Hornøya is a small island (0.4 square kilometres) about two kilometres east of Vardø that hosts one of the largest and most accessible seabird colonies in Norway. From April through August, the island's cliffs and grassy slopes are crowded with puffins, common guillemots, Brünnich's guillemots, razorbills, black-legged kittiwakes, shags, and several gull species — tens of thousands of birds in total. A lighthouse has stood on the island since 1899.
The island is a nature reserve; visitors follow marked paths and must stay on them to avoid disturbing nesting birds. In practice this puts you close enough to the puffins to photograph them from a metre away — they are famously unafraid of humans. Boat trips depart from Vardø harbour; the crossing takes about fifteen minutes. The season runs from roughly mid-April to the end of July. Book ahead in peak season (June–July) as the boats are small.