Reynisfjara Viewpoint

The viewpoint stands on the clifftop, and Reynisfjara is laid out below it: black sand, the surf running over it, and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks offshore. Further along the same shore are the rock formations of Hálsanefshellir cave. In June and July puffins nest on the cliff edge in numbers, and birds fly to and from the cliffs while you stand there. On a clear day the beach, the stacks and the nesting cliffs are in one view.

• Toilets: there are toilets at the site, and they are charged.
• Water: no drinking water point within 5 km, so bring your own.
• Weather: the clifftop is open on every side. In rain and wind the beach and the sea stacks are not visible and there is nothing to see.
• A viewpoint above the beach: Reynisfjara's black sand is seen from the clifftop, not from sea level.

Access is by car. No public transport comes here: there is no bus stop within 5 km of the site. A road runs up to a car park about 220 m from the viewing area, and from there it is a short walk out to the clifftop above Reynisfjara.

Better: June and July, when puffins are nesting on the cliff edge, and any clear day.

Avoid: arriving shortly before the road closes for the evening, and days of heavy rain and wind.

The view is the whole point here, and it needs visibility. Puffins are on the cliffs in early summer; later in the year the beach and the stacks are the same, but the birds have gone.

Puffins nest on the cliff edge here, and the birds set the rules. Keep back from the nests and do not crowd the edge where they are sitting. The access road is closed to cars outside opening hours so that the colony is not disturbed in the evening and at night.