The Faroe Islands 07.2023

To visit these emerald green islands had been my dream since 2018 after visiting Iceland. Despite the fact that they are situated not so far from mainland Europe and there is a reliable flight schedule, I hadn’t found the time to have a trip there before we decided to do it in July 2023. This venture became a family matter because only relatives took part in it. My brother, cousin and son agreed to spend a week together and have fun hiking and socialising in a really unusual landscape.

July is the best month to visit these northern islands and to have relatively warm weather (about 10C and sometimes up to 18C). There were even a couple of sunny days among rainy and foggy weeks. So unexpectedly.

The best way to get to the Faroe Islands is a direct flight from Copenhagen. Especially if you don’t have enough time to use a ferry. Using a ferry service can be even more cost-effective if we take into account prices for rental cars, but it takes a couple of days to get there and the same to come back. We didn’t have an additional week, that is why I decided to catch a plane. As an additional benefit was a lovely evening in Copenhagen with warm weather and a glass of tasty cool local beer.

Day 1.

We had arrived at the Vagar Airport in the afternoon and felt a profound difference between the weather in Copenhagen and there in the middle of the Northern Atlantic Ocean. It was raining and air temperature was about 10C. Not so warm if we take into account that it was the start of July.

The Vagar Airport is the only international airport there and it is situated on a different island from capital — Torshavn. That isn’t sirprising if you consider ragged terrain and a lot of mountains on Streymoy island. Furthermore, it could have been the only suitable place for an airport.

We successfully picked up our rental car and decided to drive to the campsite near Torshavn along the sea shore. It was a convenient way to stay in a picturesque place and have an access to the town with its museums, shops and restaurants. Actually, we had a plan to visit interesting places around the archipelago, to hike and to enjoy unusual landscapes, but before that we wanted to walk in town streets and feel the vibe of that remote corner of the world.

The campsite with unpretentious name Torshavn Camping had many lots for caravans and for tents. A really convenient public dining room, modern kitchen with hot tap water and even with a dishwasher!

Torshavn campsite

We parked our car, deployed the tent and rushed to walk in the town. Torshavn is a small town of about 13,000 inhabitants, but it is the main sea gate to the country if I can call this autonomous Danish region so. Actually, the Faroe Islands have all signs of every country — flag, language, money and ancient culture. The most interesting thing is that it is only for less than 50,000 people. I am really proud of Faroese’s ability to preserve their roots and traditions in our turbulent world. Despite the fact that Torshavn is small, it has its own vibe and charm. These islands are mostly forestless. But we saw a lot of trees in the town, even quite tall and old. It was so cute, especially in combination with grassy roofs and unique old houses.

Torshavn’s harbour

But especially cute were houses along the seashore with sea view

That day was remarkable because of a combination of different feelings: new country, we were together with my relatives and had a nice walk in Torshavn.

Day 2.

Next morning was cloudy and sometimes rainy. The temperature dropped below usual 10C and reached 8C. But we desperately wanted to escape from even modest civilization and to be dissolved in the nature, to feel severe beauty of Northern landscapes and to leave all our problems lag behind. I had mapped out an interesting hiking trail in the Northern part of the biggest island, named Stremoy (the same island where Torshavn is situated) and we had to drive 50 km from the southern tip of the island to the northern part of it. We had breakfast in relaxing vibe inside camping dining room and only morning coffee was outside to absorb energy from the sea and in order to have some privacy.

After breakfast we packed our backpacks and departed for the start of the trail. Sometimes driving can be boring, but not that time. Thanks to unusual landscape and a lot of cute houses, observing surrounding views became a separate pleasant activity.

Unusual combination of ancient raw materials and modern roof windows

Common technique of building churches on the Faroe Islands

Our route started from Saksun, a small village with a dozen of small houses and a church with a cemetery. The trail had really steep upheaval and we should climb to the pass with the difference in altitude of about 500 meters. But it wasn’t the end. There was descent to Tjornvik village with a picturesque harbor and the same way back. The total distance back and forth was about 14 km with about 1 km altitude difference.

There were a lot of breathtaking views during our hiking activity, but the weather was becoming worse and worse. Especially bad weather conditions were directly on the pass with really strong wind and fog.

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Cute church in Saksun

Lagoon near Saksu nvillage

Really cute place to contemplate the nature

Double waterfall

Tjornuvik Village

Due to the fact that we needed to come back using the same trail, it was really convenient to have dinner on the beach with black volcanic sand in Tjornuvik village. It was amazing to drink hot tea and coffee while high waves were hitting the shore. The weather became sunnier and, I think, it was even possible to have a nap while we were listening to rote.

According to posters near the bus stop, that harbor was a local heaven for surfers and even a place for a small school that could teach us to surf. But we decided that upgrading our skills in such an unusual sport would be too much for that day. Especially if we take into account the fact that the school was closed. Although the ocean called us and we responded with walking at surf edge.

It is our small tradition. If not swim then to cool our feet in every water reservoir whether it is a lake, river, sea or ocean.

After dinner we successfully came back and drove to our campsite.

Day 3.

The previous day was so exhausting that we decided to have a small break in our outdoor activities and visit a local history museum and a botanical garden near Torshavn. Actually, the botanical garden became a total disappointment:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/39bTfEyhK_o

After that flowerbed or maybe garden bed accidentally named ‘botanical garden’ I thought the museum would be the same. But I was wrong. It was not a local history museum, but the Faroe Islands National Museum, and it definitely was worth visiting. It covered the whole span of history from early days to modern time and revealed a lot of interesting facts to me.

Leather sail

Rock climber collects puffins and eggs

Day 4.

That morning we decided to stay in another campsite. We wanted to be not so close to the capital and a little bit closer to our next hiking trail. Despite the fact that our next destination was on the big eastern island named Borðoy (even on the northern tip of that island), we chose a campsite on Eysturoy island. It wasn’t so remote and we had an ability to buy necessities nearby. Furthermore, it was comfortable enough to accommodate our gang. There were all useful amenities such as shower, warm living room and a kitchen. Last but not least, it was cheaper than the previous one. Its name was Æðuvík Camping.

To get there, we had to drive through the amazing Eysturoyartunnilin tunnel. It has a length of more than 11 km, but it isn’t the most impressive fact. There is a roundabout inside the tunnel! It is the first time in the world history that a tunnel contains such an expensive element of road infrastructure. I thought about that engineering fact while I was driving there and wondered about the attractiveness of the project for the investors. It was insanely expensive to build that tunnel. And if we take into account the population of the Faroe islands (less than 50,000), I think it will never be repaid.

When we arrived at the campsite, it turned out that they accepted only cash and it lead to an interesting discovery. A lot of local ATMs supported rare and unique languages:

Having successfully deployed our tents and paid for the campsite, we departed for a small village called Viðareiði on the Northern part of that island. I suppose that it is one out of two most northern villages on the Faroe Islands along with Trøllanes on Kalsoy island. There was an interesting hiking trail and it was even marked on Google maps. That gave us hope to hike without any problems. Actually, on the Faroe islands the whole surface of the archipelago is private and, furthermore, is fenced with barbed wire or some electric wire fences to prevent roaming sheep from crossing boundaries of farmers’ land. And it is really difficult, even if we let alone legitimacy, to hike wherever one wants. That is why hiking routes are rare, private and have toll booths in the most popular places to visit. That particular trail in the remote corner of the Faroe islands isn’t so frequently visited by tourists to afford some gatekeeper. That is why there was only a mailbox with an inscription telling people to put toll of 200 krones per person inside. Such a fancy way to have additional income. But the trail was worth that money:

Viðareið ivillage

Roman, Serhii, Oleksander

Andrii and Roman

Figroy and Svinoy islands

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The total length of our hiking was 7 km and the upheaval was 770 m.

Day 5.

That day we decided to visit another hiking trail. It was an extraordinary place because of stunning sea views and a dirt path along sheer cliffs. It was situated in a small village called Gjogv and was quite popular with tourists.

Trail on the edge of sheer cliffs

There was the same approach to collecting tolls — just a mailbox and gates that didn’t let sheep escape. But the number of tourists was much bigger. After kilometer or so the trail was split into two. The short one lead back to the village and the long one encircled a nearby mountain named Fjallið and finished in the same point where we started. It was obvious that the longer trail gave more opportunity to imbue that amazing beauty into our souls and there was at least a tiny chance to preserve it for some time. Actually, it was so romantic to walk along the rim of the abyss with cold but beautiful Atlantic ocean on the right hand and roaming and chewing sheep in green ocean of emerald grass on the left hand that we even didn’t understand how it was possible to get into some dangerous trap.

Our footpath was becoming more narrow meter by meter and, finally, we found ourselves standing on a really slippery scree 30 centimeters wide between the rock wall and sheer cliff. It was obvious that only one wrong step could lead to falling down to the sea with immediate death. It was so unexpected that our peaceful hiking turned into hazardous climbing without any delay and I felt abashed. Furthermore, I was responsible not only for myself and my friends but for my son. Fortunately, we managed to come back and find the right way much higher than that risky one. But that awful picture of possible disaster made me tremble for a long period of time.

We came back to our campsite relatively early and Oleksander, as the most potent chef among us, decided to cook fish soup and to celebrate our happy salvation. But there was an unexpected obstacle — we couldn’t find fresh fish, only frozen. It was really strange, especially if we take into account that every suitable location between islands was occupied by salmon fish farms. As far as I understood, that location was almost ideal — narrow straits protected against northern storms and strong winds. But at the same time with good circulation of water.

Huge fish tanks for growing salmon

Such an irony not to have access to fresh fish in a country where fish is a pivot of local economy. But every supermarket offered only deeply frozen salmon and dried codfish. After visiting all local shops in the town nearby we surrendered and bought frozen salmon. You know, the result was perfect too. The dinner was amazing — hot fish soup accompanied by cold local vodka infused with herbs, and even clouds disappeared and let us bask a little on an open terrace. And if we remember that it was the middle of summer with long days and without actual nights (only twilight after midnight), then it isn’t difficult to imagine that that evening was almost endless.

Day 6.

After such a beautiful evening, next morning was really bad — totally overcast. And the forecast promised heavy rain in an hour. Maybe it was better to spend that day in a living room playing board games and sipping hot tea if not something hotter. but we didn’t have so much time. It was obvious that if we wanted to see something exciting, we would have to go outside.

There was maybe the most popular tourist sight — the “Floating lake” that we hadn’t visited. But it definitely was worth seeing. The internet was full of pictures of that optical illusion and we had to hike there. That lake is called Leitisvatn and it is situated right next to the airport. Such a convenient position — just catch a plane, hike a little, and fly back.

The trail to that lake was neither long (only about 2.5 km) nor hard. But this is true only if we are talking about good weather. Unfortunately, our weather went from bad to worse. It was raining and strong wind wanted to sweep us as far as possible.

Because of the popularity of that trail, there was a cashdesk and even a small shop with two young girls as guides and cashiers. As always, that tiny hut had a grass roof, and that fact contributed a lot to the authenticity of the place.

Entrance to the trail

We bought our tickets and started our stroll. It became a real challenge for Roma because he had forgotten his rain trousers and became wet in one minute. But he didn’t surrender and kept walking.

Actually, that stunning view was worth all those inconveniences and we felt satisfied.

“Floating lake” Leitisvatn

Lake outlet in the shape of a waterfall

We spent about two hours accomplishing that excursion and finished completely wet inside a small grass-roofed hut. It was a real pleasure to sip hot tea from Oleksander’s thermos while observing downpour outside. Nothing personal, just regular Faroe weather. Fortunately, our car wasn’t so far and we could get in there fast. The weather was so bad that girls the cashier girls even offered us to visit that trail the next day without any payment.

We spent the rest of the day in the campsite playing board games and drying our clothes.

Day 7.

That morning started with a fog and still weather. It was our last day and we wanted to celebrate it somehow. Our chef Oleksander prepared shish kebab and we needed only some embers to cook it. But it was a problem — there wasn’t any firewood or charcoal, and we need to buy something. Fortunately, there was a shop nearby that opened at 8 a.m. and I managed to find a pack of charcoal. It was really exciting to cook food with a severe northern sea view and a deep feeling of farewell with amazing nature. But the funniest thing was that our breakfast was an example of globalization. Meat for shish kebab was from New Zealand, Egyptian onion, Ukrainian guys who cooked on the Faroe islands using charcoal from coconuts husks. Furthermore, we used modern equipment.

Our cosmic brazier

After such an unusual breakfast the weather completely changed. It became sunny with high blue sky and even without a hint of the storm the day before or morning fog. I think it was a farewell gift and we had to accept it and use as soon as possible. Actually, only half a day was left and we decided to have a little stroll in the most western part of the Faroe islands: to the Mulafossur waterfall and a small village named Gassadalur. Those sites weren’t far away from the airport and it meant that we had enough time to visit them.

Mulafossur waterfall and Gassadalu rvillage

That place gave us a real farewell gift, not only sun instead of clouds. We could see puffins in the wild nature, but so close, only about 3 meters away from the trail. It was the most fascinating impression from that trip in general, even comparable with coming across a deer or another big fauna on my previous journeys. Only observing grizzly bear in the Kolyma region in Russia was more amazing. I even immediately quit the idea of eating puffin burger, despite the fact that I had eaten it in Iceland and wanted to repeat that experience. They were so cute:

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Feeling some unity with the nature, with that amazing country, we finished our trip with visiting a small but fancy family restaraunt with a sea view which I highly recommend for tasty local food.

After relishing ourselves with local beer and delicious meals, we decided to walk a little in another small village named Sørvágur. There were only 4 km to the airport any we had plenty of time before our flight.

That place has its own unique vibe full of tranquility and some centuries old order. But, at the same time, it was modern and full of life. I really liked its cute small houses, amazing children were running along the beach and even swimming in cold water, small stunted but such proud trees and willpower of local inhabitants to live and thrive in such harsh conditions. I really admire their ability to preserve ancient culture and customs, but most of all their love for these remote islands in the middle of nowhere. It means a lot. And now I love that land too.