Northern Lights Forecast for Höfn

Northern Lights in Höfn

Höfn í Hornafirði is a fishing town of about 1,800 people on a peninsula in Hornafjörður, on Iceland’s south-east coast, roughly 450 km from Reykjavík. The sea surrounds it on three sides, and across the water to the north-west and west the outlet glaciers of Vatnajökull come down toward the lowlands. Jökulsárlón is about 65 km west on the Ring Road.

Ósland and the view from Óslandshæð

Ósland, the conservation area on the south side of town, was once an island and is now joined to the mainland, with paths around the pond Óslandstjörn. The regional tourist board recommends it for watching the aurora away from the town lights, and it is within walking distance of the center. From Óslandshæð, the hill with the memorial to fishermen lost at sea, the view runs along the line of glaciers and mountains from Öræfajökull in the west to Vestrahorn in the east.

Stokksnes beach under Vestrahorn

Stokksnes is about 15 minutes’ drive east of town. Turn off the Ring Road just before the Almannaskarð tunnel; the last 4 km to the black-sand beach are gravel, and an entrance fee is charged at the Viking Café where the road starts. From the beach and dunes you look north and west to Vestrahorn, and at low tide the wet sand reflects the peaks. Seals often rest on the beach. The radar station at the tip is closed to visitors.

Humar and the shifting harbor mouth

Höfn is known across Iceland for its langoustine, called humar locally and served in most of the town’s restaurants, and the summer festival Humarhátíð is named after it. The harbor is one of the few on Iceland’s south coast, and its entrance has to be dredged because the sand shoals keep shifting. Gamlabúð, the visitor center, has displays on Vatnajökull.

Rain at sea level and the Almannaskarð tunnel

Winter on this coast hovers around freezing, so rain often falls instead of snow, and Höfn gets about 1,450 mm of precipitation a year. Hornafjörður Airport, about 5 km north of town, has scheduled flights from Reykjavík. By road, Höfn is a few kilometers off the Ring Road along the south coast. East of town the Ring Road runs through the Almannaskarð tunnel, opened in 2005 to replace the old road over the pass, and continues into the Eastfjords toward Egilsstaðir.