Føroyar
A few weeks ago my good friend Johannes asked me if I had time to go on a small trip with him and a friend. Obviously I couldn’t say no to this offer. Deciding on a destination we both wanted to go to was pretty easy: Faroe islands, a small archipelago in the Atlantic ocean. A place where the weather is unpredictable, where life is simple and people are kind. But also a place I’ve been dying to visit again since first experiencing its beauty almost 2 years ago.
And so it happened, we booked some last minute flights, arranged a place to sleep, hired a rental car, packed our gear and were ready for some exploring. We (sadly) only had time to go for 5 days, including 2 travel days, which meant that we’d be spending just 3 whole days on the islands. Having such a short time, we made sure to plan our activities perfectly ahead to make every minute count.
Day 1
After a 7 hour trip from Dusseldorf over Copenhagen to Faroe Islands, we landed on a small airport on the island of Vàgar. Having only a few hours of daylight left, we rushed to the only place that was close enough to see: Gàsadalur and the Mulafoss waterfall. Gàsadalur is a small town with only 14 inhabitants and the Mulafoss waterfall is one of 8 European waterfalls to directly drop into the ocean.
I’ve visited this place on my last trip as well, but the conditions were a lot better this time. A nice soft light made the town and the mountains glow up, while huge waves came crashing into the high cliffs. It was the perfect location to spend the last 2 hours before nightfall, shooting tons of photos and even risking our drones to get the right shot (something we ended up doing more than once during this trip).
When it got dark, we drove off to our AirBnb, which was located in Sandavàgur. We chose this location as it was pretty central to the all the spots we wanted to visit during the next 3 days. There aren’t too many hotels on the Faroe Islands, so i’d personally recommend renting a place with AirBnb, as spending some time in a typical Faroese house only strengthens the feeling that you’ve made it to a pretty unique destination. We were lucky to have a great host who already put some cold beers in the fridge for us (and later brought us some more beers and a few bottles of wine, but that’s a whole other story).
Day 2
The good thing about visiting any Nordic country during winter is that you don’t have to get up too early to see the sun rise. We decided on watching the first light of day hit Trollkonufingur, which translates into “the Witch’s finger” (one of the many legendary places on the islands).
After this, we headed to the airport as we had a short helicopter flight planned. We flew from Vàgar to Mykines and back. Seeing the stunning views from up high quickly answered my question about why there are so many birds to be found here: simply because the islands look even more stunning from the sky.
We already did quite a lot this day, but we decided to hike to a place which both Jo and I wanted to visit 2 years ago: Drangarnir. A mythical rock standing proud in the ocean. A long hike (about 2.5 hours) starting in Sorvàgur, brings you to this incredible place. I’d seen plenty of photos but you can only capture the magic of some places when you see them in person. This sure was one of them. We spent a few hours being captivated by the view and it was already dark when we decided to hike back. Don’t forget your headlights if you ever plan to visit Drangarnir yourself!
Day 3
Today it was moody and (incredibly) rainy: classic weather on the Faroe islands. Our friend and local guide Kirstin joined us while visiting the island of Kalsoy, which can be reached by taking the ferry from Klaksvik. The island itself consists of one road, 4 very small villages and has a total of 147 inhabitants. I often wonder if these people know what it’s like being stuck in a traffic jam, i guess not. Due to the pouring rain, we didn’t get to see all the places we wanted to, but we did spend a lot of time wandering around in the streets of Mikladalur, which is one of the four towns. With cozy houses, a waterfall and a stunning view on the fjord, it’s definitely worth making a stop here.
During the day it cleared up a little bit, allowing us to hike the mountain near Trollanes. It didn’t seem much of a hike at first, but eventually it did take us a good 90 minutes to make it to the top, having to catch our breaths more than once. Clouds were blocking any sunlight but the view was still pretty amazing. The way down was a lot easier as we just sat on the wet grass and slid down the hill, having a lot of fun in the process.
Day 4
After yesterdays heavy rain, on day 4 we were rewarded with great weather: partly sunny, (very) windy and high waves. The perfect conditions to visit Sorvagsvatn, one of my favorite places in the islands. After a short 30 minutes walk we reached the viewpoint while the first rays of sun warmed up our faces. If you ever want to see a lake over an ocean, this surely is the place. Seeing the waves crash into the cliffs made me mumble the only words i could think of: “holy moly”. For some reason this seemed to be the only right thing to say, as this place is just out of this world. I sat back and just enjoyed the views for most of the day, occasionally taking some photos. I did try to fly my drone, but it struggled too hard to not crash into the ocean hundreds of meters lower, so i quickly got it back to safety. Faroe islands and using your drone isn’t the best combination i guess. I wouldn't be the first one to crash it here.
Day 5
Today was about packing our bags and saying goodbyes. Looking back on a few great days on the Faroe islands. It’s definitely not the last time that i’m visiting this place and I hope sharing this story and showing some photos might convince you to go there one day as well. I promise you, you won’t regret it. But for now: “Vit síggjast seinni!” (see you later!).