Are There Penguins in Iceland? 12 Real Questions People Ask Google, Answered

We spend a lot of time looking at what people search for before they visit Iceland. Most of it is exactly what you'd expect: the weather, the northern lights, how to get from the airport. And then there are the others. The questions that make us smile, and then make us realise they're actually rather good questions.

Here are twelve real searches that have brought people to Icelandia over the past year, with honest answers. No judgement. We've all googled something odd at two in the morning.

Short answer: Wrong hemisphere.

Penguins live almost entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, so you won't find any here. The closest thing to a penguin you'll meet in Iceland is the puffin, and puffins are a great deal better at flying.

Iceland did once have a bird that played the part: the great auk, a large flightless seabird of the North Atlantic and the original bearer of the name 'penguin'. The last confirmed pair was killed on the island of Eldey, off the Reykjanes peninsula, in 1844.

Meet the birds you can see: Birds in Iceland

Short answer: Only the ones in the souvenir shops.

Iceland has no bears of its own. Very occasionally a polar bear drifts over from Greenland on sea ice, but it's rare enough to make the national news.

See who does live here: Wildlife tours

Short answer: None. Not a single one.

Iceland has no snakes and no native reptiles of any kind. If something slithers past you here, it's probably the wind.

Short answer: No moose. But there are reindeer.

Reindeer were brought over from Norway in the 18th century and still roam wild in East Iceland. Close enough, if you squint.

Wildlife tours

Short answer: Sadly not. The Arctic fox does its best.

Our only native land mammal is the Arctic fox: small, clever and very photogenic. It has been here since the last Ice Age, long before any people arrived.

Short answer: Yes.

Politically and culturally, Iceland is part of Europe. Geologically, it's a bit of both: the island sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian plates are slowly pulling apart. On the Reykjanes peninsula you can walk across the Bridge Between Continents, and in Þingvellir National Park you can snorkel or dive in Silfra, a crystal-clear fissure between the plates.

Short answer: Not if you want to stay friends with an Icelander.

Icelandic horses are small enough that visitors often call them ponies, but here they are always horses: sturdy, sure-footed and famously good-natured. They're also known for the tölt, a smooth extra gait that makes riding over rough ground surprisingly comfortable.

Ride one yourself: Horse riding and the Golden Circle

Short answer: Yes. But they can never come back.

Iceland doesn't allow horses to be imported, which protects the breed from diseases it has never been exposed to. So once an Icelandic horse leaves the country, it's a one-way ticket. The horses you meet here descend from those that arrived with the first settlers more than a thousand years ago.

Short answer: They're on holiday.

Puffins spend the winter far out at sea and only come ashore to nest. They return in spring and stay until late summer, so the best time for puffin spotting is roughly May to August.

Plan your visit: Where to see puffins in Iceland

Short answer: Only on the beach. And they melt.

Diamond Beach, next to the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, is named after the chunks of ice that wash up on its black sand and sparkle in the light. Free to admire, impossible to take home.

Short answer: As it happens, yes.

Hot Springs, Arkansas, is built around them, so that one's settled. In Iceland the answer is just as confident: geothermal heat warms everything from natural pools and lagoons to the water in your hotel shower. (That faint smell of sulphur? Completely normal.)

Soak it up: South Coast and hot springs in one day

Short answer: Once.

Icelandic wind has strong opinions about umbrellas. Locals rely on a good waterproof jacket with a hood instead, and so should you.

What to bring instead: Iceland packing list

Keep the questions coming. However odd they seem, someone else is wondering the same thing. And at least now you know where not to look for penguins.