Summer in the Faroe Islands
Turf-roofed houses in the village of Leynar in the Faroe Islands
The most common question that came up when I told my friends and family that I was going to the Faroe Islands was, “…where?”. This gorgeous Nordic destination is surprisingly not well-known, despite having excellent road/tunnel/bridge infrastructure and a population that is very friendly to tourists.
This remote set of islands between Norway and Iceland first caught my attention due to a news article I found years ago - https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/sheepview360/thanks-sheep-view-faroe-islands-now-google-street-view/. In an effort to convince Google to feature the Faroe Islands with their Street View feature, a resident of the islands began strapping cameras to the backs of sheep to create Sheep View. Google thought the effort was “sheer brilliance”, and eventually agreed to implement Street View for the islands. The charm contained in this small story was enough to convince me that I needed to visit this magical place.
My name is Andrew Snyder, an Eastern Pennsylvania-based landscape photographer. I recently moved here from Southern California. This trip report & my other Trip Reports focus on images, scenery, and wildlife, and provide a few travel tips if you’re interested in taking a trip of your own. This page is not necessarily a travel guide, although there are a few recommendations below. You can find great resources for traveling to the Faroe Islands on many sites, including this excellent one - https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/. I hope you enjoy the many beautiful sights of this unique set of islands.
Table of contents
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Overview
The Faroe Islands are a remote and scenic set of islands with jagged sea cliffs, lush green hillsides, and many small villages that are full of charm. I spent 10 days on the islands in early July 2021 just a few weeks after the travel regulations due to COVID in the US and the Faroe Islands allowed travel for American tourists. I were required to take a few COVID tests before and during the trip.
Here are a few tips if you’re considering traveling to the Faroe Islands.
Download an offline map for the Faroe Islands using Google Maps: Using the offline maps feature in Google Maps allows you to get travel directions with your phone without cell service.
Pack snacks when you leave the hotel / guesthouse: While there are cafes and restaurants on the islands, their hours are limited and you may not be able to find one near you. Pack some food and drinks with you when you head out in the morning rather than relying on restaurants for all meals.
Be aware of Sunday hours: Just like in the US, some restaurants and stores are open different hours on the weekends. Since there are so few cafes and restaurants on the islands, you may struggle to find somewhere to eat on Sunday depending on where you are staying. You may want to pack a portable meal or two just in case.
Most restaurants had English menus available. I downloaded the Danish language pack for the Google Translate app on my phone in hopes that it would allow me to read the ingredients on food packaging. Unfortunately this only worked about 5% of the time, perhaps because most food packaging was written in Faroese rather than Danish.
The only time when I needed to use cash on the islands was on the ferry from Klaksvik to Kalsoy. I used my credit cards for all other purchases and had no issues. Check with your credit card provider to see if you have international transaction fees (typically 3%) on your credit card.
Around Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital city of the Faroe Islands, and is a delightful place for any tourist to visit. There are many restaurants, shops, outdoor parks, and a harbor down at the water. Given the small size of the Faroe Islands, a tourist could make Tórshavn their base of operations and drive out to visit other areas. I chose to spend a few days here, then a few days in various other places rather than spend my entire trip at one spot.
The small scenic village of Kirkjubøur is roughly a 10 minute drive from Tórshavn, and is worth the visit. It has a cathedral that was built in the 1300s, as well as some of the classic turf roofed houses that are a must-see on the Faroe Islands.
Magnus Cathedral, located just 10 minutes outside the city of Tórshavn in the town of Kirkjubøur
2 large guns were placed here at the Tórshavn harbor during the British occupation of the Faroe Islands during WWII
Lighthouse down by the harbor in Tórshavn
The village of Gjógv (“gorge”)
This gorgeous village delights you before you even arrive. The drive to Gjógv is packed full of scenery that gets better and better as you get closer. When I finally spotted the colorful buildings in Gjógv at the end of the road down below me, I quickly searched for the nearest pullout on the road so that I could take a few minutes and absorb the panoramic vista.
The village has a small guesthouse where you can spend a few nights. There are some hiking trails on the northwest side of town that bring you high up above the town, although they eventually end when the hillside gets too steep to continue safely. An unassuming sign is planted in the field telling hikers to turn around at this point.
If you’re not in the mood for a hike, a few walking paths along the shore provide scenic ocean views. You may even be able to see the towering cliffs on the west face of Kalsoy and the lighthouse if the skies are clear (see photos of Kalsoy here - Kalsoy - the lighthouse and the seal woman statue (aka. Kópakonan)
The gorge that the village of Gjógv is named after
The arctic tern
The village of Gjógv along with its namesake gorge in the bottom left of the photo. During my 3 days here the mountaintops were shrouded in clouds nearly all the time, except on this one lucky morning where I was blessed with sunshine.
Vestmanna Bird Cliffs, Lake Above the Ocean, and Múlafossur waterfall
These 3 destinations are not far from one another, so I’ve put them together in one section.
The Vestmanna Bird Cliffs are accessibly only by boat. A visitors’ center that along the water in the town of Vestmanna serves as the starting point for the trip. This center also has a restaurant and one of the nicest souvenir shops I saw on the islands. Once on the water the boat cruises slowly along the shore while passengers take in the scenery and scout for birds. There were a few gaps in the cliffs that my boat went into, bringing us closer to the walls. The boat even navigated through some narrow rock caves, adding some extra excitement to the excursion. The tops of the towering rock columns were often covered in fog, creating a mysterious and picturesque effect.
Prints available - Vestmanna Sea Cliffs
The Vestmanna Bird Cliffs
One of the narrow passageways that the boat ventured into
The Lake Above the Ocean is a massive lake sitting at the base of the main airport on the islands. A few mile hike leads you to a spot along the side of the lake where sea cliffs rise up beside you. If you hike up along the cliffs and look back towards the lake, the lake begins to look like it is sitting hundreds of feet above the ocean. Pictures only capture a single angle of the gorgeous sights here - this viewpoint is much better in person since there is scenery is every direction.
The Lake Above the Ocean - an optical illusion makes this lake appear hundreds of feet above the ocean
Glance just to the right when looking at the Lake Above the Ocean and you’ll be greeted with another beautiful view
A baby Scottish Highland Cow relaxing at the entrance gate for the hike to the Lake Above the Ocean
Lastly the Múlafossur waterfall is one of the more accessibly sights on the islands. It sits surprisingly close to the road leading into the village of Gásadalur, and it falls directly into the ocean. From the most popular viewpoint you will be able to see the village above the waterfall, and (depending on the weather) the tall mountain looming just behind the village. There were even a few puffins relaxing on the cliffs by the falls and in the ocean below.
Prints available - Múlafossur waterfall with the village of Gásadalur behind it
A cute dog roams around the village of Gásadalur and enjoys playing with tourists visiting the waterfall
The waterfall is so nice they named a beer after it
Mykines to see puffins
The island of Mykines was one of the highlights of the trip. It’s accessible via 40-ish minute ferry ride from one of the main islands, although the ferry is cancelled if the seas are rough. Cancellation happens quite often, although thankfully not on my trip. After arriving on the island, a steep climb away from the water brings you to the small beautiful village. A trail climbs up the hillside leading to the puffin colony, where visitors are asked to stay on the trail to avoid disturbing the puffins or accidentally stepping into one of their burrows.
I expected to see a few puffins, but my expectations were far exceeded! There were so many more than I expected. A “puffin tornado” formed on the north side of the island, where puffins flew clockwise in a swarm above the ocean for hours while I was there. I sat on the trail and took in the beautiful colors of the puffins. They are surprisingly quiet birds (unlike gulls and some other noisy sea birds), so the primary sound that I heard as I relaxed near the trail was the flapping of their tiny wings.
The island of Mykines is home to 125,000 breeding pairs of puffins. If you visit the Faroe Islands, I highly recommend visiting this incredible island.
The puffins would periodically stretch their wings out slowly, bring them back in, and then shake quickly as if they were just waking up from a nap
The puffin colony. Their awkward rapid flapping made them easy to spot when mixed in with other birds during flight.
The village of Mykines. The trail to see the puffins is on the left of the fence on the far upper left of this photo.
Prints available - Relaxing puffin
A few sheep roam the hillside along with the puffins
The puffins looked curiously in each direction while mostly standing still
Saksun
Saksun is a small village with just 9 residents that is full of charm. The turf roofed houses are flanked by mountains with a waterfall to the north. The harbor at the base of the village is only accessible to small boats at high tide due since it was obstructed with sand during a storm in the past. I recommend visiting at low tide so that you can walk along the sandy shore of the water all the way out to the ocean.
Saksun
Saksun viewed from the water
The national bird of the Faroe Islands - the oystercatcher
Black sand has blocked the harbor, making in inaccessible to ships
Waterfall above the Saksun harbor
Kalsoy - the lighthouse and the seal woman statue (aka. Kópakonan)
The island of Kalsoy isn’t accessible via car, but visitors can take the ferry from the large town of Klaksvik. There’s no need to bring your car on the ferry since there is bus service on the island that will comfortably take you to the main destinations, including the popular hike to the lighthouse at the far northern end and the beautiful seal woman statue. Food options are very limited on the island, so bring your own. I was happy to find a house near the lighthouse hike starting point that was selling coffee, along with eggs, cured meats, and some other goods.
The Kalsoy Lighthouse. The hike to get here cuts left along the hillside.
After hiking to the lighthouse I was delighted to find a house in the local village selling coffee and other goods
Kópakonan (aka. the seal woman)
Steps leading down to the Seal Woman statue from the small village above