Faroe Islands

‘Did you know Faroese girls are the prettiest in the world?’ asks the very pretty young woman with the long dark hair and happy smile. ‘It’s our heritage,’ she laughs. ‘Viking and Celtic – a good combination.’

If we didn’t know it already, we do now. We’re completely charmed by this lovely young woman and by her country, too.

The Faroes are a dot – or a group of dots – in the North Atlantic Ocean, about mid-way between Iceland and Norway.

We’re in the tiny village of Gjogv in the far north and, as we set off for another day of hiking in yet another spectacular landscape, we think that – like their girls – these islands must be the prettiest in the world.

Our first look at the Faroes, flying in over the island of Mykines

By the time the plane was on final approach, we knew we were in for something special

Tórshavn, the capital; though part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands are a self-governing nation with their own language, flag and parliament

The Parliament buildings; Tinganes is one of the world's oldest parliaments - it was established by Viking settlers in 850AD (though Celtic monks were living here even before the Vikings arrived)

Tórshavn is one of the smallest capital cities; it's home to about 20,000 people

The old town is a maze of narrow, winding streets where many traditional buildings - known as '14th century houses' - remain

They're easy to spot - black-tarred wooden houses with white-framed windows and grass roofs

Something we learned pretty quickly is that the weather here is changeable - to say the least

One morning, just outside Tórshavn, we suddenly ran into a snow shower - 20 mins later we were slapping on the sunscreen

The Faroes are rocky, volcanic, incredibly beautiful islands

It's a place where grassy plateaus end in dramatically steep cliffs

The tiny village of Gásadalur and the Múlafossur waterfall; Gásadalur is known as the 'hidden village'

Until they blasted a tunnel through the mountains in 2004 the only way in was to walk over the top or come by boat and climb up the cliff face

These days some remote islands are serviced by a helicopter shuttle

Though tunnels are a more common connection - the Faroes' main sub-sea tunnels are five and six kilometres in length

But it's the long, gloomy, single-lane tunnels that set the heart racing

It's tricky remembering which direction has right of way, estimating distances between you and the oncoming vehicle, and trying to spot the nearest passing place to pull into

Tricky but rewarding - views like this await

The islands' coastlines are dotted with small villages

This is Tjørnuvík in the far north, set in a natural amphitheatre below the surrounding mountains; we followed a sign to 'waffles and coffee' and ended up enjoying both at a local man's kitchen table

It's the kind of place where election posters don't require surnames 🙂

Tjørnuvík beach - pre waffles

And post waffles (did we mention the changeable weather here?)

Trælanípa (Slave Cliff) stands 140m above the sea; the name is said to come from the Viking Age when pushing people off cliffs was a form of punishment

There's a spot here that delivers an amazing optical illusion - the lake looks to be at the same level as the ocean though, in reality, it's far above; we can't show you because to take that photo meant standing way too close to the edge, and with looking directly across to Slave Cliff, well...)

Farm just outside the remote village of Saksun

The Faroe Islands is another country inhabited by more sheep than people

From Saksun we headed back along the floor of the valley and crossed over to another island

The road took us up and over the Faroes' highest mountain

The pass at the top is spectacular - it was cold, but too good not to stop and stare

Our destination was the village of Gjógv, where we met our pretty young friend 🙂

Though it's only 60kms from the capital, Gjógv feels like a world away

The village is aptly named; Gjógv means ‘gorge’ in Faroese

We spent five days driving around the Faroe Islands; though the distances are short it takes time to get around

And this is one place where you really want to take that time to enjoy

Klaksvík, the second largest city

Fishing is the Faroes' main industry, accounting for 95% of the country's exports so sustainable management practices are the only way the industry survives

Klaksvík is also the jumping off point to the island of Kalsoy

The only option is the ferry that runs a few times a day; it takes a maximum of 18 vehicles - unless you're a local it's first come, first on (this man is a genius at boarding the cars in the most space-saving manner)

There's a great hike to the northern tip of the island

Fantastic scenery and Faroese sheep are par for the course

And this is where you end up

It's hard to describe how amazing this place is

We met a lovely couple from Utah and Jake took this photo for us

Another one of Jake's shots; Greg and I are just tiny specks in the landscape

We've seen many amazing places in our travels, but the Faroe Islands definitely has been one of the highlights