I can't believe I went somewhere that is colder than the UK in May. I went via Copenhagen so travel time doubled because of that. I had fantastic views from my window seat though. I could see all the islands. The weather during my week was unexpectedly warm and sunny. My bus ride from Vagar airport To Torshavn town costs a whopping £10 for a one way fare. I would have paid double for the amazing views. I was gazing out of the window with my mouth open. I even met a couple of sheep on my way to my accommodation. It was 10pm but it was still daylight. In fact most of the friends I met were animals.
It was time to explore. My trip to Mykines was cancelled so I journeyed north..one island to another joined by an under the sea tunnel. I crossed the Bridge of Atlantic to another island and into the oldest tunnel. Then onto Klaksvik the second largest town in the Faroe Islands. There are only 4 sets of traffic lights on the whole island...3 are in the capital Tórshavn and 1 in Klaksvik. I visited many villages and went as far north of the northern islands as Vidoy. I saw an old Viking settlement with a village built around it. Then had lunch at a local fishing station canteen. Fish and chips Faroese style. It's what the workers were having for lunch.
Then I explored the western islands and went to Gasadalur, the northernmost village on the island of Vagar. I would not have been able to come here if it wasn't for the Queen of Denmark. There were no roads or tunnel to this village as there were only 15 homes here. Only access was by boat. It was way too much money to spend on the village. So the families were stuck out here cut off from the rest of the island. The Queen heard about this as she is from the Faroe Islands and decided to visit this particular village. Hey presto...the road and tunnel was built for her visit. Millions of euros to see the view. It was definitely worth it.
Then I ventured to the southern islands by ferry to Suduroy. It was 4 hours return trip. I walked 5.5km to the Trongisvagur and hopped on a bus that went to the south of the island all the way to Sumba. There were amazing views again and I was the only one on the bus. Sumba is a tiny village but with a view of the tallest cliffs on the islands. Then I took the bus back to the town before walking another 5.5kms and hopping on the ferry back to Torshavn. I did meet the prettiest sheep on the island as well.
The timetables of ferries and buses are extremely random in the Faroes. You can wait 30 minutes for the next bus or 5 hours.Obviously this will only affect travellers like me that rely on public transport. The last bus can sometimes be at 2.30pm, half an hour after you have arrived in the town. So you have to run around trying not to miss anything.
The next trip was to the Eastern island. Eysturoy is called the eastern island. Not sure why as it's physically in the middle of the Faroe Islands. In fact when I ventured to the northern island...that was physically east. Weird but still another beautiful island with all their highest mountains and cliffs. Had a typical cold lunch of meatballs, salmon, herring and lamb in different cured forms. We drove through the Saksun Valley and to Gjogv. We even saw the only jail on the island where every cell has magnificent views. The jail isn't for hard criminals obviously...they get sent to Denmark. I looked around the little village of Gjogv and I knew there would be a lot of walking up the very steep mountain. I had to get to the edge of the pointy cliff. If the cute dog can do it then so can I...just about. Then we drove through the valley to get to this out of the way village of Saksun. Lovely views as usual from every point so trying to get a shot without a horse in it was proving difficult. They knew what they were doing...good thing I love animals more than people.
My last day on this magnificent island was spent being queasy on a boat trip to see the famous Vestmanna Cliffs and birds in particular the puffin. I saw loads of puffins but couldn't get a single decent photo. They're so annoyingly small and fast. I did take a photo of the rocks that looked like an elephant and the big willy.
A beautiful island and worth the trip to see it. A dent in the pocket but a lifetime of memories instead.
