Faroe Islands 2024

FAroe Islands

Many people have asked me where the Faroe Islands are. They are almost equal distance between Iceland, Norway, and Scotland.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago comprised of 18 rocky, volcanic islands connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges.

July 15, 2024

Only two airlines fly to the Faroe Islands and some of the flights are only 2-3 days of the week. We flew Atlantic Airways from Copenhagen.

The absolute best way to get around is to rent a car. We have a VW Crossover.

We haven't met too many cars on the roads. This is the famous Dragarnir Sea Stacks - a hike we are doing in a few days.

There are many tunnels. Many of them go through a mountain so the villages that were on the other side are no longer isolated.

Only 55,000 people live in the Faroe Islands. However, there are more than 80,000 sheep.

Some will even pose for you!

Our first stop is to an easy-access waterfall.

Stunning!

Visiting the town of Gasadalur: population is 11.

The trails are well marked. It is STRONGLY encouraged that you don't stray from the paths to not damage the environment.

The weather can change in a moment. We thought fog was rolling in but it was only a cloud bank.

The red church in Sandavágur was built in 1917.

The restaurants are few and far between. Our first meal was near the tiny airport. Not much to look at but it was pretty good.

We are now hiking to Sørvágsvatn, the largest lake in the Faroe Islands. It is famous for its unique optical illusion, where it appears as if it is floating above the ocean. Because many of these hikes are through private property, there is a charge to hike across their land. This particular hike was $30 each.

The back of the ticket warning not to get too close to the edge of the cliff. The birds build nests under the edge so the ground you see is unstable.

The gnarly Highland cows don't pay any attention to all the people taking photos of them.

We've been walking 45 minutes and still have to get to that furthest cliff.

Going all the way to the top of the one next to the ocean.

FINALLY here!

But my ticket tells me that I'm supposed to see the lake floating above the ocean. Unfortunately, that is drone footage...

...and a person on the ground doesn't get the same view.

But Robin and I are happy to have made it to the top.

We are driving to our Airbnb after our first long day of being here. Check in was not until after 4pm. This is one of the tunnels that goes under the ocean. It is not the longest one, but is still 5 miles long. We will be going across the 7 mile tunnel on another day.

July 16, 2024

Our Airbnb is just as cute as it can be.

Unfortunately, they've torn up the street out front.

So this is the view out of a bedroom window.

Off to explore.

The views are amazing!

We are off the highway and onto the one lane roads. If you meet a car, there are intermittent paved shoulders where one of you has to pull off.

Of course, you also must watch out for the Faroese residents.

Thankfully, a place for us to pull off to the side.

One of many waterfalls along the way.

The buildings remind me of chia pets.

This bathroom was way better than expected on the inside.

Off to start our hike to Saksun Black Sand Beach. It's actually a lagoon that empties into the ocean at low tide. We had to time it to arrive at low tide.

This is where the lagoon starts.

Robin's 100th photo of the sheep.

You also must watch for poop everywhere!

These little structures remind me of Dr. Suess.

It was muddy since the tide had just gone out.

Almost to the ocean.

You can tell we are facing the ocean now since we have windswept hair.

Again, no restaurants anywhere and we are starving. So, we will eat at this gas station.

I think I'll pass on the all-day salad bar.

But the gas station hot dogs are pretty good!

A picturesque hexagonal church.

We are now headed around a mountain overlooking the ocean to see the Witch and the Giant. It's very narrow with cliffs on one side, so we wait at this light that means any oncoming traffic on this one lane road has cleared.

This is NOT my photo. This is a photo pulled from the Internet of what the Witch and the Giant are supposed to look like.

This is my photo. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick we could not see anything.

Near the valley floor, we could see better.

Drying grass to save for the sheep for the winter.

Now we are headed back around the mountain with the steep dropoff.

Of course, there are obstacles.

Many like to lie on the side of the road.

I loved this little town of Gjogv! The population is 49. The name translates into "gorge".

I wondered what it must be like to live here.

I know that water has to be freezing cold!

Walking barefoot in 55 degrees. But this is as warm as it ever gets here.

More than one tenth of the population is working on this house.

The coffeehouse probably catered only to tourists.

Stinky fish hanging to dry.

The main attraction is definitely the gorge.

Beautiful!

Of course, we must walk to the top.

The path wasn't terrible at all but I still had my first fall.

The view back to the village.

Back home after 8 hours. We never stay at Airbnbs because we are usually at hotels on points. But it's nice to be able to eat at home because it's VERY expensive here. Our first night of this trip was in Copenhagen where we split a burger and had two sparkling waters for $42!

July 17, 2024

We are driving to Sørvágur for our 6 hour round trip hike to see the Dragarnir Sea stacks. Frankly, I was somewhat dreading this hike..

... because I am not the best hiker. The group ended up being 34 people with three guides. We are older than everyone by 20-30 years. The others came in their expensive hiking boots with their trekking poles. Meanwhile, I have tennis shoes with little tread and a fleece. The hike was rated moderate/difficult. If the "difficult" part is distance, then I'm okay since I walk so much. But if it's elevation or terrain, I'm in trouble.

Right off the bat, the terrain is difficult. It's a narrow sheep trail with loose gravel with a steep drop-off that goes straight down to the water. This photo doesn't capture how steep it was, because I wasn't taking photos in the scarier places.

I'm already falling back behind the others because I'm slower and more careful.

I'm praying not to slip on the loose gravel.

We finally take a rest at a flat area. I find out then that the bulk of the group is WAY behind us, so now I don't feel so bad. We had about 20 tourists from China, and they were stopping to take a LOT of photos. The concrete foundation pictured here was an old British military base from WWII.

We descended down to sea level onto a rocky, slippery beach.

Now the guides are having us go straight up...

... and even further up. Sea level was 45 minutes ago.

We arrived at a flat area where we were told to do whatever we'd like to do.

The view of the sea stacks are quite beautiful.

The circles are wild Atlantic salmon fish farms. Fishing is the number one industry in the Faroe Islands.

We are happy to have our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We learned yesterday that you ALWAYS take food with you!

Others dress up in their Games of Thrones outfits since some of the series was filmed here.

I had hoped that the flat area was our final end to the hike and we would turn around and go back. But that was not to be. They had us go further up..!

The sea stacks are now much closer.

But this was not the end either!!

Once again, we are on a steep, slippery, narrow sheep trail going around the edge of the mountain.

Three hours later... we have finally reached the end!

Now we can practically reach out and touch the sea stacks.

Here is where I was sitting when I took the photo above. Ten minutes later, the fog and rain came rolling in. The guides gave us two options: 1). People that wanted to go back via a boat could do so ($30 each) or 2). We could hike 3 hours back in the miserable weather.

I couldn't get to that boat fast enough! Even though we had paid $80 each for the hike, I was overjoyed to cut it short and go back in the boat. The boat consisted of us two old women and all the Chinese.

We are about to go through the arch. I used video going through, so no photos. It was quite stinky because of all the birds.

The rain pelted our faces like little ice pellets.

Drying off in a convenience store cafe.

Since we were so tired we decided to go out to dinner in the town we are staying - Torshavn. Thankfully, we split this huge entree!

The cute Old Town area.

All of the islands are accessible by bus and they have a great public transportation system for areas that are quite remote.

While there are mostly modern-looking boats, there are a few of these traditional Faroese fishing boats.

This house and the following two photos are part the government complex. All the buildings are in red.

It's one of the oldest parliamentary meeting places in the world.

View out the Airbnb window. It's now 10pm and the sun won't set for another hour. I'm exhausted!

July 18, 2024

Heading out to Kalsoy Island to do the Kallur Lighthouse hike. Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating today. We are getting ready to drive into the Eysturoyartunnilin tunnel - the longest underwater tunnel in the Faroe Islands. It's 7 miles long, 620 feet deep, and costs $25 for one way.

It even has a roundabout!

In the town of Klaksvik to catch the ferry. We had hoped to walk around for a few hours before our scheduled ferry time.

But that was not to be because it just poured and poured.

So we hung out at this wonderful cafe for a few hours.

The food was also good. Chicken curry salad for me and shrimp salad on a croissant for Robin. Total - $52.

Time to catch the tiny ferry. We left our car in the lot and walked on with about 50 others. They only take 10 cars and you have to make a reservation.

Of course, Robin was front and center to see the views.

The ferry is the only way to get to Kalsoy Island. The population for the whole island is 76 people.

The rain had cleared but the fog had not. These little rock enclosures are for the sheep in the wintertime.

By the time the bus arrived at the starting point for the hike, the sun was finally out.

I can't believe I'm doing this AGAIN today! My legs are so sore from yesterday's trauma.

Thankfully, the lady taking our $30 (each) for the hike today must have seen my white hair and decided I needed some trekking poles. Now I know why people use them! They really help out in rocky, muddy, and elevated terrain. Thankfully, there was no cost to use them.

Further and higher away from the starting point.

While some areas were pretty flat...

...we had to stick to the trails on the steeper hills. Unfortunately, they were all mud.

Not sure why I ended up looking like this. When I arrived at the lighthouse, none of the others that had gotten there before us were this muddy.

Finally getting to the lighthouse about 75 minutes later.

It wasn't much to look at. But notice the others on the next hill.

This was the walk to get there. We opted out after hearing it was quite slippery.

The views from the lighthouse were stunning enough.

James Bond died in No Time to Die. It was filmed here at Kallur Lighthouse.

Heading back to catch our bus to the ferry.

Robin doing her best to avoid the slippery mud.

Meanwhile, I'm still falling here and there.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner - again.

On the ferry ride back and the weather is much nicer. It's now 8pm. Rowing is the national sport of the Faroe Islands and is more popular than soccer.

July 19, 2024

Notice the time stamp for the morning sunrise from our Airbnb.

But by the time we got up hours later, it was raining. What the hell are we going to do today? We've been told by the Faroese that's the thing about the Faroe Islands... you may be here days before you can do any outdoor activities. So, we just started walking around our neighborhood.

We came across a park with TREES. There aren't many trees here because they can't develop strong roots in peaty soil and strong winds.

Which is why we saw many trees that looked like this.

We went inside this new Hilton property to look at the view.

Robin is very concerned about this horse that lives in front of the bowling alley.

After lunch at home, we decided to venture out to a cute village called Kirkjubour. The weather was not cooperating at all.

The population is 75 people.

Like all the other towns we've been in, there is a church with a cemetery attached.

Beautiful gate.

The village is the Faroes' most important historical site with the ruins of the Magnus Cathedral from around 1300.

The house next to the Cathedral is Kirkjubøargarður. It is one of the oldest still inhabited wooden farmhouses in the world.

So happy to be on easy walking paths today rather than muddy, rocky, steep, poopy, sheep trails!

This is the bus stop for this remote village. You can wait inside the little house that also has restrooms. We've found that there is no shortage of decent public bathrooms throughout the Faroe Islands and we certainly appreciate it!

On a nicer day, it would have been great to see that mountain in the distance.

July 20, 2024

Our last day!! We are headed to Hvithamar Trailhead for the second time. It was too foggy the first time we were there.

We've stopped trying to figure out the weather and are just going for it.

Almost there. This is the town of Funningur.

The road leading up to the trailhead. It always gets foggier as you head up.

The trailhead. I think I figured out why some of the sheep fences have a ladder over it instead of a gate. Maybe the tourists forget to close the gate?