Dear visitor 

We want you to enjoy our beautiful island and its treasures as much as we do. To help us preserve it for the future we ask you to follow these guidelines while you are visiting:

Precautions to take when travelling in the puffin colony

The puffins (and all the other birds and don´t forget the sheep) need their rest so you are only allowed to walk outside Mykines village between 10:00 am and 17:00 pm.

Always stay on the trail. There are nesting puffins under your feet

When the puffins come to land (end of April/beginning of May) they start preparing their burrow. A burrow is a hole or a tunnel that can be over a meter deep in the terrain used by nesting puffins. When walking in areas where puffins burrow, please be aware of where you step. You should always stick to the trail and refrain from stopping on the trail, to cause as little disruption as possible.

Do not linger

Baby puffins are called pufflings. They hatch out of the eggs in July, but for the first few weeks they don’t leave the burrow. They usually leave the burrow in mid-August. If you make stops on the trail it keeps the puffins away from their pufflings because they are afraid, and this can lead to starvation of the pufflings. If you see a “Sildberi”, which is a puffin that carries sand launces (fish), it’s probably on its way to feed its young. So if you see a puffin with fish in the beak sitting in front of you for a long time you are probably blocking the access to its nest. Please step away.

Be quiet and keep your distance

Please be quiet and always stay min. 2 meters from the puffins.

It is absolutely forbidden to reach inside puffin nests and touch or grab puffins and it’s also absolutely forbidden to take pictures inside puffin nests. If you see any such behaviour please contact a guide or a local.

Last but not least – Please respect the locals and private property

You are welcome to enjoy a walk through the village, but please do not do any of the following without permission:

• take pictures of people
• step inside people’s homes or look through their windows
• climb any stone- or wire fences

The puffins thank you for picking up litter that you find in the nature.

Please bring back the litter to the main island.