The Faroe Islands was a trip I planned in 2019 that was canceled in 2020. I was interested in the Faroe Islands because it seemed similar to Iceland but with less people. Almost everyone I told I was going there had never heard of it and didn’t know where it is. The Faroe Islands is located between Iceland and Norway and consists of 18 different islands, some of which are connected through bridges and tunnels, but others can only be reached by plane or boat. Planes among some of the islands are actually free as many residents use them to get to work. There aren’t very many seats for passengers, however, and you have to book closer to the date, so I didn’t look to heavily into taking a plane from island to island, but that is an option.
GETTING TO THE FAROE ISLANDS
I finally rebooked my trip this year. Atlantic Airways is the only airline that flies into the Faroe Islands and flights normally come from Copenhagen or Iceland plus a couple other places. If you were to book a flight all together from the US to the Faroe Islands with a layover in Iceland, you’re looking at maybe 12 or more hours so I decided to book things separately. Atlantic Airways flies into the Faroe Islands from Iceland three times a week around 11AM. Most flights get into Iceland at 6AM but once a week, it gets into Iceland at 9AM. So that’s what I ended up doing—booking a flight from Washington DC to Iceland, getting in at 9AM and booking a separate flight to the Faroe Islands leaving at 11AM. In DC, they connected my tickets together and checked my bag all the way through. The flight to Iceland was relatively empty since most people were on the earlier flight getting in at 6AM so it turned out to be a good decision, although I later realized I was on the controversial Boeing 737 Max.
VAGAR
Flights to the Faroe Islands arrive at the tiny airport on the island of Vagar. The airport only has two gates and a small area for duty-free shopping. Doing research early on, I found that there aren’t a lot of restaurants available outside the capital so the first stop was to the grocery store, Bonus. Bonus had a lot of other things for sale besides food like toys and other products and was definitely not as large as the Bonus in St. Martin that had a huge selection but we managed to get some meals to cook for a few days.
Our Airbnb was located in the middle of nowhere with three other Airbnbs being rented out by the same guy. The Airbnbs were all grass roofed cabins! I really loved the aesthetic of these type of houses when in Iceland and didn’t find a lot of them actually but they are everywhere in the Faroe Islands. The grass acts as a type of insulation. The cabins were built in 2020 so they were all very new. The bedrooms were located upstairs and the ceilings were very low, so at some points you did have to crawl around but worth it to stay there. I stayed here two nights.
The first full day I scheduled a ferry ride to Mykines. Mykines is better known as puffin island since they have hundreds of puffins and nests. The ferry to Mykines is about an hour and you pass by the famous Drangarnir sea stacks. So in general, I was surprised with how crowded the ferry was and how amazed people were by rocks! They’d run from one side of the boat to the other the entire time taking photos of various rocks. In general the Faroe Islands had way more people than I expected at certain points and this was one of them. The people were literally jumping off the boat before it docked, almost trampling the puffin nests and then pushing in front of people to get back on the boat when it was time to go back.
Mykines normally has a hike to a lighthouse that is popular to do, but it was actually closed since October. The hike normally costs around $30 per person. You can still hike up to see the puffins and their nests though. We saw so many!
The island only has 11 permanent residents but there are a lot of cute little houses scattered throughout the village. There are a few hostels and campsites since some people spend the night. It also isn’t uncommon to be stuck on the island overnight since the weather can turn quickly so its recommended in case that happens. Luckily we had beautiful weather. I thought it would rain the entire time I was in Faroe Islands but I really lucked out with the weather. There is a small café on the island. I got fish stew but there ended up being a fly in it so I just ate some snacks I brought.
Back on Vagar, I stopped by Mulafossur Waterfall, which is one of the more well-known images of the Faroe Islands. It was a really beautiful waterfall. There actually used to be no tunnel to this side of the island and people had to hike for hours to get to this side.
The next day was a hiking day to Sorvagsvatn and what is called illusion lake. Hikes in the Faroe Islands generally cost money to do and are about $30 per person generally. The weather changed constantly during our hike, from sunny and hot to cold to rainy. The scenery is really beautiful and it wasn’t crowded when we were there although I’ve heard it does get crowded. We saw a lot of sheep and babies during the hike. Its about a 4.5 mile hike there and back. When we finally got to the Illusion Lake, it was a bit cloudy. The idea though is that the lake looks like its floating above the Ocean. It started to rain so we decided to skip Bøsdalafossur, which is a waterfall in that general area.
After hiking, we went to a café called Bakkastodini. The food there was really good. We got a salmon sandwich and seafood stew. They use fish skins to create the lights there so that was interesting to see.
EYSTUROY
Next, we finished the day driving to our Airbnb on the second largest island in the Faroes called Eysturoy to the small town of Gjogv. This town is in the North and the mountains of the Faroes. A lot of the roads in the Faroe Islands are narrow one way roads so there are random notches on the sides of the road for cars to pull over when you see another car coming. Of course many people don’t do what they should be doing which results in having to back down the mountain to find a notch if the person coming head on didn’t go into their respective notch. Not an idea way to drive and it will probably only get worse as the Faroe Islands get more and more tourists. It was actually more crowded than I expected, but some of the locals said it gets more crowded in July and August. Most months have non stop rain so that’s why there is a short range of months most people visit the Faroes.
Gjogv is a very pretty town, albeit tiny. However, it has been heavily advertised as one of THE places to see in the Faroe Islands so it was crowded for the tiny town. I had booked the only Airbnb on the island. Overall, the Airbnbs in the Faroes were a bit of a miss. This one we couldn’t get the internet going the first day and had to contact the owner, which wasn’t the end of the world, but this Airbnb also smelled musty and had the worlds smallest water heater. I literally only had time to shampoo my hair before the water turned ice cold. Not ideal after a four hour hike.
The next day, we drove to Saksun, which is one of the most photographed places in the Faroe Islands. If you google it, you will see a bunch of grass-roofed houses in a serene, peaceful environment. Y’all, visiting Saksun was a mistake! When researching Saksun, I was aware that there is a farmer who ones one of the houses and doesn’t like people to visit and take photos, so I was aware of that. Apparently, what I didn’t find was that he had started charging money to visit and the day I was headed there happened to be the day he was going to let people visit for free. None of this was on the internet, just something all of the Faroe Island people were aware of because it was nuts driving down the one lane road to get there and then nowhere to park. We decided to forget it after we got there and leave. The next day, we met a couple who had just come from there who said there was a car that had driven off the edge that day so it apparently isn’t just crazy on the free day. Either way, I’d suggest skipping all the drama. There are grass-roofed houses everywhere. What we did get to see in that general area is a pretty waterfall called Fossa. It is the tallest waterfall in the Faroe Islands so worth a stop, although the only place to park is on the side of the road.
Then we stopped by Rose’s café which is the only restaurant within probably two hours. Rose was super friendly and nice and the food was really good. That night, the locals apparently decided to take over some abandoned shack and have a dance party at 1AM. Check out the sky at 1AM.
So when I originally booked the dates in Gjogv, I didn’t realize there was a cultural evening at the Guesthouse in Gjogv, so we decided to hang around the area in order to attend. We went to the next town over in Eidi and got some grocery store sandwiches then went to Rose’s again for coffee to kill time before the event. So the event consisted of local food like fermented fish, fermented lamb, whale, regular lamb, and lots of potatoes and then had some local Faroese folk dancing and music. The folk dancing ended up just being one group dance at the end and the music was only maybe 5 songs when we were finished eating. While it was nice, I don’t think I’d go out of my way to go to Gjogv or to the cultural event.
BORDOY
The event ended around 9PM but luckily, it is never dark in the Faroe Islands in Summer so we could drive over to our next destination, Klaksvik. Klaksvik is the second largest city in the Faroes. It was a little difficult to find our Airbnb but it turned out to be my favorite one of the trip. Apparently we were in Klaksvik during a festival. I couldn’t find any information about it online but were informed by locals. We also happened to literally be in the middle of the festival. They had music and children’s activities set up right across the street from where we were staying. That evening, a nearby bar had a band play for the festival until 4AM.
So the reason we went to Klaksvik was to explore the islands to the East. A lot of people will stay in Klaksvik to visit Kalsoy by ferry, but it seemed pretty competitive to get to the island—waiting for the ferry an hour ahead and still may not make it on. The tunnels on that side were interesting. They were one way and only let one side go at a time so you’d be waiting to enter the tunnel sometimes for 10 minutes at a time while the other side came through. There is also the only “forest” on one of the islands in that area called Kunoy but that has a very narrow tunnel with two-way traffic and the tunnel is so narrow that people apparently would frequently get car damage. We went to Árnafjørður to check out a waterfall and a church. It was apparent that they weren’t any restaurants in any of these smaller towns and it was taking quite awhile to get through them with all of the one way tunnels, so we just decided to head back to Klaksvik and get something to eat.
Back in Klaksvik, most restaurants weren’t open yet since they mainly only open for dinner. We did find a café before heading back to the Airbnb. We could see the music performer from our window so that was entertaining for awhile. My Airbnb host informed me that around midnight, there would be fireworks and just wanted to let me know. So around midnight, I saw fireworks out in the distance for about five minutes and thought that was the end. I got in bed to go to sleep when suddenly around 12:30AM, I heard fireworks that sounded even closer! I looked out of my window and they were literally right over the house! It was one of the best (and closest) fireworks displays I’ve ever seen and lasted for a good 20 minutes. Then there was a little lantern parade before some music.
STREYMOY
The next day we headed to our last destination, the capital Torshavn and the surrounding areas. I was looking forward to driving through the newly built tunnel, Eysturoyartunnilin. The undersea tunnel is almost seven miles long and had the first underwater roundabout in the world, with sculptures and cool lights. It was pretty fun driving through.
Before heading to our Airbnb, we stopped in Kirkjobour. This little spot by the ocean has three of the most historically significant sites in all of the Faroe Islands. These spots are St. Magnus Cathedral, St. Olav’s Church, and the old farmhouse, Kirkjuboargardur. It was like being in an open-air museum being able to visit these places.
St. Magnus Cathedral was initially built in the 1300’s, but never roofed so it remains the largest medieval building (ruins) in the Faroe Islands.
St. Olav’s Church dates back to the 12th century and is still in use today, making it the oldest church in the Faroe Islands that is still being used.
Kirkjuboargardur, literally meaning “King’s Farm,” is the oldest still inhabited wooden house in the world. Back in the 11th century, it was initially used as the episcopal residence and seminary of the Diocese of the Faroe Islands. Legend has it that the wood for the house came as driftwood from Norway. Since there aren’t really trees on the island due to the harsh winds, wood here is very valuable.
After Kirkjobour, we checked into our Airbnb right in the heart of the city and with an amazing view and location. The décor in the Airbnb was very grandma’s attic. We quickly got settled and headed to the restaurant Kristina Christiansen. Every Sunday, they have a set menu of Sunday supper, consisting of lamb, potatoes, rhubarb, cabbage and peas. Everything was delicious! Everything we ate in the Faroe Islands was delicious in general, but hard to find.
So then there was some Airbnb drama. Construction woke us up at 6AM, literally right behind the wall of one of the bedrooms, so we ended up getting an early start. We ate some breakfast we had on hand and headed to Foroya Natturugripasavn, otherwise known as the National Museum. The museum had real life Viking ships. Apparently the sails of the Viking ships were made of wool and there are no full sails ever found fully intact. There was also a lot of information about whale hunting and whale bones. Overall, a very unique museum and worth going to, as I’m not really a museum person.
Included in the ticket is admission to the Open Air Museum across the street. They are in the process of trying to make it more of a replica of an old village but currently have a farm home set up as it would have used to look like. We were the only ones in the farmhouse so we chatted with the person who works there for awhile. He told us some interesting things about the Faroe Islands, like we noticed there wasn’t any liquor stores anywhere and all the “wine” and “beer” in the grocery stores was non-alcoholic. He said the Faroe Islands have a long history of alcoholism, so they only really allow alcohol to be sold at restaurants. He also said a lot of the Faroe people are a little resentful to Denmark, as they don’t like how Denmark tried to make them all speak Danish and pushed their culture on them. However, there hasn’t been a lot of trying to take over the Faroe Islands and they were thriving during World War II. He also said there is no homelessness or unemployment on the island (I guess so—they have construction workers working at all hours of the night apparently).
We headed back to the Airbnb and construction was still happening. There wasn’t any food places open for a quick snack so we just ate what he had on hand until dinner reservations. Finally around 5pm, the construction workers went home and we left for our dinner reservations. On the way there, we stopped at Tinganes. Parliament met there for the first time in the Viking ages when Norwegian colonists placed their Ting (parliament) on the location in 825. It is one of the oldest parliamentary meeting places in the world.
Barbara Fish House was our dinner destination. Like most of the restaurants in Torshavn, they pretty much have a set menu of which you can either order 3 or 5 courses. We ordered three courses and were served monkfish (which I don’t think I’d ever had before and it was really good) and ceviche.
Back at the Airbnb, apparently construction had started up again. Now they were tearing up the road that was right in front of my window so I couldn’t sleep. They finally stopped at 3AM, only to have the 6AM crew come three hours later to start on the behind the wall construction.
That morning, we were trying to navigate making a boat ride 30 minutes away over the mountains through fog along with figuring out what to do about the construction with Airbnb and the host. We arrived for the boat in Vestmanna with minutes to spare before it set off. This boat tour is meant to drive along the cliffs so you can see all the birds, as a total of 305 bird species have been recorded in the Faroe Islands. There were some puffins, too, but were pretty far away and fast so I couldn’t see them in my binoculars, but we saw so many at the beginning of the trip so that was fine. We also went close to the salmon farms where we saw salmon jumping and seals waiting close by to catch some.
Back at the Airbnb where construction was still going on, we ate some more of what we had on hand since the restaurants were closed until dinner time while I came to an agreement with the Airbnb host. We were reimbursed for one out of the three nights we paid for and she was going to pay for a hotel for us to stay this last night so we packed everything up in order to bring up the car and load it after dinner (our dinner reservations were in town and we had to park kind of far away since we got a ticket for parking close to the apartment where the host had okayed).
Dinner, once again, was great! We had the three course set menu with lamb. Then we headed back to the Airbnb to get our stuff and check into the hotel she booked, Hotel Foroyar. The hotel was really nice! It was about ten minutes outside the city center by car, but that was fine since we were leaving to head home the next day so no longer needed to be in the city center. The stay also included breakfast, which was nice to fill up before heading to the airport. The airport was about 40 minutes away and was easy to quickly get through check in and security, as it is tiny! It only has two gates and the only places to buy anything beyond security is duty-free and a counter to get coffee.
Overall, the Faroe Islands were very beautiful and unique! I definitely had a lot of Airbnb (and sleeping) issues so I would suggest staying in hotels in the Faroe Islands, but this is really the only place Ive had issues when staying in Airbnbs. It was more crowded than I expected so if you are thinking of going, better go soon before it blows up as a tourist destination (and definitely have some food on hand from the grocery store as there aren’t lots of restaurants and the restaurants are only open during certain hours. You definitely won’t gain weight in the Faroe Islands!)
