In september I had a difficult decision concerning my job and I was looking for a place to go for a week to reflect and relax. I love cold and green mossy places and solitude does not bother me. Faroe Islands seemed to be the perfect choice!
I took a plane from Zurich to Paris and then straight to the Faroes. The landing is quite spectacular, you fly above green rocky islands and finally fly over a big lake right before the landing. The airport is quite small, picked my luggage, go my car and off we go! You need a car, get one, distances are small but public transportation is not really reliable when you are planning on hiking around.
The Faroes are quite small so it’s fast to go anywhere. It was 16:00 when I was out of the airport so I still had some time before going to my place for the night. I went to the north of the Vagar island to Gásadalur. My first encounter with the Faroes tunnels, no light, the space for only one car and some carvings on the side to hide when you come across another car going in the opposite direction, gotta get used to it!
Gásadalur is a small village with a nice waterfall falling straight into the Ocean. It is a very picturesque place, there was a ton of photographers and even some guys shooting a commercial. I stayed there a couple of hours to catch the sunset as well as the weather was good.
I then drove to my Airbnb in Kvívík on the next island (Streymoy). I chose this place as it was very central and affordable. As in Iceland, prices are quite high in the Faores. Most of the big islands in the Faroes are connected through tunnels under the sea, and you have to pay each time you go through them. The cameras at the entry of the tunnel will catch your plate number and then the renting company will charge you, so do not worry about paying directly at the gas stations.
My room is cosy and nice, my host is an old Faroese lady and the house is facing the ocean, the place has a real “homy” vibe. In the morning I wake up to a nice breakfast prepared by my host and I hit the road. I drive to the Fossá waterfall in the north of the island, it is right next to the road, impossible to miss, but the way up is quite difficult to spot. I finally climb up and enjoy the scenery of the fjord and the waterfall. I then drive to Saksun village, a small place with few houses with grass roofs facing a black sand lagoon. The picture is quite nice. I saw on internet that there is a special spot with a nice picture opportunity but as it involved trespassing on private property I talk myself out of it. Locals must be very annoyed by wanabee instragramers.
I then go down into the lagoon and have a nice walk towards the Ocean. At the start of some of the hikes in the Faroes the locals will ask you to pay for entrance, sometimes you will be able with card and sometimes not, so prepare some cash to be on the safe side.
I then get back into the car and drive to Tjørnuvík in the north of the island. The village is gorgeous and if you walk a bit up behind the village (you can actually reach Saksun by foot on this path) you have a great view on the village and the fjord. The weather is a little bit rainy, as it will remain through the rest of my stay in the Faroes.
On the way back home I buy some food in a supermarket and I cook at home. There are not that much restaurants on the islands and everything is quite expensive anyway.
The next day I drive to Tórshavn, the capital city of the faroes, I go to the national museum of the Faroes, it presents a lot of stuff concerning the fishing industry and the history of the ships used by the Faroes to fish. The fishing industry is (was?) quite central to the economy here. Recently the Faroes are under the spotlight concerning the “grind”, the annual killing of pilot whales in the fjords. The killing is quite visually shocking but as often, there are 2 sides of the story, I would recommend to watch the following documentary which gives a non biased analysis of what is going on :
Anyway, I then entered the city and parked next to the port and then visited the traditional old town, very cute with its grassy roofs and pretty houses. As it is raining a bit the streets are empty which is great. The red houses are actually the ministry of finance!
I then go to the restaurant Ræst in the old town, this place serves traditional faroes fermented food. The place is super cosy and I love the look of it, but the food is not really my cup of tea. I got the whale and the lamb and did not enjoy it that much, but hey maybe it’s just me, at least it’s interesting!
I then drive home through the road going over the central plateau of the island and get catched by a storm with wind, rain and fog. This is a bit worrying on high roads on the top of fjords.
The next day I go back to Vagar island to have a look at Trælanípa, the cliff on the side of a big lake where the slaves were thrown into the raging sea. I park, pay the entrance fee and then walk for about 45 minutes to get there. The view is breathtaking, a high lake with big cliffs and the agitated ocean below. Feels a bit unreal.
At the end of the walk you can admire a magnificent waterfall that falls into the Ocean. Road back home is misty and mysterious !
I plan my next day carefully as I would like to get to the Kallur Lighthouse on the Kalsoy island. Problem is that there is no tunnel, you have to get a ferry in Klaksvík in the morning and then get back to the main island in the afternoon. The spots on the ferry are limited and you have to get there early in order to get in. I woke up at 5 in the morning and was on the parking lot at 7, the ferry leaving at 8, I was the first there. They packed the ferry like a box of sardines and then we were debarked on Kalsoy 20 minutes later. The guys on the boat are used to guide you and will squeeze 17 cars on the small boat.
Arriving on Kalsoy there is only one road going up, crossing multiple (one way) tunnels. You park at Trøllanes and then just go to the end of the village and start going up following the path. Be careful, the grass is slippery and some people die every year sliding to their death on the slopes at the top. The climb is around one hour long and easy, you are rewarded with a magical place. If you are lucky you will get some sun and get a nice picture.
I walked a bit on the top and snapped a few more picture and then went back down once the tourists started arriving at the top.
On the way back to the ferry I stopped at the Mikladalur village and paid a visit to the seal woman Kópakonan. The story is that once a year the seals get into a cave, get out of their seal skin and party as humans. A fisherman followed the seals and noticed a seal turning into a beautiful woman. He stole the seal skin and then took the woman-turned seal to his place and married her. He kept the skin under lock in a coffer and lived with the woman for years. One day he left the coffer open and the seal got back its skin and jumped into the water, leaving her 2 children behind. The story ends with the fisherman killing her to get revenge and then slaughtering his children, turned into seals, by accident. Since then, the island is cursed and every once in a while somebody falls to his death from the steep slopes.
I then got back to the continent by the early afternoon ferry and went on to visit Gjógv, a nice big village with a huge george at the end. On the road there ther is a nice place to stop to enjoy a beautiful view of the fjpords, right here :
You go up on the road, pass the 2 big u turns and then stop on the right and follow the enclosure up to the top. You will be rewarded with this views :
After that it’s only a small trip to Gjogv at the top of the islands, georgous village with nice views of the north extremity of the archipelago.
After this long day I get back home and pack as I am going to a new place tomorrow. I wake up early, get into the car and go to the north extremity of the Faroes, to Villingadalsfjall mountain on the island of Viðoy. I read a bit about this mountain and basically it is advised to get a guide. I contacted an agency and then a guide contacted me, but as the price was outrageous (450 EUR for a hike) and the guide very rude I went alone.
Everything went well in the end, the hike was quite steep and I was tired when I got in my car back. You also have to pay for that one so prepare some cash as there is just a box and nobody around. But I really have troubles to see the added value of a guide here. Especially for such an outrageous price. This night I moved locations and went to pass the night in Norðragøta. The next day a huge storm hovered above the Faroes, the winds were blowing at 120 kmh and I basically spent the day inside while doing supply runs to the gas station next door.
Luckily the storm went down the next morning, I drove back to the airport, parked the car and jumped into my plane back to the continent. The Faroes were always a dream of mine and boy did they deliver. It was a marvelous week and the sights were fantastic.
