Faroe Islands: Land of Sheep
I hate to admit it, but I actually discovered this archipelago of islands on Instagram. I follow a lot of travel bloggers, and I kept seeing these dramatic green cliffs and stunning waterfalls. I threw out the idea of visiting to my friend Mara, and she agreed within a few seconds.
As you can see below, these islands are in between Iceland and Norway, but part of Denmark. The archipelago consists of 18 islands, all unique and beautiful in their own different way.
Logistics -
Flights: We flew SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) from NY —> Copenhagen —> Faroe. I’m here to tell you right now that the SAS website is absolutely horrible (which is kind of shocking). Links don’t work, navigation is confusing, and I literally could not book a ticket through the website. We ended up just booking flights through Expedia/Priceline, which was just fine.
Car Rental: Driving is really easy here, and given that this was going to be a hiking trip, we knew we’d need a car to get to trailheads. We ended up booking through a company called 62°N. The process was easy, but it did cost $1,000/total for a full week (worth it, though).
Recommended to get a WiFi stick and an unlimited tunnel toll option.
Accommodations: We got an apartment off Airbnb in Tórshavn, the capital of Faroe Islands. The apartment was very spacious and comfortable, and the host was responsive and super helpful. The apartment was located a little outside of city center, so we had a panoramic view of the entire city/bay.
Because of how small the islands are, we were able to stay in one place the entire time (makes planning easy!)
Day 1: Arrival in Land of the Sheep
Stops: Tórshavn, Fossá Waterfall, Tjørnuvík
Faroe means sheep in Faroease and FYI - sheep own the place. You’ll likely see them on the road within a few minutes.
We landed in Vagar Airport at around noon, so still had a chunk of time to get settled in & explore. We hda a 45 minute drive to the capital, Tórshavn.
We had a slightly tricky journey there since one of the main roads, Oyggjarvegur, was through the mountains and we had poor visibility that day. If this is the case, just be careful. We were lucky and this was only the case the first day. Visibility was better all other days and the drive was incredibly scenic!
After dropping off our stuff, we headed into city center to grab a bite. We stopped at Kaffihúsið, which was a little cafe by the port. We then set off to the Fossá Waterfall, which was about a 45 minute drive.
You’ll pretty much see the waterfall right off the side of the highway. There isn’t a parking lot, so we just pulled off on the side of the road. (I’d imagine as tourism picks up in the Faroe Islands, the country will have to start building parking lots for all of the hiking attractions).
There are 3 layers to the waterfall with no clearly marked trails. It’s pretty much a free for all, but there was a map semi-outlining how to get to the second tier (see below). As you can see, there is also a white line at the very top (3rd tier). Mara & I couldn’t figure out how to get up there, although I’m sure there is a way. Either way, it was so much fun scurrying around all the rocks. We ended up driving near the Fossá Waterfall a few times, and we always checked back in to see if the water flow increased after rain.
After the waterfall, we continued our drive North for approximately 50 minutes to reach this small town called Tjørnuvík, situated on an epic black sand beach.
That’s a wrap for day one. We did some grocery shopping (several options in dontown Tórshavn) and popped a pizza in the oven for dinner. We had several big days ahead of us, so we kept it lowkey.
Day 2: 30th Birthday Adventure
Today, Mara turned 30! We celebrated by hiking the most dangerous trail on the Faroe Islands (allegedly) - Drangarnir. It was hands down one of the coolest hikes I’ve been on, and couldn’t recommend it more. A few helpful tips if you plan to do this hike as well -
This hike must be done with a guide since it’s technically through private land. You can book the tour here.
Only available Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday
Where to find the start off point: Just put the gas station in the town of Sørvágur in Google Maps.
Duration: 5-6 hours; departs at 11am.
Although other blogs/reviews mention it being terrifying, we luckily got relatively decent weather, so we felt safe the entire time. There are also only a few steep cliffs, so if you are afraid of heights, you’re not walking along a cliff edge the entire time (always look for the silver lining, folks).
It was one of the most unique hikes I’ve ever done. Views the entire time were stunning and I couldn’t get over the island & rock formations. The hike was a good mix of flat/steady ascent to steep. Our guide pretty much just led the way and kept us safe, so don’t worry about being talked at for 6 hours.
OUT OF THIS WORLD, right? I believe we ended up finishing the hike around 16:30, so a good 5.5 hours. My knees/Mara’s ankles were definitely sore, so we knew it was a dinner & crash kind of night.
We had Mara’s birthday dinner at THE TARV. I did make a reservation in advance, although we were there on a Wednesday evening so it wasn’t super crowded. The meats/fishes there are very good, and I recommend getting the salmon at every place you go to since it’s so fresh there. We pretty much had a 3 course meal and called it a night. Another big day on day three…
Day 3: My 25th Birthday Adventure
I wasn’t allowed to freak out about turning 25 (Mara made sure of it).
We started off the morning grabbing croissants/coffee at Paname Café in downtown Tórshavn.
Stops for the Day: Sørvágsvatn, Saksun, & Múlafossur
Sørvágsvatn (40 minutes away) - the famous optical illusion of the hanging lake over a cliff. Heads up - when we went, the mail trailhead on Google Maps was closed for construction. There was a little map/directions on how to access the trailhead, which we think is this hike. We had to pay a small fee and then we were off.
The trail was a very slow ascent, which was perfect for my sore knees. However, with time, the winds picked up and became ferocious. I’m not even exaggerating, it was difficult to stand at times. It got to a point where the wind was so bad, we couldn’t make it to the very top. However, we were still able to get a glimpse of what the optical illusion looks like, and we very much noticed the steep cliffs everywhere.
Múlafossur (20 minutes from Sørvágsvatn) - the most epic of waterfalls. Except, this was going to be attempt #1 of the trip because the winds decided to follow us to the waterfall. The wind was so brutal I didn’t even bother pulling out my iPhone to take a picture out of fear that it would fly out of my hand. Mara managed to stap one shot on her Fuji, which, all things considered, ended up looking pretty badass.
Saksun (1 hour from Múlafossur) - We knew we needed to drive inland and avoid cliff edges due to the weather, so we drove to Saksun, a small village known for its green-grass roofs. We were right, there was no wind here and we had the place pretty much to ourselves to scurry around the waterfalls and hills (I primarily limped becuase of my knee).
We ended my birthday at Katrina Christiansen, where we had a 4 course meal (oops). So, we definitely walked around Tórshavn to balance it out.
Day 4: Faroe Island Hopping
We were heading towards the Northern islands today, so a little bit further from all the places we’d been to thus far. Quick thing to note - some islands you can drive to, others require a ferry. We wanted to visit the island of Kalsoy, which requires a ferry from Klaksvik. You can find the ferry schedule here. This was 1 hour 5 minutes away.
For the ferry to Kalsoy, get there ~45 minutes early. While that might seem obnoxious, it’s not that large of a ferry, so they only fit so many cars. For peace of mind, just get there well in advance to ensure a spot on the ferry, since ferries do not run super frequently. I’m a little fuzzy on the price, but it wasn’t more than $15/total. Once you’re on the ferry, it’s a quick 20 minutes to Kalsoy! The views from the ferry were also beautiful.
Once you get to Kalsoy, don’t worry about directions - there’s only one road from one end of the island to the other. The hike we were going to is called Trøllanes, which will take you to the Kallur Lighthouse at the top. The trailhead is basically at the other end of the island and you will clearly see parking in “town.” A few tips about visiting this island -
Pack food. There is literally no where to buy food on this island, except a small shack that has a few basics. Mara & I were craving hot chocolate at the end of the hike, and luckily they did have that.
Keep an eye on time as there are limited ferries back to Klaksvik.
Be prepared for mud!
Sheep own the place, as per usual.
Wind/visibility was also rough, as per usual.
After leaving Kalsoy, we decided to try our luck with Múlafossur again, and I’m so glad we chanced it because there was NO wind and SUNSHINE and no other tourists! A Faroe miracle. This was a slightly longer 1 hour 25 minute drive, but it didn’t phase us (if you read my Southwest roadtrip post, you’ll know that we’ve driven 3+ hours at a time to get from A to B).
I highly recommend taking your time and walking around the area - there are some picnic tables across the river that leads into the waterfall, with different views of Drangarnir (the hike we did earlier).
I could post a million pictures at this waterfall, but I’m just going to assume readers will go there in person.
Because the weather was in our favor, we drove to Trøllkonufingur (30 minutes south), which was another viewpoint on the island. It’s a quick 15-20 minute walk, nothing too strenuous.
We had dinner back in Tórshavn at Essabarr which had bagels! As a New Yorker, I was missing bagels, so it was the perfect treat.
Day 5: Neverending Rainbows & More Cliffs
Stops: Gjogv, Vestmanna Cliffs Boat Tour
We took the day to pause on our driving route to take more pictures than the other days. As I had mentioned earlier on, Oyggjarvegur is a great road for incredible views of all of the islands. We got solid visibility most days, so below are some roadside shots (sprinkled in with rainbows).
We took Oyggjarvegur to another Northern coastal town called Gjogv (unclear how to pronounce it). To sum it up, this little town looked and felt like a fairytale. We found streetside parking and grabbed breakfast at the Gjaargardur Guesthouse Gjogv where they have a little restaurant. We had pancakes (basically crepes) and more coffee before wandering around town.
There’s no set trail here. Take it upon yourself to walk wherever you want. Note that in the steps down to the water, there is a walkway up the cliff edge where you can catch a view of Gjogv.
After Gjogv, we had a reservation for the Vestmanna Cliffs Boat Tour. You can make a reservation here. They have about 3-4 tour times/day. We picked the 16:30 time slot to give us enough time to drive and spend time at Gjogv.
The drive to the tour was also really scenic since we hadn’t covered that part of the island. I highly recommend the boat tour since you get a different perspective of the islands/cliffs.
Day 6: More Island Hopping
Stops: Vidoy & Eiði
We decided to tackle the Northernmost Island of Vidoy today, which was a 1 hour 30 minute drive from our Airbnb.
We wanted to tackle the Villingadalsfjall hike. You’ll know you’re at the right place when you see a gate behind a house with a little mailbox that asks for payment. Don’t worry, even if you don’t have cash, they even provide the bank account routing number…talk about an honor system (would never fly in the U.S.)
I’d imagine the hike to have fabulous views, but clouds were low and it actually started to snow/sleet. We didn’t make it all the way to the top, but it was very cool seeing all the cliffs (the cliffs did not get old…)
Eiði (1 hour drive from Vidoy) - I mainly had heard that this small town has a badass soccer field right next to the sea. Which it does. But what we didn’t know was that there’s another waterfall into the ocean behind the soccer field. When driving there, park in the parking lot in between the ocean and the soccer field. You’ll see a lot of black rocks leading to the coastline. Keep following those, and you’ll eventually come across the waterfall.
Sadly, this Faroe adventure came to an end. Six days was just the right amount of time to cover off on all the places we wanted to visit, but it wouldn’t have hurt to have stayed longer to explore the other islands.
The Faroe Islands are unreal. It blows my mind that there isn’t more tourism there, but I was really happy to have almost all of the hikes/trails to ourselves. But when tourism does pick up, I’m sure Mara and I will be boasting about how we visited before the hype.
If you like nature, hiking, dramatic cliffs, epic waterfalls, and sheep - you need to add the Faroe Islands on your travel list.