My itinerary was:
- Saturday: Sorvagsvatn, Gasadalur
- Sunday: Vestmanna, Saksun, Tjornuvik
- Monday: Eidi, Gjogv, Elduvik, Oyndarfjordur, Fuglafjordur
- Tuesday: Vidareidi, Muli, Kunoy, Mikladalur, Trollanes
- Wednesday: Svinoy, Fugloy
- Thursday: Torshavn, Sandoy, Kirkjubour
- Friday: Nodradalur, Trollkonufingur, Sorvagsvatn, Gasadalur
- Saturday: Return home
Saturday August 18th, 2018
From Milan I fly to Copenhagen, a wait of 4 hours and then flight to Faroer. I land there at around 1.30pm (there is one hour difference from Italy), I take the car and go immediately to the lake Sorvagsvatn. I saw many pictures on the web, and this is surely one thing I didn’t want to miss. It’s an easy walk, from the car parking to the top of the hill, it takes less than 1 hour, almost flat. The views are superb (even if it’s cloudy): the lake, the cliffs, and down the ocean. You could stay hours to admire the landscape, but I have other spots I would like to see today. So first I go up the hill, then down to the lake till the waterfall. There are big waves today and some of them go up over the waterfall. But I feel I still miss something, so I go up again to look the lake Sorvagsvatn one more time. So beautiful.
Back to the car, I go to the hotel (near the airport), and a bit later I drive to Bour, a nice town on Vagar Island, with spectacular views on the ocean and Drangarnir (a cliff) and Tindholmur (and island). From there, through a tunnel, I reach the village of Gasadalur. The village is one of the most photographed due to its waterfall, under the village itself, falling down in the ocean. I decide to have dinner at the hotel, I’m a bit tired and I haven’t the will to go around to search for a restaurant. Tonight there is a wedding party, many of the people are in typical costumes. I have dinner in a different room of them. Before going to sleep, I go back to Gasadalur to take a few pics of the waterfall in the dark. It has been only half day since I arrived at Faroer, but I have already seen so wonderful places. Really happy to be here and waiting for the next day to see more incredible places.
Sunday August 19th, 2018
I wake up pretty early. After breakfast I drive to Vestmanna, where I arrive too early. The tourist office isn’t yet open and I will have to wait for more than 1 hour before my ferry. I go around the town, and then wait at the harbour. I buy some stuff at the tourist office and then wait. The tour takes more or less 2 hours, the first part seems more interesting, as it sails near the coast and the cliffs. In some points it goes inside small fjords and caves. The second half seemed a bit too long, just heading back to the harbour, without scenic landscapes as before (maybe also due to bad weather, rain and wind – I freezed a bit). After the trip and after the lunch I go to Saksun. The road is nice, the landscapes are super, with meadows and rivers.
In Saksun I stop first in the high part of the village, where is the church, then I go on the other side, follow the little gorge and reach the lagoon. The water is low now, so I can walk in the middle of the lagoon and go towards the ocean. On the way there, a guy inform me that the water is coming up in half an hour, so after a short while, I decide to walk back to the lagoon and to the car. In the lagoon it seems dakr, but there is still a lot of sun (the mountains surrounding it are high). The next village should be Tjornuvik, but first I stop in Haldorsvik, where the is the only octagonal church of the Faroer. Finally I reach Tjornuvik, there is a beach, some people are sunbathing, while some kids are playing with water and sand. It’s nice and quiet, I enjoy the sun, and look for a while the waves on the beach. On my way to the hotel I stop at Fossa Waterfall, the highest waterfall of the Faroer. For the night I will stay in Runavik. After dinner I go to the scenic road around the city. Along the road I find a lake, small villages, and beautiful landscapes with the sunset.
Monday August 20th, 2018
This morning I will go to Eidi (originally I planned to go there yesterday, but didn’t have enough time). The village is quiet, there is a small lake near the ocean. From here I take the scenic road to Gjogv, where I’m going to spend a lot of time. First I go to the gorge, and from there down till the famous bench (there are many people from a school trip). From the bench, on the opposite side of the gorge it’s possible to see some puffins. So I decide to go also on the other side. I expected to just walk till the end of the gorge, but there is path (behind a gate, where you can pay for it). So after many pictures to the puffins (they fly very fast), I go up to the hill. It’s really worth, the landscape is very nice.
At the end of the path, you can see some cliffs that were hidden by the hill (there is also a waterfall). On the way down, it’s possible to go through another path, that brings me really near to the car. Short break to Elduvik and then to Oyndarfjordur to see the floating stones. In the water there are two huges rocks that move with the waves. It’s almost impossible to notice the movement but there is a chain, and if you look at it, you can see it moves. The next city is Fuglafjordur, with a big harbour. Here it’s possible to see a company that produces fishing nets (you can look inside from outside). At a short distance there should be the only hot spring of the Faroer. While going there, on the streets there are really big and long fishing nets in the middle of the street. I try to go down to the spring, but it’s raining, the ground is too wet and muddy to go on, so after few minutes I give up and go back to the hotel. After dinner another short drive to Lamba and the near Glyvrar with it’s white church.
Tuesday August 21st, 2018
Today is cloudy and pretty cold. After breakfast I go directly to Vidareidi, the most distant place of the day. There the landscape is nice, and maybe it would be good for some hikes, but the weather is too bad, so after few stops and many pics, I decide to continue my trip to the next village. Muli is on the opposite side of the fjord. The road to go there is nice, beautiful views over the ocean and over the mountains. Next island is Kunoy: here there are few roads, and most of the island is inhabitated. Back to Klaksvik for a quick lunch at a café (the cake was good). It’s still early and I have some free time, so I decide to take the ferry to Kalsoy where I stop in all the villages. In Mikladalur, there is the statue of the seal woman. There is a legend about love and curses related to it. You could read more here. The last village of the island is Trollanes. From here a path goes up to the hill till Kallur Lighthouse.
It’s raining, but this time I won’t skip the hikes. It’s a pity the weather is not good, but surely it’s a nice place. Near the lighthouse there is an high cliff with many puffins under it. When I get back to the care I’m completely wet, but luckily I have some clothes and shoes in the car, so I can change. Back to Klaksvik to go to the hotel. The bad guy at hotel Klaksvik – weird for Faroer people Here it happens the only negative thing of the whole trip. I had a voucher from GreenGate for the room at hotel Klaksvik. I gave it to the guy at the reception and he disappeared for 10 minutes. When he came back he said they hadn’t my booking and the only possible accomodation was a b&b. I asked him to call GreenGate but he refused! So I complained a bit and he went away again, leaving me at the reception for like 30 minutes. Then I tried to call GreenGate too, but I had some problems with my mobile. When I saw 2 people in the hall of the hotel, I asked them if they could help me, and at that point the guy came back saying I was bothering the hotel guests. What??? No word. At that point I accepted to go to the b&b, it was almost 1 hour since I arrived and I was really tired. The b&b wasn’t good, shared bathroom, cold room, low level, but at least the men, there, was much more friendly and kind. As I got wifi, I immediately contacted GreenGate to report what happened. I must say they behave really well and refunded me for this problem. Then I went out for dinner, it was already pretty late. I had a nice dinner at Angus Steakhouse. All the people in Faroer were nice and kind, always smiling and greeting, this one was the only unfriendly one.
Wednesday August 22st, 2018
Today is a beautiful sunny day. A perfect day to visit the last 2 northern islands of the Faroer: Svinoy and Fugloy. I get at the harbour pretty early (I wanted to go away as soon as possible from the b&b in Klaksvik. The boat is already there. So I take some pics and wait for the boat to sail to Svinoy. The trip to Svinoy is very nice with beautiful views on many island. I stop in Svinoy, almost everybody continues to the next island. There is also a girl with a box: inside the box there is a little duckling: he seems impatient to get home. The girl explains me she owns a café there and shows me the path to cross the island and see the landscape on Fugloy. The path is nice and easy: it’s almost flat on a road.
There are no cars, so also walking on the road is nice. After the yesterday rain, I don’t want to get too much mud on me, so I stay on the road and don’t follow other paths. After spending the whole morning walking there I go back to the café. The girl makes me a wonderful pancake (with chocolate, jam, cream, all homemade). It’s very tasty (here the facebook page of the café). I spend some time talking with her, and asking about the ferry to go to Fugloy. She calls them and assure me I can go and the time the boat should be at the harbour. So I go back to the harbour on time, get the ferry and reach Fugloy, but I don’t leave the boat, I just stay on, looking at the landscape. The boat is back to Hvannasund a bit later than expected. It’s good, I have no hurry, and the trip on it was really good. In the evening I’m in Torshavn. It starts raining, so I just get dinner and go to sleep.
Thursday August 23rd, 2018
Before the breakfast, I go for a short walk to the old part of Torshavn, Tinganes, where there is the Parliament. Back to the hotel for breakfast, and after it I reach the ferry boat to go to Sandoy. As soon as I arrive to the island, I stop at the tourist office to ask for some info about what to see and where to go in Sandoy. First stop in Sandur where there is a beach with some dunes, then to Skalavik. Here I find the only church that is open, so I go inside, and then a short walk on the beach. I go on to Dalur and to Skavranes: the landscapes are very nice. Last place I want to see is Soltuvik, where a ship wrecked years ago. On the way there, I stop to a spot where there is a rock with some stuff on it.
According to the legend a witch lived here. Also here the landscapes are beautiful and there is sun. I get lunch with my trip mates, and then we decide to go to Sandur for a coffee, before going to the ferry. As it’s still a bit early I go around Skopun to find the biggest mailbox in the world. After the ferry, another stop to Kirkjubour, not far from Torshavn. Here there are old buildings with the grass on the roofs, and the Magnus Cathedral, a medieval church. I’m a bit tired, but I continue to visit Torshavn (e.g. to the fortress, Skansin) and then to Kalbak (on the way there, I see a beautiful waterfall). Dinner with some friends. Tomorrow I will spend the day (my last day at Faroer) with some friends, repeating some things of the first day.
Friday August 24th, 2018
Today I haven’t planned anything except Nodradalur (at short distance from Torshavn, with a scenic road). I had a map of Faroer. Checking it, I did all the scenic roads around the islands. Going there is really nice, great views over the mountains and over the surrounding islands. In Nodradalur I take some pictures with sheeps (a bit far from them, but they are pretty shy). The weather is really good. It’s a wonderful sunny day. I decide to go back to Vagar (where I will spend the last night). So I cross the subsea tunnel and go to the Troll Finger (just to see it at distance).
The day is sunny, but really windy. I go on with my friends to the lake Sorvagsvatn (the same I went to the first day) and to the near waterfall. It’s too windy to go to the edge, but with sun the lake is more spectacular than the first day. It’s the second time I come here during this trip. But I really love this place. It takes more or less 1 hour to reach the top of the hill. This is the best spot to take pictures. And again to Bour and Gasadalur for the waterfall (I walk a bit on the path near the village, for beautiful views). Later I get the dinner at the hotel near the airport.
Saturday August 25th, 2018
And here we are. It’s time to go back home. So I wake up early, just the time to get breakfast, and I go to the airport, and take my flight to Copenhagen, where I will wait few hours for my connection flight to Milan. In late afternoon I’m back at home.
