Höfn
Höfn í Hornafirði is a fishing town of around 2,500 people on Iceland's southeast coast, sitting on a low peninsula where the Ring Road rounds the corner between the South Coast and the Eastfjords. Known throughout Iceland as the Lobster Capital, it is the primary landing point for langoustine caught in the cold, clean waters of the southeast, and several of the town's restaurants have built their entire menus around the local catch. The name Höfn simply means harbour in Icelandic, and the working harbour framed by the Vatnajökull ice cap on the skyline gives the town a character that is both practical and unexpectedly dramatic.
Iceland's Lobster Capital on the Southeast Coast, Where the Glacier Meets the Sea
Höfn sits on a small peninsula jutting into the Hornafjörður lagoon, a 40-square-kilometre body of water formed by the interaction of the Atlantic Ocean and meltwater rivers from Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier by volume. The glacier's presence is felt throughout the town: the ice cap is visible on the northern horizon from almost anywhere in Höfn, glacier rivers have shaped the surrounding lowlands, and much of the local economy ties back directly or indirectly to the ice through tourism, guiding, and the infrastructure that supports visits to Jökulsárlón, Skaftafell, and the glacier lagoons to the west. Höfn is the main service hub on the Ring Road between the end of the South Coast and the start of the Eastfjords, and for many Ring Road travellers it is the natural overnight stop at the southeastern corner of Iceland.
The town's culinary identity is built entirely around langoustine, known locally as humar and often called lobster, though technically a different species. The cold, clear waters of Iceland's southeast coast produce langoustine with a distinctly sweet flavour, and Höfn has developed a restaurant scene that takes the ingredient seriously. Pakkhús, beside the harbour, and Humarhöfnin (the Lobster Harbour) are the two most established options. Every July the town hosts the Humarhátíð Lobster Festival, a multi-day event with music, outdoor food stalls, and an emphasis on local producers that draws visitors from across Iceland. It is one of the more genuinely local food festivals in the country and worth timing a visit around if the dates align.
Höfn's position makes it an ideal base for the southeast. Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is about 45 minutes west along the Ring Road, with Diamond Beach a few minutes beyond it. Vestrahorn mountain and the Stokksnes Peninsula, one of Iceland's most dramatic photography locations, are about 15 minutes east of town. The start of the Eastfjords route begins a short drive further east. Höfn has hotels, guesthouses, a supermarket, a swimming pool, and a petrol station. From Reykjavík it is approximately 480 kilometres along the Ring Road, a drive of around five to six hours.
