Grimsey

Grimsey lies about forty kilometres north of the mainland and is the only inhabited part of Iceland that the Arctic Circle actually touches. The island is small enough to walk across in an afternoon: a harbour and a scatter of houses on the sheltered west side, an airstrip down the middle, and cliffs on the north and east where puffins, guillemots and kittiwakes nest in numbers that keep the noise constant through early summer. Because the Circle drifts north a little every year, its marker here is a heavy concrete sphere that gets moved to a new position annually, which is a more honest way of handling it than painting a line on the ground.

The landscape

• The Arctic Circle marker - a heavy concrete sphere moved each year to follow the drifting line.
• The bird cliffs - puffins, guillemots and kittiwakes along the north and east edges of the island.
• The settlement - the harbour, the church and the handful of houses on the sheltered side.
• The crossing - the ferry run from Dalvik through open water off the north coast.

When to go

May to August, when the seabirds are on the cliffs and the ferry and flights run most often. Puffins start leaving in August, so early summer is the safer bet for them. Weather cancels sailings and flights at short notice in any season, so allow a spare day rather than booking a tight onward connection out of Akureyri.

Good to know

It is a long way for a small island, and the crossing is open water that plenty of people spend leaning over the rail. Facilities amount to very little and keep short summer hours. Arctic terns dive at anyone near their nests through June and July, so walking with a stick held above your head is standard. In low cloud there is not much to look at.

Nearby

Dalvik, the Trollaskagi coast road and Akureyri are the mainland end of the journey.

Key facts