I have no idea why we've waited this long to share our favorite travel destination in the world, nonetheless we are kicking off a series of posts all about the beautiful, untouched, and often unheard of, Faroe Islands.
The Faroe Islands are a small chain of fourteen islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – somewhere between Iceland and Norway. Once its own country, the Faroe Islands is now part of the Danish rule. We can confidently say that this special set of islands is the best kept secret that we have stumbled upon in all of our travels.
I have always had a fascination with islands. This, along with a passion for travel, is what brought us to such a remote destination. I discovered the Faroes by looking at our world map one evening and studying small remote island chains to get ideas for our next big trip. I discovered the Faroe Islands, knew nothing about them, and shortly thereafter booked a flight route. We flew through Reykjavik and grabbed an Atlantic Airways flight into the islands. On a 737 aircraft in early September we were two of nine total passengers.
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Our flight arrived around 10 PM, and the nine of us, with exception of a few airport staff, were the only people in this small, quaint airport. We rented a car and under the full moon drove forty-five minutes to the city of Torshavn. The following day we woke up early and while exploring Torshavn over a cup of coffee realized - what is there to see here, and what is there to do? We hadn't done much research and weren't sure what to expect, so we stopped in a local shop and asked the store-owner for some suggestions; little did we know this vast set of islands, each and every one very different from the last, were full of adventure.
We decided to make our Faroe Islands stay a total road trip; taking the buttercup-route, wandering from island to island each day and jumping out of the car to explore small villages, watch the Faroese animals roam, seeking sunrise and sunset, hike, everything was on a whim. That's the thing about the amazing destination, en-route to one island or the next you're compelled to stop at any given moment - all of the animals, waterfalls, cliff-sides, and the churches are gorgeous. You really have the freedom to make this getaway a personal one and 100% your own agenda.
If you love to be one with nature and discover landscapes and terrain otherwise unknown, then the Faroes is your place! The weather is fascinating and makes for your perfect outdoors-endeavor. Year-round temperatures stay comfortably between 30℉ and 60℉, and, get this – the record high in the past century is 72℉ with a record low at 18℉ – I have seen similar temperature variation in the states in the course of a day! Beating the sunlight will be your only obstacle for planning a vacation to this island paradise as sunlight can be a scarce commodity in the winter. February’s shortest day weighs in at 30 minutes of sunlight – on the flip side, June sees 22 hours or so of sunlight a day. We decided to go in September and enjoyed normal sunrise and sunset and perfect weather, and by perfect it was 50 degrees and raining every day – beautiful in its own respect!
Here is what I love about the Faroes: the archipelago combines incredible food with pristine wilderness and nature, fresh air, and of course, sheep! Lots and lots of sheep. You are never alone when traveling the islands, in fact, there are roughly twice as many sheep as there are people in the Faroes; 80,000 sheep to 40,000 people. Being that the Faroe Islands is literally considered the "islands of sheep", you can imagine they are always right around the corner adding quite a bit of character to every experience you have in this special location.
We have so much to cover on the Faroe Islands, so for our first post we wanted to set our ground-work and introduce this incredible and often overlooked destination. In the next few posts we are going to break down the perfect restaurant itinerary, hiking secrets and highlights, and of course a thorough review of the capital city – Torshavn. Blog tip number one is our Airbnb, this is hands down the best location to be in with the best accommodations in the area. If the property is booked our second suggestion would be the Hotel Tørshavn.
Blog tip number two – if you're a foodie and appreciate delicate, local cuisines then KOKS is a must-dine. More on KOKS in a later post, but for now we suggest booking a reservation immediately! Barbara’s Fish house and etika Sushi are great dining spots as well and right in Torshavn. These three restaurants are out of this world and experiences we promise you will never forget!
So enjoy the scenic photos and our small introduction to the Faroe Islands. There's more to come and we're always happy to answer any questions or provide additional insight to anyone and everyone that has this destination on their bucket list! Check in with us on our Instagram and comment on our posts, we'll answer. And we'll update you when our follow up posts are published!
