Our trip to the Faroe Islands and Copenhagen

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
So in your option Faroe worth a trip? I have been to Iceland so I thing I have some idea what Faroe would looks like..
Yes absolutely worth the trip. It's a different feel than Iceland. Iceland is more wide open spaces with more pronounced waterfalls. The Faroe Islands has more dramatic mountainscapes and feels more remote. Even if you hit a small population center - a lot of them are really tiny
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
After Gjogv we headed to Eidi and crossed a mountain plateau that immediately became a favorite place of mine. Sweeping views, wide open land and no people
IRPyt25.jpg


Then on to Sornfelli since the weather was nice. We had previously tried to reach the peak but heavy fog caused us to turn back. Great views but holy crap was it windy
omkilzH.jpg

iXpakxr.jpg


The following day we headed to Vestmanna for a boat tour

LfwxJxK.jpg


Salmon is a huge export market so we saw farms like these frequently

EcuTMar.jpg

u8JR6HX.jpg

knYukSl.jpg

PWKYloO.jpg

k2MyiWK.jpg


Village abandoned since the 1970s:
vHHyy8Z.jpg
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
After the boat trip on yet another gorgeous day we headed to Gasadalur.
E57Rdlp.jpg


First hike of the day was the "Postman's Route" that the postman used to take to Gasadalur before the mountain tunnel was built. Top 3 hike in the FI for sure.

FPt3qGW.jpg

XRWoaAE.jpg

isdB0Rw.jpg

crfK1Mv.jpg


Then back down to the Instagram famous Mulafossur Waterfall
ABdDGYn.jpg


When we arrived back at our AirBnB our host let us know you can count on one hand how many times two nice days in a row happen during the year so yay for some incredible luck on our part
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
Spectacular pictures!!

Phone or camera?

Thanks! Camera. Canon R6 + 24-105 or 15-30. I think Imgur compresses the images a little bit as they are a little softer than the ones on my computer

Anyone catch the phallic rock?

TBH I didn't until just now. We were more enamored with the lines of contrast from the shadow vs sun+haze
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
The following day the weather turned a bit more typical with notable morning fog as we boarded a large ferry for our 2 hour trip to Suduory.

Z3XWEyx.jpg

WPDdqzp.jpg


Lighthouse at the southern most point of the FI
bRapua9.jpg


We had a hike, a lookout and a scenic drive we didn't do because of the dense fog in those areas. Fortunately the weather started clearing up after lunch for our Hvannhagi hike. I called it the most Faroese hike for the following reasons: You have to take a ferry to get there. The directions are vague: "Start at the hospital and head towards the mountain." - various paths meander through grazing land and fences so hopefully you pick the right path. We didn't the first time and had to backtrack a bit. The only sign with a map for the hike is 1km from the nearest possible place for cars to park (which was a 1 lane road for 2 way traffic past some houses and had a parking lot that could hold 3 cars if everyone parked close together). Half the trail are single foot wide sheep's paths. Rain and fog moved back in at Hvannhagi causing us to leave early. While we were on the mountain we saw absolutely no one hiking on the trail behind us. Yet people kept appearing (in bright jackets so we know we didn't miss them) at the top causing us to wonder "Where the hell did they come from?"

And the views were absolutely friggen gorgeous.

After climbing up the mountain you get to a lookout (unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of that. I figured I would get it on the way back. Big mistake). Everyone else turned around here and didn't consider taking the path down towards the ocean. If you ever go here you absolutely 100% should open the sheep gate and take the path down towards the ocean. It is steep at first and the ground is a little uncertain when wet (so....most of the time) but it evens out after a couple of minutes.
3r2rkWf.jpg


Path after leaving the lookout
2JRj6va.jpg


The reward was well worth it. By far my favorite hike of the trip (My wife prefers the Saksun hike). Granted part of that was due to the fun getting to our destination, having seen maybe 10 total people during our 2.5 hour hike and zero people since we left the lookout but the views were pretty damn good too

QQanHYn.jpg


It was incredibly quiet too - just us and the soft sound of the waves gently rolling in against the rocks. I could have spent a long time there but, sadly, fog and rain were rolling in. It was actually rolling in around the valley towards the trail. So the valley seemed fine but we started getting concerned for what that meant for getting back up the mountain. And we didn't exactly want to try and wait it out, miss the ferry and have to spend the night on the island since we would have to figure out lodging if we got stuck (and I am too old to want to sleep in a compact car). So we headed out at a rather aggressive pace.

You can see the rain rolling in over the mountain towards the trail (the thin dark line in the grass)
oDXlUQc.jpg


We beat most of the rain to the top of the hike. The Mountain kept it at bay so we had a leisurely pace the rest of the way to recover a bit.
JbfB33H.jpg


After getting to the car we made a brief stop at a scenic lookout before returning to the ferry terminal for our trip back
Xr7AwHJ.jpg


MgfRTc6.jpg


beFoT8f.jpg
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,778
126
I don't really know much about histortical stuff. Did all Faroes come from the island? How did they make it to the desert?

I certainly hope someone explained that while you were there.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
After some time in and around Torshaven we headed to Klaksvik and the eastern islands.

As an aside I can see why residents of the FI are getting a tad annoyed by tourists. Aside from the IG fanatics Google maps is just plain wrong a lot of the time. It told me to drive down a set of stairs, go the wrong way down a one way and had a couple roads that didn't actually exist. We had gotten a paper map at the airport and this was actually much more useful than we would have imagined. I don't remember the last time I've used a map that much

RoEWUFo.jpg

vjwrpK7.jpg

8IOMoSG.jpg

qxfn3A4.jpg

fbXxbZM.jpg


ZNTBdCh.jpg

lyKaGKK.jpg

f1kSZi3.jpg

VNQhUQO.jpg

QnDRtld.jpg

JA6z9ni.jpg

VXGJIOy.jpg


An interesting note about the villages - they are small enough that most addresses don't have street names. It's just "#2 (village name)" and that's it. Also their phone numbers are just 6 digits

hmKbR1f.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: nisryus

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
I don't really know much about histortical stuff. Did all Faroes come from the island? How did they make it to the desert?

I certainly hope someone explained that while you were there.
Atlantis was actually a land bridge between the FI and Egypt. When it sank the two cultures diverged. The Egyptian Faroes eventually succumbed to infighting and invasion while the newly isolated Faroe Islands were able to survive due to that same isolation. It was a period of harsh adjustment but they endured by living off the ocean
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,778
126
Atlantis was actually a land bridge between the FI and Egypt. When it sank the two cultures diverged. The Egyptian Faroes eventually succumbed to infighting and invasion while the newly isolated Faroe Islands were able to survive due to that same isolation. It was a period of harsh adjustment but they endured by living off the ocean
That's what I thought. Sounds like the FI would be a great place for the Bangles to do a reunion tour.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
For some reason this village has a stop light. I have absolutely no idea why as this was basically the extent of the housing...
lSKsR6i.jpg


In Klaksvik we ran into a solid line of low lying clouds. Even so we headed to Klakkur for a hike
TNBiHn5.jpg


Klakkur is hidden behind the clouds to the left
fY213r8.jpg


Given the wind and zero visibility inside the cloud we didn't continue to the top but turned around to head back. Of course 30min later the clouds cleared (Klakkur is the one to the left with the antenna)
L5c3rge.jpg

GHzMmHz.jpg


The next morning it rained fairly hard as we sat waiting for the first ferry of the morning to Kalsoy. The island is relatively popular with tourists relative to the 13 car ferry that only runs every few hours so we got up before dawn to make sure we able to make that first ferry over. The rain probably kept people away as there were only 4 cars on the ferry but we'd rather be early than not be able to get on the ferry.

khlSvF1.jpg

5YBJck6.jpg


This was really the only time the entire trip we made use of our rain jackets

LWp5TVs.jpg



Fortunately the weather cleared up later in the morning as expected but left everything a bit slippery
CXnyG1v.jpg

AAScfDe.jpg

Eyl3sfH.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: skyking

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
@BoomerD mentioned trees - well there are a few plantations with dense areas of trees but any others are few and far between
o6phmEz.jpg

0ytw1N8.jpg


8fj1Aep.jpg

jNwk61n.jpg


After the puffins we headed to the Kallur Lighthouse as the weather continued to improve. This was another great hike if a tad hard on the ankles due to the angled sheep paths along the side of some ridges. With the rain making everything nice an extra slippery we were really glad we brought our poles

You can kinda see the ridge path on the mountain peninsula:

80R4x1J.jpg


View back towards the lighthouse from that peninsula:
qITo8Z0.jpg


Panoramic shot from back towards the island from the end of that peninsula:
gzm20F6.jpg


Vs6cNmi.jpg

weTNs51.jpg


Heading back:
uMdI3gQ.jpg

5PI6jHJ.jpg

sqQXWlF.jpg

9t0RedX.jpg

ns4du3q.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: nisryus

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
6,899
2,261
146
Absolutely beautiful pictures! Thanks for posting them. I saw a couple of pics that had livestock in them. Perhaps the person who installed that fence had livestock that they wanted to keep them penned in or keep them from going to far?
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
Knowing car spots are limited and that locals take priority over tourists we got back to the 'terminal' early. Despite the early arrival time we were 5 cars back already. It was a pretty nice location to wait so we took a small hike, cleaned our boots and relaxed

ZRI85qL.jpg

lLBa7mv.jpg

AVdxNQs.jpg


Glad we got there early because it was a smaller ferry than the one that brought us to the island. Several cars couldn't fit so they'd have to wait another 1.5 hours for the next trip
w5jH2bK.jpg


O3iOIlL.jpg

9WEykhH.jpg


With such nice weather we headed back to Vidareidi to see some of the mountains that had previously been covered by clouds

Clear day:
GXfVmoN.jpg


Cloudy day:
lyKaGKK.jpg


Clear day:
OCtdNEW.jpg


Cloudy day:
ZNTBdCh.jpg


vBJiCzp.jpg

RJEPRK8.jpg


After that it was with much sadness that we headed back home. The trip home was a giant PITA of quirky Faroe Island things + COVID travel requirements + typical airline BS + a dash of oversight on my part but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

UA 767 seat which is better than the LH A350 but not as nice as the LX A350 would have been. Service was actually quite good
6cGabhB.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: nisryus

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
Absolutely beautiful pictures! Thanks for posting them. I saw a couple of pics that had livestock in them. Perhaps the person who installed that fence had livestock that they wanted to keep them penned in or keep them from going to far?
It's definitely for sheep but how do the sheep get to that tiny strip of green and how the hell did someone get there with fence poles, wire and tools?
 

biostud

Lifer
Feb 27, 2003
18,670
5,397
136
We didn't. There is actually a small list of things we didn't get to do despite the time there. Maybe next time :)

What about the local dishes?

Garnatálg

Hailing from the Faroe Islands, garnatálg is a specialty prepared with cured sheep intestines and sheep tallow. The combination is shaped into large, oval pieces which are then air-dried. This local product is usually cut into slices, pan-fried until melted and served over ræstur fiskur—air-dried and fermented fish.


Most Popular Faroese Food - TasteAtlas
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
What about the local dishes?

Garnatálg

Hailing from the Faroe Islands, garnatálg is a specialty prepared with cured sheep intestines and sheep tallow. The combination is shaped into large, oval pieces which are then air-dried. This local product is usually cut into slices, pan-fried until melted and served over ræstur fiskur—air-dried and fermented fish.


Most Popular Faroese Food - TasteAtlas
We had some lamb and seafood (including locally 'farmed' salmon) but I am not a fan of fermented fish and stay away from those dishes