Heimaey and Eldfell

Heimaey is the only inhabited island in the Westman group, a few kilometres off the south coast. In January 1973 a fissure opened at the edge of town, the population was taken off overnight by the fishing fleet, and by the time the eruption ended months later a new cone, Eldfell, stood about 200 metres high, lava had swallowed several hundred houses and the harbour mouth had been narrowed. You can walk up the cone on loose red scoria, follow the lava edge past markers showing where streets used to run, and continue to Storhofdi, a windy southern headland with one of the larger puffin colonies in the North Atlantic.

What you actually see

• Eldfell - the 1973 cone, climbable in about half an hour on loose red scoria.
• The lava edge - the flow front above the old town, with markers for buried streets.
• Storhofdi - the southern headland with a puffin colony and a viewing hide.
• The harbour narrows - the entrance the lava reduced, still the working fishing port.

When to go

May to August, when the puffins are ashore and the ferry runs a full timetable. Late July brings a large local festival and the island fills, so book accommodation months ahead or come outside it. Sailings are cancelled in rough weather at any time of year, so leave slack in the plan either side.

Honest expectations

Weather decides everything here. Crossings are cancelled at short notice and being stuck on either side is common. The climb up Eldfell is on loose ash that slides underfoot and is fully exposed to wind. Puffins are gone by mid-August. Prices on the island run higher than on the mainland.

Nearby

The ferry terminal at Landeyjahofn sits below Eyjafjallajokull on the south coast.