On Foot in the Faroe Islands

On Foot in the Faroe Islands

In July 2003 my partner and I spurned the soaring temperatures of our native Britain and headed north, to a collection of Danish islands in the North Atlantic: the Faroe Isles.

We booked the trip with Explore Worldwide, a small package-tour operator specialising in small-group holidays off the beaten track. (And you can't get much more off the beaten track than the Faroes!)

So why go to the Faroe Islands? In short - three reasons:

1 The scenery is stunning. Fantastic fjords and cliffs, tiny villages and picturesque buildings.

2 The walking. Both Emma and I enjoy our walking - and the tour we picked is called "On Foot in the Faroes". We walked most days.

3 It's off the beaten track. Neither Emma nor I know anyone else who's been to the Faroes - so that's certainly reason to go!
And yes, we got very wet in the Faroe Isles. We rarely saw the sun, but as we were properly dressed and it was what we expected, it didn't matter.

Highlights of the trip included:

1 A boat-trip to the Vestmanna bird cliffs, which the Faroese actually scale to get bird eggs (which they eat).

2 Walking from Oyndarfjordur to Elduvik (where we had lunch) and then walking to Funningsfjordur. Fantastic scenery!

3 Staying at the hostel in Gjogv. Great atmosphere and really relaxed.
Saksun village, which is just so picturesque (see the photo at the top of this page).

Our top tips for the Faroe Islands are:

1 You can get free internet access in Torshavn public library. (The library is near the tourist information office, in the shopping area.)

2 Pack extra pairs of underwear in case of delays. We were delayed two whole days in leaving because of fog at the airport.

3 Take a deck of cards. Once you leave the Faroese capital of Torshavn, there really isn't much to do in the evening. Bars are non-existent, so you'll spend most of your evening (if the weather isn't good enough to go out exploring) in the hotel or hostel. So take a deck of cards to pass the time.

4 You will get wet! Waterproof your walking trousers - even if you are taking overtrousers, the weather can change unexpectedly. (You can waterproof your clothes using Nikwax - available from most outdoor shops in the UK.)

5 Take binoculars - the bird life is great.

6 If you stay in the hostel at Gjogv, and you have a room, you can find the controls to the underfloor heating next to the toilet. Fantastic for drying out wet walking boots!

While I probably won't be going back to the Faroe Islands (I'm not sure how much more there is to see - you can pretty much "do" it in the week), I've no doubt we'll be off to other off-the-beaten-path places.
About the author:

Amongst other things, Steve Hatherley enjoys walking and murder mystery games (). He is also a founding partner of Freeform Games LLP ()