Once upon a time, in the long-forgotten days of 2021, I was served an Instagram ad for a flight to the Faroe Islands. Yeah, same, I never really heard of it either, but I very quickly became obsessed. A bunch of dots in the middle of the ocean? Looks like an alien planet? Cool name? Sheep?! I’m in.
Natapong Supalertsophon / Getty Images
I have a Google Flight hobby, where I basically search New York City to anywhere all of the time. I started checking out the Faroes, and I’m telling you, I never saw anything that wasn’t a 25-hour flight for over $1,800. That is until this year. To my surprise, I found a $330 (!!!!!) flight through Iceland.
I snatched up that flight and spent six days over Memorial Day weekend with one of my best friends.
It was awesome, like “life-changing” awesome. I even got to do “Oops!… I Did It Again” choreo on a grassy knoll overlooking a fjord!
Because I loved it so much, I put together this list of things I wish I knew before I went. Enjoy.
1.First of all, the Faroes consist of 18 islands, and wherever you are, it’s impossible to be more than three miles from the ocean. Most of the islands are connected by underground tunnels.
The Faroes are a territory of Denmark, so most things in stores are Danish (and imported). Everyone speaks Faroese, but they also speak English and Danish. They’re trilingual. Someone told us that they start learning Danish in the second grade and English in the fourth grade.
For context, that’s my location tag.
You’re OUT there.
2.It’s one of the rainiest places in the world, like we’re talking 270+ days of the year with rain.
One minute it’s sunny, the next it’s raining. Repeat. It’s one of those places.
3.When it’s sunny, though, there is NOTHING like it.
Over the course of those six days, we had two great weather days, two so-so weather days, and two AWFUL days. Those awful days were comically bad, like the rain and wind just wouldn’t stop. Hurricane stuff.
4.The best way to keep track of the weather is on their robust live cam network, faroeislandslive.com.
It’s also the best way to make your daily plans. One part of the island could be pouring rain, and the other part could be sunny. We honestly had more luck monitoring the cams than using our weather apps.
5.There are no trees because it’s so windy.
And by “no trees,” I mean there are very, very few. When you see one it’s like a *thing*.
6.The Faroes mostly look like this:
7.This:
8.This:
9.This:
10.This:
11.And definitely this:
Like I said, it will rain a lot, but the fog is definitely a vibe.
12.It’s so gorgeous that there are signs in the towns that say, “This is a neighbourhood not a museum.”
Noted.
13.As you can probably tell, you see a lot of these grass-roofed houses.
So aesthetic.
14.There are puffins.
Puffin season goes from late April to early September, so we were right in the thick of it at the end of May. The best place to see them is an island called Mikines (population 15!), which is only reachable by ferry. That ferry is kind of unpredictable, depending on the weather. We were the last ferry to make it to the island for two days because of the weather.
15.There’s a brewery on the Faroes that has the most adorable beer cans.
16.They also make this DELICIOUS hard seltzer called Skinny.
I could go for a Skinny now, TBH.
17.The other beer you can get from the Faroes is called Slupp, which is also just fun and weird to say.
“Can I get a Slupp?”
18.The supermarket mascot is a horny, drunk piggy bank.
At least that’s what it looks like to me. Buying your groceries is a must on the Faroes because there just aren’t that many restaurants outside of the capital city.
19.In the Faroes, it feels like you are always one small step away from certain death.
Seriously, they warn you.
TONS of skinny paths.
20.There are more sheep on the island than people which means they are EVERYWHERE.
21.They invade the towns.
Scary.
22.They’re hanging onto the edges of cliffs.
Also scary.
23.They’re inescapable (and you’ll end up with hundreds of pictures of them on your photo roll).
I think we were there during a *special* time because there were also SO many baby sheep. It was (particularly) majestic and sheepy.
24.Speaking of, you’ll have to make constant stops to let them cross the road.
Divas.
25.You’ll even find some sheep graffiti.
26.In the Faroes, they have this delicious banana cake with chocolate frosting.
They’re also known for their carrot cake. You have to get it.
27.Another food you’ll find is “fish soup.” Really, it’s just called “fish soup.”
It’s very, very good. I recommend getting it at my favorite restaurant in the Faroes called Fiskastykkid (no idea how to say that).
28.James Bond died there, and you can literally pay respects to him at his “grave.”
Spoiler alert: They filmed the last James Bond movie, No Time to Die, in the Faroes on Kalsoy Island, and Daniel Craig dies there in the final scene.
Gone but never forgotten <3
29.I’d be remiss to mention James Bond’s grave without mentioning that there’s also an incredibly random Thai restaurant essentially at the end of the world on that island.
Restaurant-wise, there wasn’t a huge variety or tons of choices in the Faroes, so it was VERY surprising to find a Thai restaurant in an INCREDIBLY remote part of an island only accessible by ferry.
30.There are only, like, three radio stations.
Most worked in the tunnels, which was impressive. Shoutout to TITT radio (good name).
31.Speaking of tunnels, some of them have these awesome light displays.
You’ll constantly be in these tunnels, and they cost money! Over the course of six days, we spent about $60 on tolls.
32.Rhubarb is the most common vegetable you’ll find.
Not much can grow in the Faroes (mostly potatoes and carrots), but rhubarb grows surprisingly well there.
33.There are waterfalls EVERYWHERE.
Seriously, a dime of dozen, they’re just cascading all over the place.
34.When it rains, there are even more waterfalls and they get real big.
35.The most famous waterfall cascades into the sea and it’s called Skarðsáfossur.
We were *lucky* it was raining for two days straight because we saw it in full force, and no, I still have no idea how to pronounce that.
36.The wind is NO JOKE.
The blowing rain meant that either one side of you was dry while the other side was completely wet.
37.The hikes are also NO JOKE.
One side of a trail could look like this:
And the other side could look like this:
But the view was always worth it.
We hiked Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, and let me tell you, the weather changed drastically along the way. By the time we reached the top, we were facing hurricane-force winds, and I was terrified about how to get down the mountain. I had never truly understood what vertigo felt like until that moment.
38.If you’re not the hiking type, just drive around. You’ll see views like this everywhere:
39.Speaking of gorgeous, I found Enya to be the perfect soundtrack for the trip.
I also liked listening to Sade, Madonna’s Ray of Light album, and Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” (because I felt like I was going to fall off a cliff). You can listen to my trip playlist here.
40.People have been living on the Faroes since 500 AD, and we found a grave of someone who died in the year 1700.
Don’t see that every day!
41.As a sparkling water aficionado, I can officially say their stuff is top-notch.
Great long-lasting fizz. Not too spicy.
ALSO, as a beverage (especially zero sugar) fan, I was definitely happy with my hauls.
Shoutout to those imported strawberries in the corner. Worth it.
42.The most popular chip brand is Kims and they are literally cool:
Because of the sunglasses, get it?
43.There’s a ton of *weird* candy in the grocery store.
“Yes, I would LOVE to try this candy with a seizing rat and an electrocuted cat!”
44.This is more a general tip: Lots of things were closed on Sunday, Monday, and also Tuesday.
We found that all grocery stores were closed on Sundays, and then most restaurants were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. BTW, this picture is from Rose’s Restaurant, which had some top-notch fish and chips. Just be sure you reserve before going!
45.The capital city, Tórshavn, is one of the smallest capital cities in the world. 20,000 people live there.
Roberto Moiola / Sysaworld / Getty Images
We spent one of the rainy days in the city and checked out some museums, art galleries, and multiple coffee shops. Shoutout to Paname Café (my fav).
46.All of the rental cars have this little “parking disc,” so when you’re in the *big city* of Tórshavn, you just set what time you arrive so the parking attendants know you didn’t overstay the limit.
Also, just to give you an idea of how small the Faroes are, there are only five stoplights on the entire island chain.
47.They’re obsessed with trolls and witches.
I swear, everywhere we went, there was some sort of story about trolls. Trolls live under rocks, so watch out for ’em.
48.Some hikes cost money.
Like $25, which is kind of expensive. This picture was from Lake Sørvágsvatn which has a really wild optical illusion that makes it look like the lake is falling into the ocean.
49.It was pretty humid, so once something got wet, it stayed wet.
Make sure you pack plenty of rain gear!!
50.Ferry sickness is REAL.
The ferry system is really efficient, and you can book it online, but let me tell you, the open ocean is no joke.
51.The best thing to do is to just go from small village to small village. My three favorites were Gjógv, Funningur, and Bøur.
52.I might be partial to Bøur because this was the view from our rental!!!
53.And lastly, look at these teeny tiny pieces of construction equipment!
Fit for a troll!
54.So, yeah, that was my trip! The Faroes were *the* most alien place I’ve ever been to, and it might not be for everyone!
Those 270 days of rain a year are no joke, so you’ll have to be VERY flexible, but it’s 100000% worth it.
Thank you for reading another edition of “Fave Stops with Matt” (that’s what we’re calling this!!!) It’s a lil series about my favorite places in the world. Last week, I took you to what I think is the most underrated place in the ENTIRE US: The Upper Peninsula in Michigan, and next week I’ll be telling you about a bucket list country I visited earlier this year that (almost) rhymes with “Farah Slay.*” Thanks for your time. Xo.
*Sorry, terrible hint lol.