- Where
- About 40 km off north Iceland
Akureyri municipality - Coordinates
- 66.5440° N
18.0040° W - Size
- 5.3 km², highest point 105 m
(Wikipedia) - People
- 58 registered (1 Jan 2025)
about 20 through the winter - The sphere
- Orbis et Globus, 3 m across
about 8 tonnes, placed 2017 - Getting there
- Ferry from Dalvík, about 3 h
or about 20 min by air from Akureyri - Advisory
- Iceland Level 1
There was not a tree anywhere, only grass, black cliffs and birds, and the terns objected to me the moment I stepped off the boat. At the far end sat an enormous grey ball on bare turf, as if somebody had set it down and gone for help. At midnight, in broad daylight, I stood with a foot either side of a line I could not see.
The short answer
Grímsey is a small island about 40 kilometres off the north coast of Iceland, administered since 2009 as part of the municipality of Akureyri on the mainland. Wikipedia gives its area as 5.3 square kilometres and its highest point as 105 metres; it has no trees, cliffs along almost all of its coast, and one village, Sandvík, on the south-west shore. Akureyri’s Grímsey pages count 58 registered residents on 1 January 2025, from Statistics Iceland, and say that only about twenty stay through the winter, most of them fishermen. The island is the only part of Iceland that the Arctic Circle crosses, which Wikipedia describes as the reason most of its visitors come, and Wikipedia also calls it the northernmost inhabited Icelandic territory: the islet of Kolbeinsey, farther north, has never been lived on.
Why it's worth knowing
The Arctic Circle is not fixed. It sits where the tilt of the Earth’s axis puts it, and that tilt changes, so the line is moving north. Akureyri gives its average movement as about 14.5 metres a year, and Wikipedia adds that the figure varies a good deal from year to year. Wikipedia records that the circle has crossed Grímsey since 1750 and that it will move off the island, northward, around 2047.
In the autumn of 2017 Akureyri inaugurated Orbis et Globus, “circle and sphere”, a concrete sphere three metres across and weighing about eight tonnes, set on the line at the north end of the island. It is by the artist Kristinn E. Hrafnsson with the architect Steve Christer of Studio Granda, chosen in a competition held in 2013, and it was designed to be moved: before the island’s summer solstice festival in 2018 it was shifted about 130 metres, by Akureyri’s account, and the following year about 69 metres more. Wikipedia reports that when the line finally leaves the island the plan is to roll the sphere into the sea.
Not everyone on the island was pleased. In June 2019 Iceland Monitor, citing Morgunblaðið, reported Guðrún Inga Hannesdóttir of the island’s neighbourhood council as saying that a sign marking the circle used to stand at the airport, where everyone was delighted to cross it, and that the walk from the harbour to the sphere at the northern tip and back takes about three hours, too long for visitors on a two-hour stop. She also called the cost of moving it every year enormous. It is a fair warning for anyone arriving by air for the afternoon.
The field notes
Chess, and a stranger’s kindness
Grímsey’s other claim to a place in the world’s attention is chess. Wikipedia records that the island had a reputation for chess-playing, and that on learning of it in the 1870s the American scholar Willard Fiske, a keen player, took an interest in the islanders, sending supplies, supporting the economy and leaving them money in his will, although he never visited. The island’s church, built of driftwood in 1867, was destroyed by fire in September 2021; the rebuilt church was consecrated on 10 August 2025, Wikipedia records, with the bells of Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík ringing at the start of the ceremony. Grímsey is not connected to Iceland’s grid, and since 2022 a small solar array and wind turbine have taken some of the load off the island’s diesel generators.
A million birds
Akureyri describes Grímsey as an island of about a million seabirds, with one of Iceland’s largest puffin colonies, the country’s second-largest razorbill colony and one of its largest and densest Arctic tern colonies. BirdLife International lists it as an Important Bird Area for its breeding kittiwakes, puffins, razorbills and common murres, according to Wikipedia. Akureyri gives the puffins’ season on the island as late April to early August. The terns defend their nesting ground hard, diving at anyone who walks through it, and Visit Akureyri’s pages note that they leave at the beginning of August. Marked trails cross the island; one follows the cliff edge to the lighthouse at the southern end, and the town’s walking advice warns that puffin burrows have made the ground near the edge loose.
Midnight, in daylight
Because it sits on the circle, Grímsey has the midnight sun: Akureyri’s pages say that at the summer solstice the sun stays above the horizon for twenty-four hours. The islanders hold a solstice festival each year; Visit Akureyri lists the 2026 festival for 19 to 21 June. Visitors can collect a diploma recording that they have crossed the Arctic Circle: Akureyri says it is free to those on organised tours with the island’s airline, and on sale to everyone else at the village gift shop, Gallerí Sól.
Puffins on Grímsey's cliffs, July 2017.
Photograph: Smiley.toerist · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seabirds on a stack below Grímsey's cliffs, August 2025.
Cliffs on Grímsey in mist, July 2017.
Photograph: Smiley.toerist · CC BY-SA 4.0
The older Arctic Circle marker on Grímsey, June 2008.
Photograph: Brad Weber · Iceland2008-Grimsey.arctic.circle · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Ask how long the boat or the plane gives you ashore, and turn round at half of it, wherever you have got to.
- Cross the tern ground with something held up over your head, and forgive them. They have no way of knowing you mean well.
- Pencil the big grey ball onto the list. On reflection, rewrite the whole list in pencil.
- If you can, sleep over, and step outside when the clock says bedtime and the sky disagrees.
- People live on this island all year round. Buy your coffee and your postcards from them, greet whoever you meet, and expect to meet them twice.
Orbis et Globus. A grey sphere three metres across, made of a foam core under sprayed concrete reinforced with steel and weighing about eight tonnes, standing on bare turf at the northern end of Grímsey where the Arctic Circle crosses the island. The circle drifts north by about fourteen and a half metres a year on average, so the sphere is moved to follow it, and it will go on being moved until the line leaves the island, around 2047.
Tally, in the marginEnormously heavy, and still expected to follow a line that wanders. I spent some time feeling sorry for it before noticing how calm it looked about the whole arrangement.
Getting there
How to get there. The ferry Sæfari sails to Grímsey all year from Dalvík, about 45 km north of Akureyri, a drive of about forty minutes; Visit Akureyri gives the crossing as about three hours each way, five sailings a week in summer and three or four in winter, with room for 106 passengers. The airline Norlandair flies from Akureyri all year; Visit Akureyri gives the flight as about twenty minutes. Published accounts of how often it flies disagree and change with the season, so check Norlandair’s current timetable. Wikipedia lists two small hotels and a campsite on the island for anyone who stays.
When to go. Late April to early August for the puffins, according to Akureyri, and June for the longest light and the solstice festival. Outside summer the ferry runs less often and the island is quieter still.
What to arrange ahead. A seat on the ferry in summer, which Visit Akureyri says is often fully booked; tickets are sold through Iceland’s Road Administration or on board. If you are coming for the day, find out how long you will have ashore before setting off for the sphere: the 2019 estimate from the island’s council was about three hours there and back from the harbour, and the sphere has been moved since. Keep well back from the cliff edges.
Safety. The State Department has Iceland at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, its lowest level. It notes that Iceland’s weather changes quickly and that it has dangerous natural features.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Grímsey?
Grímsey is a small island about 40 km off the north coast of Iceland, part of the municipality of Akureyri. Wikipedia gives its area as 5.3 square kilometres; the island had 58 registered residents on 1 January 2025, according to Akureyri’s figures from Statistics Iceland.
Does the Arctic Circle cross Grímsey?
Yes. Grímsey is the only part of Iceland the Arctic Circle crosses. The line drifts north by about 14.5 metres a year on average, according to Akureyri, and Wikipedia records that it has crossed the island since 1750 and will leave it around 2047.
What is Orbis et Globus?
Orbis et Globus is a concrete sphere three metres across and weighing about eight tonnes, inaugurated on Grímsey in 2017 to mark the Arctic Circle. Designed by Kristinn E. Hrafnsson with Steve Christer of Studio Granda, it is moved to follow the line: about 130 metres before the solstice festival of 2018 and about 69 metres the following year, by Akureyri’s account.
How do you get to Grímsey?
Grímsey is reached by the ferry Sæfari from Dalvík in north Iceland, a crossing of about three hours each way that sails five times a week in summer and three or four in winter, or by Norlandair from Akureyri, a flight of about twenty minutes. Visit Akureyri advises booking the ferry ahead in summer.
When can you see puffins on Grímsey?
From late April to early August, according to Akureyri, which describes Grímsey’s puffin colony as one of the largest in Iceland. The island also holds Iceland’s second-largest razorbill colony and a large, dense Arctic tern colony, and BirdLife International lists it as an Important Bird Area.
How long is the walk to the Arctic Circle sphere on Grímsey?
In 2019 Guðrún Inga Hannesdóttir of Grímsey’s neighbourhood council told Morgunblaðið that walking from the harbour to the Orbis et Globus sphere at the island’s northern tip and back took about three hours. The sphere is moved as the Arctic Circle drifts, so the distance changes; day visitors should check their time ashore.
Why is Grímsey known for chess?
Grímsey’s islanders had a reputation for chess-playing, and in the 1870s the American scholar Willard Fiske, a keen player, took an interest in them, Wikipedia records. He sent supplies, supported the island’s economy and left it money in his will, although he never visited Grímsey.
Is Iceland safe to visit?
The U.S. State Department has Iceland at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, its lowest level (advisory dated 5 May 2026). It warns that Iceland’s weather changes quickly, that the country has dangerous natural features, active volcanoes and earthquakes, and that petty crime is common in popular tourist locations.