Where To See Puffins: UK, Iceland And The Best Places Worldwide

There is no bird quite like a puffin. With its painted beak, velvet-black back and absurd, waddling confidence, it manages to be simultaneously the most charismatic and the most approachable seabird in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people travel to the edges of Britain and beyond for the sole purpose of standing close to one.

This guide covers every major place to see Atlantic puffins: from mainland English clifftops to remote Scottish islands, from the Welsh archipelagos to the volcanic shores of Iceland. Wherever you are, and however committed a traveller you want to be, there is a puffin colony within reach.

Why is the UK and North Atlantic good for seeing Puffins?

The British Isles sit at the heart of the Atlantic puffin’s range. The UK hosts some of the largest and most accessible puffin colonies in Europe, with sites ranging from easy mainland reserves where you can watch from the clifftop with a sandwich in hand (although I wouldn’t recommend it) to remote island crossings that feel like genuine expeditions.

But the UK is also a gateway to the wider puffin world. Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway are all within reasonable reach of British travellers, and together they hold the majority of the global Atlantic puffin population. Once you have seen puffins at Bempton or the Farnes, the pull to go further, to Latrabjarg, to Mykines, or the Arctic cliffs of Hornøya it is difficult to resist.

The puffin’s combination of accessibility, visual drama and genuine rarity of experience (most people never see one outside a photograph) makes it unlike any other wildlife encounter in this part of the world. This guide will help you find them.

England: Mainland Access and Island Crossings

Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire

Bempton is the most accessible puffin colony in England, and arguably in the UK. There are no boats, no bookings and no early alarm, simply park at the RSPB reserve and walk to the clifftop viewing platforms. Puffins nest in crevices in the chalk cliffs, alongside gannets, guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes in one of the most spectacular seabird spectacles in the country.

Best time: Late April to mid-July. Peak numbers in May and June.
Access: Drive or bus to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire. No booking required.

Flamborough Head, Yorkshire

A few miles south of Bempton, Flamborough Head offers dramatic chalk cliff scenery and a quieter, more independent puffin-watching experience. Fewer facilities than Bempton, but worth combining on the same trip.

Each year, Flamborough holds its own Puffin Festival with walks along the cliffs and family activities.

Best time: May to July.
Access: Drive to Flamborough village; walk north to the headland and the lighthouse.

Farne Islands, Northumberland

The Farne Islands offer the closest puffin encounters in England. These National Trust islands, reached by boat from Seahouses, have puffins that have been encountering photographers for generations. They will walk around your feet and stare at your lens with total indifference. The island also hosts grey seals year-round.

Best time: May to early July. Book boat trips well in advance.
Access: Boat trips from Seahouses with Billy Shiel’s or Serenity. These book up so make sure you boook early.

Lundy Island, Devon

Lundy, its name derived from the Old Norse for puffin island, has a colony that, while much reduced from historic numbers, remains a worthwhile destination. The island itself is extraordinary: car-free, remote and full of Atlantic wildlife. This is a beautiful place to spend a few days exploring the cliffs and lighthouses.

Best time: May to June.
Access: Ferry from Ilfracombe or Bideford with the Landmark Trust. Day trips and overnight stays available.

Wales: The UK’s Puffin Heartland

Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire

Skomer is the jewel of UK puffin watching. With around 40,000 puffins it is the largest colony in southern Britain. Puffins here are completely habituated to people and will nest within touching distance of the paths (though please keep a respectful distance).

Day visitor numbers are strictly limited, which means booking tickets early is essential as they often sell out months in advance. Staying on Skomer is a really good way to experience the peace of the island once all the day trippers have returned home. Accommodation is limited and books out in early October for the following sesson.

Best time: Late April to mid-July. Peak puffin activity in May and June, when birds are actively carrying sand eels to burrows.
Access: Boat from Martin’s Haven near Marloes with Pembrokeshire Islands Boat Trips. Overnight stays also available booked via Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

Skokholm Island, Pembrokeshire

Skokholm lies just south of Skomer and offers a fundamentally different experience: quieter, wilder and accessible only by overnight or week-long stays. The island is a working bird observatory and feels genuinely remote. The puffin colony is smaller than Skomer’s but the atmosphere is extraordinary.

Best time: May to July.
Access: Overnight and week stays via Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. There are no day trips but there are boat trips with Pembrokeshire Islands Boat Trips.

Scotland: Islands, Remoteness and Drama

Isle of May, Firth of Forth

The Isle of May National Nature Reserve is the most accessible Scottish puffin island, reached by boat from Anstruther in Fife. Around 100,000 puffins breed here alongside other seabirds. The island has a long history as a bird observatory and the puffins are as approachable as anywhere in Scotland.

Best time: May to mid-July.
Access: May Princess boat trips from Anstruther Harbour. Book in advance during peak season.

Staffa, Inner Hebrides

Staffa is one of the most photographed islands in Scotland, where Fingal’s Cave is the headline attraction, but puffins breed on the grassy clifftops and can often be watched from the boat on the approach. A short landing is usually included on organised tours from Mull.

Best time: May to July.
Access: Turus Mara and other operators from Fionnphort, Mull, or Oban.

Treshnish Isles, Inner Hebrides

The Treshnish Isles, particularly Lunga offer some of the most dramatic puffin photography in Scotland. The island is uninhabited, the scenery volcanic and extraordinary, and the puffins nest openly on the clifftop turf. Boat trips combine Staffa and the Treshnish on the same excursion.

Best time: May to late June (trips run until colonies thin out).
Access: Turus Mara and other operators from Ulva Ferry or Fionnphort, Mull.

Handa Island, Sutherland

Handa is a remote location in northwest Scotland. A short ferry crossing from Tarbet takes you to an island managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, with a circular path past the Great Stack, one of the most spectacular cliff formations in Britain and puffin colonies along the western clifftops.

Best time: May to August.
Access: Small passenger ferry from Tarbet, near Scourie. No booking required as it operates on demand.

Orkney and Shetland: The far north

Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Sumburgh Head is the most accessible puffin site in Shetland. Park in the RSPB car park and the puffins are nesting a few metres away. The lighthouse and small cafe make this an easy puffin encounter.

Best time: Late April to late July.
Access: Drive to RSPB Sumburgh Head, the southern tip of Shetland Mainland.

Brough of Birsay, Orkney

The Brough of Birsay is a small tidal island on the north-west corner of Orkney Mainland. On the island are the remains of a Viking settlement and a small lighthouse. Beyond the lighthouse, puffins nest on the cliffs.

Best time: Late April to late July.
Access: Drive to the small car park at Birsay and walk across the causeway. Ensure you check tide times.

Ireland and Northern Ireland

Rathlin Island, County Antrim

Rathlin is the only inhabited island off the Northern Irish coast and one of the most rewarding wildlife destinations in Ireland. The RSPB West Light Seabird Centre overlooks the most extraordinary upside-down view of puffins, razorbills and guillemots clinging to the cliff beneath you.

Best time: Late April to July.
Access: Ferry from Ballycastle with Rathlin Island Ferry. Book in advance in peak season.

Great Saltee, County Wexford

The Saltee Islands are privately owned and one of Ireland’s premier seabird locations that attract puffins, gannets and a range of breeding seabirds. Boat trips run from Kilmore Quay and are weather-dependent.

Best time: May to July.
Access: Boat trips from Kilmore Quay.

Iceland: The World Capital of Puffins

Iceland hosts the world’s largest Atlantic puffin population, estimated at more than half of the global total. The scale is extraordinary, with colonies of hundreds of thousands of birds on sea cliffs that dwarf anything seen in Britain.

Westfjords: Látrabjarg

Látrabjarg is the westernmost point of Europe and home to one of the largest seabird colonies on earth. The cliffs stretch for kilometres, rising to over 400 metres, with puffins, razorbills, guillemots and Brünnich’s guillemots packed into every ledge. Birds here are famously unbothered by visitors and will allow approach to within a metre or two on the clifftop.

Best time: June to mid-August.
Access: Remote location that requires a long drive on gravel roads through the Westfjords

Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar): Heimaey

The Westman Islands off the south coast hold one of the most remarkable puffin stories in the world. Each year, fledgling puffins (known locally as pýja) become disoriented by the town lights and are rescued by local children, who carry them to the sea in a tradition called the Puffling Patrol. Heimaey is the only island accessible by ferry and has a substantial breeding colony.

Best time: July to August for chick rescue season; June onwards for adults.
Access: Ferry from Landeyjahöfn (45 minutes) or Þorlákshöfn (2.5 hours).

East Iceland: Borgarfjörður Eystri

A quieter, more intimate alternative to Látrabjarg, Borgarfjörður Eystri has a hillside puffin colony right at the harbour edge with birds nesting within a few metres of a purpose-built viewing platform. Exceptionally photogenic and far less visited than the main Iceland routes.

Best time: Mid-June to mid-August.
Access: Drive from Egilsstaðir on Route 94.

Faroe Islands: Mykines

Mykines is, for many puffin enthusiasts, the pilgrimage destination. An isolated island at the western edge of the Faroe archipelago, reached by a forty-minute helicopter flight or a ferry crossing that weather frequently cancels, it rewards the persistent with puffin numbers and cliff scenery on a scale that few places match. The path from the main settlement to the lighthouse island passes directly through active nesting ground.

Best time: June to mid-August.
Access: Helicopter from Vágar (Strandfaraskip Landsins) or ferry from Sørvágur when weather allows. Day visitor numbers are now strictly limited so book in advance.

Norway

Norway’s Arctic coast offers puffin watching in extraordinary, often other-worldly surroundings. The three main sites each have their own character.

Lovund: A small island in Nordland, where around 220,000 puffins return each spring in a single great arrival, is traditionally observed on 14 April. There is a ferry from Tonnes.

Hornøya: Norway’s easternmost point, near Vardø in Finnmark. A short boat crossing delivers you to an island alive with puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots, with the added drama of being above the Arctic Circle. This is where puffins are often seen in the snow.

Runde: The most southerly and most accessible Norwegian seabird island, off the coast of Møre og Romsdal. Reachable by road bridge. Good for photographers wanting a less logistically demanding Norway visit.

Canada: Newfoundland

Newfoundland is the place to see Atlantic puffins in the Americas. The province takes a justifiable pride in its puffin heritage. Elliston, a small coastal community, bills itself as the “Puffin Capital of the World”, with birds nesting on sea stacks visible from the clifftop at close range.

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, a short drive south of St John’s, holds the largest Atlantic puffin colony in eastern North America. Boat trips from Bay Bulls pass through the reserve.

Best time: June to August.
Access: Witless Bay by boat from Bay Bulls; Elliston by road from Trinity Bay.

Best Time to See Puffins

Puffins are visitors to land, not residents. They spend most of the year at sea and come ashore only to breed. The table below covers key timing across all regions:

Region	Puffins Arrive	Peak Activity	Depart
UK (south) — Skomer, Lundy	Late March–April	May–June	Late July
UK (north) — Farnes, Isle of May	April	May–June	Late July
Scotland — Shetland, Orkney	Late March	May–July	Late July–August
Iceland	April–May	June–July	August
Faroe Islands	April–May	June–July	August
Norway (Arctic)	April	June–July	August
Canada (Newfoundland)	April–May	June–July	August

The single best window for UK puffins is mid-May to late June: birds are present in numbers, actively carrying sand eels, and chick-rearing activity is visible. For Iceland and Norway, late June to mid-July is the perfect time.

Choosing the Right Destination for You

Not every puffin experience requires a transatlantic flight or a week of planning. Here is a rough guide:

If you want ease and no boats: Bempton Cliffs (Yorkshire) or Sumburgh Head (Shetland) offer drive-up puffin watching with no sea crossing required, although Shetland needs some planning.

If you want the most puffins in England and Wales: Skomer Island. Book in advance. It is worth every bit of effort.

If you want a proper island adventure in Scotland: The Treshnish Isles, Isle of May or Handa Island each offer something distinct. Choose based on how much remoteness you want.

If you want to go beyond the UK: Iceland’s Borgarfjörður Eystri gives the easiest access to Icelandic puffins; Látrabjarg gives the most drama. Mykines in the Faroe Islands is for those who don’t mind a little uncertainty around ferry cancellations.

If you are primarily a photographer: Skomer, the Farnes, the Treshnish Isles and Borgarfjörður Eystri are consistently rated the best puffin photography locations in this region. Dawn and dusk light are best; overcast days reduce harsh shadows on those vivid beaks.

Photographing Puffins Across the UK and Beyond

Puffins are among the most forgiving wildlife subjects to photograph as they are habituated to people and display a predictable behaviour. A few principles apply wherever you are: get low (shoot at eye level from a prone position if possible), use a fast shutter speed to freeze wingbeats (1/2000s or faster in good light), and time your visit for the sand eel season in late May and June when birds return repeatedly to burrows with beaks full of fish.

Each destination has its own character: the chalk cliffs of Bempton give you birds in flight against white; the Atlantic horizons of Mykines and Látrabjarg give you drama and scale; the intimate grassy burrows of Skomer let you work with available light at close range.