The Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of Denmark halfway between Norway and Iceland, are eighteen volcanic islands connected by tunnels (some of them undersea) and defined by a landscape almost entirely without trees, just sheer green cliffs, waterfalls dropping straight into the ocean, and villages of a few dozen grass-roofed houses.
The Landscape
Múlafossur waterfall, dropping directly off a cliff into the Atlantic beside the village of Gásadalur, is the Faroes' most photographed sight, the village itself was cut off from the rest of the islands by mountain until a tunnel opened in 2004, and before that was reachable only by a steep mountain path or helicopter.
The sea stacks of Drangarnir and Tindhólmur, visible from a short but strenuous hike near Vágar, rank among the most dramatic coastal rock formations in the North Atlantic, a boat tour offers an easier alternative to the hike for the same view from the water.
Villages and Connections
Tórshavn, the tiny capital, has a harbourside old town of grass-roofed wooden buildings that also houses the Faroese parliament, one of the oldest continuously operating parliamentary institutions in the world, dating to Viking-era assemblies.
The islands are connected by an impressive tunnel network, including two undersea tunnels with roundabouts built directly into the rock beneath the ocean, an engineering feat that makes the remote outer islands far more accessible than their isolation would suggest.
Recommended Stay · Faroe Islands · Tórshavn
Hotel Føroyar
A grass-roofed hotel on a hillside above Tórshavn, with panoramic views over the capital and harbour toward the surrounding islands.
