Hofn: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Höfn means simply 'harbour', and the town exists because of one: a trading post moved here at the end of the 19th century, and fishing boats followed. It is known as the langoustine town of Iceland, with Vatnajökull filling the skyline behind the roofs. This route is a slow morning around town and the fjord, mostly flat and short. The wind off the ice is cold even on sunny days, so bring a warm layer and a hat.
A short history of Hofn
Höfn, which simply means "harbour", is a fishing town on a spit of land in south-east Iceland, facing the Vatnajökull glacier. It is relatively young: in 1897 the merchant Otto Tulinius moved his trading post here from the neighbouring bay, and the town has grown up around it since. Serious fishing began here in the early 20th century, and today about 1,700 people live in the town. Its fishing specialised in langoustine, and it calls itself the lobster capital of Iceland.
The ten best sights in Hofn
1SvavarssafnA small free art museum for the painter born in Höfn; half an hour on a grey afternoon
2ÞórbergsseturA writer's museum and a good, quiet lunch stop on the way to the glacier lagoon
3JökulsárlónCome early or late in the day, when the coaches are gone and the low light turns the ice blue
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4Diamond Beach
Ice from the lagoon washes up on the black sand across the road; the same sneaker-wave warning as at Reynisfjara applies
5VestrahornThe mountain is best seen from the dunes of Stokksnes at sunrise or sunset, reflected in the wet sand
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6Stokksnes
Pay at the Viking Café before driving onto the spit; the fee covers the dunes, the beach and the lighthouse
7HoffellsjökullA glacier lagoon without the crowds, 20 minutes from town; the last stretch is gravel, fine in summer
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8Heinabergsjökull
Kayak tours paddle among the icebergs here in summer; quieter water than Jökulsárlón
9AlmannaskarðDrive up the old road over the pass for the view of Höfn and the glaciers; the tunnel below skips it
10ÓslandArctic terns nest along the path in early summer and dive at heads; hold a stick or a hat above you
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Hofn →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Hofn:
Free walking tours in Hofn
Höfn, the harbour and the merchants
Höfn means simply 'harbour', and the town exists because of one: a trading post moved here at the end of the 19th century, and fishing boats followed. It is known as the langoustine town of Iceland, with Vatnajökull filling the skyline behind the roofs. This route is a slow morning around town and the fjord, mostly flat and short. The wind off the ice is cold even on sunny days, so bring a warm layer and a hat.
- Höfn harbour · The channel into the harbour, Hornafjarðarós, crosses a shifting sandbar with strong tidal currents and is known as one of the hardest harbour entrances in Iceland. For decades the boats coming through it landed the langoustines that made the town famous, and Höfn still holds a langoustine festival every summer.
- Hafnarbúðin · Icelanders call the langoustine humar, the same word they use for lobster, and Höfn built its name on it. This little harbour kiosk sells the cheapest way to try it: a baguette of shellfish tails fried in garlic butter, eaten on the bench outside.
- Svavarssafn · Svavar Guðnason was born in Höfn in 1909 and became one of the first abstract painters in Iceland. He spent the war years in Copenhagen among the Danish painters who later founded the CoBrA movement, and the strong colour of that circle fills these rooms.
- Ósland · The terns nesting here fly from the Antarctic and back every year, a round trip often put at about 70,000 km, the longest migration of any bird. They defend their nests fiercely, which is why people walk the path with a hand in the air.
- Almannaskarð · Until the tunnel opened in 2005, Route 1 climbed over this pass on a steep, winding road that closed often in winter. The old road still reaches the top, and from there the town, the lagoon and half a dozen glacier tongues line up in one view.
- Papós · A trading post stood on this lonely shore from the 1860s until 1897, when the merchant moved to Höfn and the town began. Only foundations and grassy ruins are left, with Vestrahorn and Eystrahorn on either side.
The ice lagoons
West of Höfn, Vatnajökull sends one tongue of ice after another down to the coastal plain, and many end in lagoons full of floating ice. Jökulsárlón is the famous one, but the smaller lagoons on the way are often more beautiful because there is nobody there. The whole route is about 120 km there and back on Route 1, with short gravel spurs. Wear warm, windproof clothes and sturdy shoes; the ice reflects the sun, so bring sunglasses too.
- Hoffellsjökull · Hoffellsjökull is one of the outlet glaciers of Vatnajökull, the largest ice cap in Europe by volume, which covers about 8 percent of Iceland. Its lagoon is small enough to walk along, and the ice cliff at the back calves into it.
- Heinabergsjökull · This glacier used to reach far further across the plain, and the ridges of gravel on the drive in are moraines it pushed up and left behind as it melted back. Today a lagoon fills the space between them and the ice.
- Þórbergssetur · Þórbergur Þórðarson was born on this farm, Hali, in 1888 and became one of the great Icelandic writers of the 20th century, partly by writing about this remote district. The front of the centre is built to look like a row of giant book spines, his own titles among them.
- Jökulsárlón · The lagoon only began to form in the 1930s, as Breiðamerkurjökull retreated, and it has since grown into the deepest lake in Iceland, more than 250 metres. Its icebergs appeared in the James Bond films A View to a Kill and Die Another Day.
- Diamond Beach · The lagoon drains to the sea through Jökulsá, one of the shortest rivers in Iceland, under the bridge on Route 1. The tide carries the ice out, and the waves throw the pieces back onto the black sand, where they shine like glass.
- Fláajökull · Fláajökull is another quiet outlet glacier between Höfn and the lagoon, reached by a gravel road and a short walk. Its moraines show the line of the Little Ice Age, when the glaciers of Vatnajökull stood at their largest around 1890.
Stokksnes and the eastern horns
East of town the mountains drop straight to a coast of black dunes, and Vestrahorn is the peak photographers cross the world for. This route takes the private spit at Stokksnes and then the lonely coast beyond the tunnels. It is short in kilometres but long in stops, and best timed for low sun. The dunes are exposed and sandy in the wind, so bring a hood and keep camera bags closed.
- Viking Café · The café belongs to the farm Horn, which owns the whole Stokksnes spit, and the entry fee for the beach is paid at its counter. It is also the last warm drink before the dunes.
- Stokksnes dunes · The black dunes are held together by lyme grass, which keeps growing up through the sand as fast as the wind buries it. On a calm day at low tide, the wet sand between them mirrors the whole of Vestrahorn, which is the photograph everyone comes for.
- Vestrahorn · The mountain rises about 454 metres straight from the dunes, made of gabbro and granophyre, rock that formed deep underground in an old volcano. Its jagged ridge is what is left after the ice ages stripped the volcano away.
- Stokksnes · At the tip of the spit stands a radar station built during the Cold War, still part of Iceland's air defence network, next to the lighthouse. Seals often haul out on the rocks below it at low tide.
- Eystrahorn · Eystrahorn, the 'east horn', faces Vestrahorn across the bay of Lón, and like it, it is the eroded core of an old volcano made of gabbro and granophyre. Between the two horns lies Lón, a wide lagoon where large flocks of whooper swans gather in autumn.
- Hvalnes · The name means 'whale point'. Here Route 1 runs along a narrow gravel bar between the open sea and the Lón lagoon, under the steep scree of Eystrahorn, and the small lighthouse marks the end of it.
Getting to Hofn and getting around
- Hornafjörður Airport · Small domestic flights to Reykjavík save a drive of about 460 km; useful if someone has to leave the trip early
- Höfn bus stop · The bus stop is by the swimming pool; public buses along the south coast run only a few times a day, so check the timetable
Cheap eats in Hofn
Höfn calls itself the langoustine capital of Iceland, and here the little lobsters, humar, turn up in everything from soup to a baguette eaten on the harbour wall. Prices are Icelandic, but a langoustine roll from a takeaway costs much less than a sit-down dinner. Between Höfn and the glacier lagoon there is almost nothing to eat, so lunch is best bought here.
- Hafnarbúðin · Harbour kiosk; langoustine baguette about 3,000-4,000 ISK, hot dog about 700
- Kaffi Hornið · Soup of the day and fish in a log house, about 2,500-5,000 ISK
- Íshúsið Pizzeria · Pizza in the old ice house by the harbour, about 3,000-4,500 ISK
- Þórbergssetur · Lunch buffet or soup on the way west, about 2,500-4,000 ISK
- Nettó Höfn · Supermarket picnic: bread, skyr, smoked fish, about 1,000-2,500 ISK
- Viking Café · Coffee and waffles at the Stokksnes gate, about 800-2,000 ISK
Museums in Hofn
- Svavarssafn · Abstract paintings by the artist born in Höfn
- Papós · Ruins of the trading post that came before the town
- Þórbergssetur · The life of a great Icelandic writer, on his home farm
Nature and day trips near Hofn
- Jökulsárlón · The great glacier lagoon; boat tours in summer
- Diamond Beach · Ice on black sand; best at sunrise
- Stokksnes and Vestrahorn · Black dunes and the jagged mountain; entry fee at the café
- Hoffellsjökull · A quiet ice lagoon close to town
- Heinabergsjökull · Glacier lagoon with summer kayaking
- Ósland · Bird walk on the edge of town
Things to do in Hofn with kids
- Ósland · A short bird walk at the edge of town
- Sundlaug Hafnar · Outdoor pool with water slides and hot tubs
- Hoffell hot tubs · Small geothermal tubs on a farm under the glacier
- Jökulsárlón · An amphibious boat drives into the lagoon among icebergs
- Diamond Beach · Hunting for clear ice "diamonds"; keep children well back from the waves
Where to eat in Hofn
- Pakkhús · Langoustine and fish in the old harbour warehouse; book in summer
- Hótel Höfn restaurant · Dinner with a glacier view from the dining room
- Íshúsið Pizzeria · Relaxed dinner by the water, good for families
- Kaffi Hornið · Langoustine soup and lamb in a wooden house
Frequently asked questions about Hofn
What is there to see in Hofn?
The top sights in Hofn are Svavarssafn, Þórbergssetur and Jökulsárlón. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Hofn?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Hofn without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Hofn?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Hofn, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Höfn, the harbour and the merchants.
How do you get to Hofn and get around?
The main ways are Hornafjörður Airport and Höfn bus stop. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Hofn, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Hofn that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Hofn for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.