Stafnes Lighthouse

Local name: Stafnesviti

The orange tower has stood on this shore since 1925 and is the last of four lighthouses strung along the Road 45 loop.

Stafnes Lighthouse stands on the west coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, off the road between the airport and Reykjavík. The orange tower was built in 1925 and is one of four lighthouses on the Road 45 loop. There is no visitor centre and nothing to pay: the draw is the tower itself, the open sea behind it and the eider ducks that nest around it in early summer. Access is by car, and the last stretch is on foot.

Lighthouse

Entrance: Free, no ticket.
Accessibility: No wheelchair-accessible entrance.
Parking: Parking area 211 m from the lighthouse, with a second one 1.4 km away. Room for about five vehicles; beyond that you would be on private land.
Difficulty: About 200 m on foot from the parking area to the tower. In winter the ground is ice-covered and hard to walk on.
Transport: No bus stop within 5 km. Access is by car.
Hours: Open 24 hours, every day.

What makes it special

Orange, low and alone on a flat stretch of the Reykjanes coast — that is the whole of Stafnes Lighthouse. The tower dates from 1925 and faces the open sea. There is nothing else on the site: no exhibits, no boards, nothing to pay for. The reward is the tower against the water and the quiet around it. In early summer the ground here is thick with nesting eider ducks. You may also catch planes taking off and landing at the airport nearby. Come expecting a photograph and a view, not an attraction.

Good to know

Nothing on site. No toilets, no drinking water and no information boards — the nearest of any of them are outside a 5 km radius.
The drive ends at a barrier. The road towards the tower is blocked, and the last stretch has to be walked.
Winter is hard here. In January the ground ices over and the wind comes straight off the sea; walking becomes impossible.
Eider ducks nest on the ground around the lighthouse in early summer. Watch where you put your feet.

Getting there

Road 45 runs a loop out from the airport past four lighthouses and a church before rejoining the way to Reykjavík. Stafnes Lighthouse is the last of the four. Drive to the parking area, about 200 m from the tower, and cover the rest on foot. The road towards the lighthouse is blocked at the end of the drive, so do not count on getting closer by car.

Best time to visit

Better: early summer, when eider ducks are nesting across the ground around the tower and the daylight runs on into the evening.

Avoid: midwinter. In January the ground is covered in ice and the wind off the sea cuts through everything, which leaves you looking at the tower from the car. The site is exposed on every side, and there is nowhere to get out of the weather.

Sun & daylight

Historical landmark

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