Orkney and is an amazing place for bird-watching and photography. Getting here is dependent on the weather, but once you arrive the puffins and other birds will make the journey worth every minute.
Lunga Island Puffins
Lunga Island is a short boat trip from the Isle of Mull and is a great day if you are on a wildlife safari on Mull during the summer months. Lunga Island is usually combined with a trip to Staffa Island and the well-known basalt columns in Fingal’s Cave.
This small island is a haven for wildlife and the puffins are everywhere as you leave the boat. Boat tours usually allow two hours on the island so take time to walk away from the jetty and find a quiet spot to have your own puffin time.
Yorkshire Puffin Festival, Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head is probably best known for it’s chalk cliffs and lighthouse, but in the summer months, the puffins are the stars of the show. In May each year, there is the Yorkshire Puffin Festival. This is a weekend of everything puffin with talks and guided walks along the cliffs. All through the puffin season, these cliffs make puffin hunting easy.
Skomer Island
This has to be my favourite place to spend time with puffins in the UK. Skomer Island is located off the coast of Pembrokeshire in southwest Wales and is home to one of the largest puffin colonies in the UK.
Skomer Island is reached by boat from Martin’s Haven a small cove on the coast near Haverfordwest. Day trips run during puffin season and you can stay on the island for even more encounters with the puffins and other birds that make this island their home.
Rathlin Island
Off the coast of County Antrim, close to the UNESCO-listed Causeway Coast is Rathlin Island. Scheduled boats make the crossing daily from Ballycastle, 88km north of Belfast.
The RSPB Rathlin West Light Seabird Visitor Centre is home to one of the largest seabird colonies in Ireland and is the perfect place to spot puffins. Walking around the island away from the visitor’s centre will take you through more of the puffin colony.
Best places to see puffins from a boat
There are four places in the UK where a boat trip is the only way to see puffins. These are the Farne Islands in Northumberland, Puffin Island on Anglesey and Burhou Island off Alderney in the Channel Islands. It is also possible to take a boat trip around Skomer Island to see the puffins rather than land on the island and this is a great way to spend an evening.
In previous years it has been possible to land on the Farne Islands to visit the puffin colony but in 2023 all landings were cancelled to safeguard the puffins from Avian flu. This may change for the 2024 puffin season.
Other Places where puffins live in the UK
Puffins have particular requirements for their nests and prefer sea cliffs with soft or sandy soil that they can easily burrow into. They will quite often use old rabbit burrows.
They will return to the same colony with burrows being reused each year. This makes puffin sightings predictable and one of the more guaranteed wildlife encounters.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, these are some of the locations where you can find puffins in the UK:
- Hermaness Nature Reserve, Shetland
- Sumburgh Lighthouse, Shetland
- Isle of Noss, Shetland
- Fair Isle, Shetland
- St Kilda
- Westray Island, Orkney
- Brough of Birsay, Orkney
- Lunga Island, Treshnish Islands
- Mingulay Island, Outer Hebrides
- Hunda Island, Sutherland
- Puffin Cove, Sutherland
- Isle of May, Firth of Forth
- Dunnet Head, Thurso
- Fowlsheugh RSPB, Aberdeenshire
- South Stack Cliffs, Anglesey
- Puffin Island, Anglesey
- Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire
- Rathlin Island, County Antrim
- Gobbins Cliff Path, County Antrim
- Copeland Bird Observatory, County Down
- Farne Islands, Northumberland
- Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire
- Flamborough Head, Yorkshire
- Lundy Island, Devon
- Dancing Ledge, Dorset
- Isles of Scilly, Cornwall
- Burhou Island, Alderney
Want to know more about puffins in the UK?
Mini-guide to Puffins in the UK
This ebook includes information about the puffin colonies, where to find them and how to visit responsibly. With 20 pages of information, maps and beautiful photographs, it will help you see the puffins on your next summer adventure in the UK.
Your Puffin Questions Answered
When is the best time to see puffins in the UK?
The best time to see puffins in the UK is between April and July. They arrive on land in the UK in April to nest and start to return to the sea once their pufflings are independent in late July.
What time of day is best to see puffins?
Puffins remain around their nests throughout the day but come and go. they will return to their burrows throughout the day with beaks full of fish. However in the evening just before sunset, they return to their nests. The colony is busiest in the evening.
Can you see puffins in Scotland?
Scotland is one of the best places to see puffins in the UK. You can see them at Sumburgh Head and Hermaness on the Shetland Islands, Westray and Orkney Mainland, Lunga Island, Handa Island and Fowlsheugh RSPB Reserve.
Can you see puffins in Wales?
There are two main places to see puffins in Wales – Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire and Puffin Island and South Stack Cliffs on Anglesey
where are the best places to see puffins in England?
England has some easily accessible locations to see puffins. The best are Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, Farne Islands in Northumberland and Lundy Island in Devon.
Are there puffins in Northern Ireland?
Yes! There are puffins on Rathlin Island which is a short boat trip from Ballycastle, Gobbins Cliff Path in County Antrim and Copeland Bird Observatory in County Down. While not in the UK or Northern Ireland, the Saltee Islands and Skellig Islands in the Republic of Ireland are large puffin colonies that you can visit.