Bjargtangar is the most western point in Iceland, and also the most western point in Europe, and lies in the Westfjord region of the country. Due west across the Atlantic Ocean is Greenland, just 300kms away.

 

The Bjargtangar lighthouse sits on top of the sea cliffs, warning passing ships and returning fishing boats that Iceland starts here. Below, the cliffs team in the summer with nesting seabirds including the self-important puffins with their distinctive striped bills and waiter-style waddling walk.

 

To fully appreciate these birds, it's time to conquer any fear of heights. Intrepid photographers inch their way along the grassy cliff edges on their stomachs, lenses peering over the edges to the nests below. Their reward is a bird's eye view of puffins perched on rock ledges, or fulmers tucking themselves into tiny cavities, their dropping streaking the cliffs with waterfalls of white. It's noisy, sometimes smelly and totally unmissable.

 

The cliffs continue for an unbroken 12kms, with peak nesting time during August, when visitors can leave the clamoring birds to walk from the lighthouse down to a relaxing beach at Raudisandur, or a short drive through undulating dunes to the golden sands at Breidavik.