Ben West

A far-flung getaway to the Faroe Islands

  • From Spectator Life
Image: iStock

Before its elevation to the undeniably slim Green List, the isolated windswept, wave-lashed archipelago of volcanic rock in the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Faroe Islands was not on many people’s radars. With direct flights from the UK recommencing on July 1, no doubt its popularity will surge in the coming months. Even before Covid, tourism had doubled within five years and it was increasingly being dubbed ‘the new Iceland’.

Centred between Scotland, Norway and Iceland, this dramatic and windswept territory is not to all tastes. It rains here for 300 days a year and winds are so fierce and common that virtually no trees grow.

Yet if you like stunning scenery made up of dramatic cliffs, gloriously wild mountains and deep, lush green valleys, the 18 islands, with a combined population of just 52,000 – and 70,000 sheep – will tick all the boxes. Its landscapes are so spectacular that the Faroes feature in the upcoming new James Bond film, No Time to Die. Naturally, a James Bond sightseeing tour has duly been created.

Biking, hiking, fishing, diving, surfing and horse riding are all popular here, while bird-watchers flock to see a wealth of seabirds, including puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars and Arctic terns. A boat trip to Vestmanna on northern Streymoy, the largest island, or the secluded island of Mykines, is ideal for spotting seabirds.

Centuries-old mountain paths link many villages, and excellent website bygdagotur.fo details numerous hikes by length, duration and difficulty.

The pretty capital, Tórshavn (‘Thor’s Harbour’), on Streymoy, is one of the world’s smallest. Amongst the turf-topped timber houses is a cluster of old red-painted wood buildings, which constitute the Parliament. Now a semi-sovereign country that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands have in the past been inhabited by Irish monks and Viking settlers.

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