Where to see puffins in the wild

“I know these birds are a crowd-pleaser, but I didn’t fully understand how enjoyable watching them would be,” says Eloise Barker, writer at Responsible Travel. “They are smaller than I expected, but their colours are dazzling… all of us were rapt, watching as dozens of little birds came wheeling around us to land on the cliff ledges, then return to the water, over and over again… we never got tired of it.”

Puffins are busy birds, so there’s always something to see. Pairs mate for life and, with only one chick in the nest, they work tirelessly to make sure it survives, spring-cleaning burrows, shooing away predators, and making unexpectedly graceful (and deep – up to 60m) dives for fish.

Their big personalities make puffins a hit with all shades of wildlife watchers, and especially wildlife photographers. “I didn’t know what to expect,” says Geraldine Westrupp, co-founder of our partner Wild Photography Vacations, describing the first time she saw a puffin. “Suddenly, this comical little figure stood there looking at me and I laughed. I took all these incredible and incredibly funny pictures of them scratching, heads tilted over. They’re very endearing.”

Puffin hunting is relegated to Iceland and the Faroe Islands, so most puffins retain as much curiosity about us as we do about them – and barely an ounce of fear.

“They’re fantastic little birds,” agrees Julie Dubois-Marshall, from St Hilda Sea Adventures, who runs our wildlife cruises to puffin colonies in Scotland. “They’re so inquisitive. They’ll come up about a metre from you and have a nosey, and you can just sit there and really enjoy them.”

What’s that you hear on the wind? It’s the clamorous din of the largest puffin colony in the world. Our tours here take in the whole spectacular scene: a southerly archipelago formed by underwater volcanic eruptions, with puffins that are just as dramatic as their surroundings. Most baby puffins are never glimpsed. As soon as they emerge from the burrow, parents boot them into the sea, where they’re less likely to be snatched by land predators. In the Westman Islands, however, you might spy disorientated pufflings land in the town or village, where local children pick them up and help carry them to sea.

Best time to go: May to mid-August
Our top trip: Iceland circumnavigation cruise
All our trips: Iceland wildlife vacations

Puffins’ lack of fear means that restraint is required. No seabird selfies here – our wildlife vacations are steered by people who are well-versed in how to watch puffins without scaring them.

“They’re hardy but they’re vulnerable,” says Geraldine. “They will get distressed and they will lose their chicks if you harass them.”

“We would never disturb them,” adds Julie. “And that’s all about the skippers – with the WiSe training scheme, they’re taught about the local wildlife and how to approach them in a safe way. We really want to minimise our impact on the local wildlife, with the boats and avoiding being too close to them on land so as not to disturb them. All our captains are trained; we make the effort to pay for the training each year for the captains to know about the wildlife.”

These knowledgeable guides and skippers can also fill you in on the colony dramas, life cycles and unique behaviours. “They have this incredible growling noise when they burrow,” says Geraldine. “Not what you expect to come from a cute puffin… Just be very patient and don’t go trampling over their burrows, and really understand a little bit about them.”

They’ll also fill you in on the challenges. For all their apparent sturdiness, puffins are flagged as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The 2025-26 winter saw the biggest “seabird wreck” in Europe in 10 years, with hundreds of dead puffins washing up on the UK’s coast. Climate change accelerated by humans is largely to blame, with warming waters supercharging storms into catastrophes that puffins – who spend autumn and winter at sea – struggle to survive.

Our vacations give you time to learn about different aspects of puffin life, but also about how our personal choices can help their survival. A big part of that involves encouraging visitors to widen their gaze to the ecosystem puffins rely on – the wildflowers, oceans and cliffs, but also the seabirds, whales and whale sharks, eagles, polar bears and otters who live alongside them.

“It’s fantastic when you see the dolphins,” says Julie. “They surf in front of the bow – bow riding – and that’s the best. I love that. Many of them can be there – 10, 20 and sometimes over 30.”

We’ll also give you a chance to get to know the people who live alongside puffins by slowing down to spend time walking fishermen’s paths to bird colonies, staying in guest houses, and dining on delicious catch of the days that give you an idea why puffins stick around.

Puffins arrive for the better weather between April and August, which is a perfect match for the cruise season. Seabirds – and the environment and local communities in general – aren’t fans of huge 3,000-passenger vessels, so we recommend ditching the big ships and choosing one of our trips that take you out on smaller puffin-friendly vessels that can range from yachts to restored tall ships.

“We’re really lucky because the big cruise ships which come to visit the west coast can’t get into these little bays,” says Julie, “which really makes it special for seeing the puffins.”

A taste of life at sea is a bonus. “When you wake up in the morning and you come out on deck, we’ve got tea and coffee ready while the chef’s preparing breakfast,” says Julie. “And then you’re on deck, having a tea or coffee and looking out for wildlife. It’s a very special moment.”

Those special moments are created thanks to the local guides. Geraldine leads some of our top bird photography tours, and is passionate about taking guests a little off the beaten track – to a favorite wildflower meadow, volcanic beach or village pub.

“I think we’re still very authentic,” says Geraldine. “A traveler said that on the Varanger tour: ‘You’re authentic – you get that feeling that you care for people.’ And we do. We care for the people and we care very passionately about Iceland, because that’s where we lived for so long. There are good bits about Iceland that tend to get lost.”

It’s enough to inspire – as Responsible Travel writer Eloise knows all too well. “I’m now a keen birder and go birdwatching regularly,” says Eloise. “I can pinpoint my interest in birds to this and other early trips I did last year. Puffins made me into a twitcher!”