Whale watching in Europe: Iceland, Norway, the Azores, Madeira and the Canaries

Europe packs the widest range of whale watching into the shortest flights. In one continent you can book a 90-minute cruise to resident pilot whales in African-latitude sunshine, a three-hour trip to humpbacks under the midnight sun, and a twelve-hour Arctic day hunting orcas through herring in near-darkness. The species list, the price and the clothing are completely different in each case.

• AkureyriYear-round, peak May–Sep
• AzoresYear-round, peak Apr–Oct
• Canary IslandsYear-round
• DalvíkYear-round, peak May–Sep
• HauganesYear-round, peak Jun–Aug
• HúsavíkMar–Nov, peak Jun–Aug
• IcelandApr–Oct
• MadeiraYear-round
• NorwayNov–Jan (Tromsø) · year-round (Andenes)
• ReykjavíkYear-round, peak Apr–Oct
• Scotland & IrelandMay–Oct

Every pin is a page with departure ports, boat types, the official rules and live prices.

Two calendars, not one

The Atlantic islands — the Azores, Madeira and the Canaries — sit over deep water within sight of the harbor wall and hold resident populations. Sperm whales, short-finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins live there rather than passing through, which is why those boats sail in January as readily as in July.

The northern seas work on migration and food. Iceland fills with feeding whales in the light half of the year; northern Norway fills with orcas and humpbacks when the herring shoal into the fjords in the dark half. Scotland and Ireland sit in between, with minke whales in the Hebrides from May to October and the best watching from June to September, according to VisitScotland.

1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Azores
4. Madeira
5. Canary Islands
6. Scotland & Ireland

PeakGoodPossibleOff

Two patterns overlap. The Atlantic islands hold resident whales and work all year; the northern seas work on migration and herring, which is why Iceland peaks in July and Norway peaks in the dark.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Iceland	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Good	Peak	Peak	Peak	Good	Good	Possible	Off
Norway	Peak	Good	Possible	Possible	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Possible	Peak	Peak
Azores	Possible	Possible	Good	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Good	Possible	Possible
Madeira	Good	Good	Good	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Good	Good	Good
Canary Islands	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak
Scotland & Ireland	Off	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Good	Off	Off

Region by region

Iceland — the summer standard

Visit Iceland gives the season as March to November, peaking over summer. Húsavík on Skjálfandi Bay is the specialist port, with oak boats, schooners and RIBs and humpbacks as the headline animal; Reykjavík's Old Harbour runs the highest-volume trips in the country, where minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, humpbacks and harbor porpoises are the usual list. Akureyri, Dalvík and Hauganes work the long fjord of Eyjafjörður. There is no government regulation of whale watching in Iceland. What exists instead is IceWhale's voluntary code, signed by its members in February 2015, and it is specific: slow down and post a lookout beyond 3,000 m, hold 300 m at the start of an encounter and close gradually at 5–6 mph with the main propeller stopped, and inside 50 m stop the propeller altogether until every animal is clear. See Iceland, Húsavík and Reykjavík.

Norway — winter orcas, year-round sperm whales

Andenes in Vesterålen sits beside the Bleik canyon, and Visit Norway states that sperm whales can be spotted along the Vesterålen coast all year round. The famous trips, though, are the winter ones: herring pulls humpbacks, orcas and fin whales into the Tromsø, Lyngenfjord and Alta area around mid-winter, with the biggest days run out of Skjervøy on RIBs and catamarans. Expect 8 to 12 hours, two or three of them driving. Read the titles carefully when you compare Norwegian listings: the partner's Norway group mixes the Tromsø and Skjervøy whale safaris with Trollfjord sightseeing cruises out of Svolvær and a Bergen fjord day, which carry no whales at all. See Norway and orcas.

The Azores — the deep-water specialist

Nine islands over an Atlantic ridge, with sperm whales resident, blue and fin whales passing in spring, and the old vigia lookouts still spotting from the cliffs and radioing the boats. Visit Azores describes more than 20 types of cetacean in the archipelago — roughly a third of all cetacean species — and calls the islands one of the biggest whale sanctuaries in the world. São Miguel has the volume, Pico and Faial the specialists. The Azores are also a designated Whale Heritage Area under the World Cetacean Alliance's program. See the Azores and sperm whales.

Madeira — year-round, half an hour from the hotel

Funchal and Calheta run catamarans and RIBs to sperm whales, short-finned pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins and Bryde's whales on a coastline where the seabed drops away almost immediately. Madeira is a designated Whale Heritage Area too. Trips are short — two to three hours — and prices start near $40. See Madeira.

Canary Islands — the cheapest whales in Europe

The strait between Tenerife and La Gomera holds one of the most studied resident populations of short-finned pilot whales in the world, watched from Costa Adeje, Puerto Colón and Los Gigantes, with Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote adding their own fleets. The water is regulated in detail — see the box below — and the Tenerife-La Gomera Marine Area is a designated Whale Heritage Area. Expect $31.88 to $54 for two hours, often with a swim stop. See the Canary Islands.

Official information

Canary Islands: the cetacean-watching decree

Minimum distance

Approach maneuvers closer than 60 m to the animals are prohibited

Crowding

With two boats already present, no vessel may come within 100 m; with three, none may enter within 500 m

Time

A maximum of 30 minutes at less than 100 m

Speed

No more than 4 knots within 500 m, or the speed of the slowest animal in the group

Swimming

Swimming or diving within 500 m of cetaceans is prohibited, as is throwing food or waste into the sea

The Barco Azul flag

Authorized boats fly an 80 x 50 cm yellow flag with the blue-boat emblem and the period of the authorization

Source: Decreto 178/2000, Boletín Oficial de Canarias. From the official source; double-check before you go.

The flag matters more than the marketing. A boat flying the yellow Barco Azul flag is authorized; a boat that is not, is not.

Scotland and Ireland — minkes and patience

VisitScotland puts minke whales around the Hebrides from May to October, with June to September the best window, and bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth all year. Tobermory on Mull is the classic base; West Cork and Dingle add fin and humpback whales in autumn on Ireland's south coast. Sightings are less certain here than anywhere else in this list, and the boats say so. One booking caveat: our partner sells no Scottish whale trip at all — every listing in its Scotland and Ireland group departs from Ireland, out of Baltimore, Kinsale, Dingle or Killary — so a Hebridean sailing has to be booked direct with the operator. See Scotland and Ireland and minke and fin whales.

Four European trips, compared

Prices are checked regularly, and we compare GetYourGuide only. English readers see prices in US dollars; German, Italian and Dutch readers see the same tours in euros.

Who should go where

Reading a European "guarantee"

Icelandic and Norwegian operators lead with a sighting guarantee, and Visit Norway notes that many operators offer a "100% whale guarantee" in the form of a complimentary rescheduled trip. That is the pattern across the continent: a free second sailing, not your money back, and worth nothing if you leave the next day. In the Canaries and Madeira, where the whales are resident, few operators bother to advertise one — the odds do the work instead. Nobody, anywhere, can promise an animal.

Getting there and what to wear

Reykjavík, Funchal, Ponta Delgada, Tenerife South and Tromsø all have direct flights from the German, Italian, Dutch and UK hubs, and every port on this page is a short transfer from its airport. The clothing rule is simple: in the Atlantic islands take sunscreen and a light windproof; in Iceland take a hat and gloves even in July; in Norway wear the survival suit the operator hands you, over everything you already have on. The exact dock is on your voucher.

Where to go next

Compare the continent against the rest of the world in the best places for whale watching, check your month in the season calendar, or work backwards from the animal: sperm whales, orcas, humpbacks. If you want the boat first, read which whale-watching boat to pick. Reviews of European operators include Elding, North Sailing, Futurismo and Whale Safari Andenes.