mrtrickdk

Great report, and stunning pictures!

offerendum

Fascinating! Not the easy way, but beautiful nature^

Kiwi Flyer

thanks for a great report kaszeta ^

Stefan Sip

Loved the photos and the captions along with them.

kaszeta

The full set is at https://flic.kr/s/aHskDqYU2Y, although most of them you've seen here.

deuce1

really enjoyed this report! thank you for posting

lamphs

Great report! I considered going there via Iceland a number of years ago, but I heard too many "why would you want to go there" and I talked myself out of it. Two things have changed. Information is more readily available about some of the more "off the beaten path" destinations and of course this report. I'll be reconsidering a stop here for at least a couple of days.

kaszeta

Yeah, I was a bit surprised that when I first mentioned that I was considering the Faroes. A lot of the Danish and British people I knew seem to have a mental image of it being a low-rent version of the Shetlands that's not worth visiting, while I myself thought they were quite cool.

Mind you, I almost went to the Faroes last October enroute to a family event in England, but a review of the weather and people's october photos told me it was likely a better idea to wait until June.

GreatDane

Absolutely wonderful TR: Just realize I was there at the same time- flew r/t from CPH which RC does 3 times pr day - so if the KEF connection doesnt work out for some from the US - then going via CPH is very doable. We actually did FAE on a 3day long weekend - which is not much but gets you to see a lot of the Islands. And RC is a surprisingly good airline with all-economy service that includes a cold meal and all hot and cold drinks incl alcoholic. Rare these days.

We did Mykines, Torshavn, Eidi, Gjogv (I asked and was told the pronounciation is 'Yegv' by the lady in the Gjogv guesthouse.).
The hikes around there are amazing and we did Sandoy on a rainy day - really worth it , and that ferry hardly ever cancels - so good for a bad-weather day. And you can bring your car.
Agree Koks was amazing. Also Barbaras fishhouse and Aarstova are both great.
Can't wait to go back and do Kalsoy - your pics inspired me now

kaszeta

Yeah, I rather liked RC. A decent in-flight meal (although the exact same thing on both RKV->FAE and FAE->EDI, a curry chicken sandwich), a non-crowded cabin (I suspect the short runways led to a reduced capacity), and a pleasant staff. And I don't know about your tickets, but ours were pretty cheap (total for both of us was 2600 DKK for all flights, so that was about 90 USD per leg per passenger). I'm wondering if RC gets subsidies (as an aside, my BOS->KEF, RKV->FAE, FAE->EDI was probably the cheapest transatlantic crossing I've done since 1998 or so... my return LHR->KEF, LEF->BOS cost a lot more)

And despite a nominally strict luggage weight policy, they happily just let me check an extra bag. (Between my photography gear, and formal wear that we needed for family events in Scotland and London that would have been very out of place in the Faroes, we weren't exactly traveling light).

Bretteee

I want to go to the Faroe Islands. How many days would you suggest?

You missed the event when they kill the dolphins and the ocean is red? I think it's dolphins.

I remember your great reunion trip report. Did you swim in Reunion? They have the most shark attacks.

I am going to Mauritius in October and decided to skip reunion as I like to swim.

kaszeta

I'd budget at least three days. Two of the basic attractions (Vestmanna cliffs and Mykines) require almost an entire day to themselves, and you want some other time to explore the area. As it was, I rather wish I had 2-3 more days to check out Sudaroy and Sandoy, and maybe take another stab at one of the good hikes.

On the other hand, I think after about 7-8 days, unless you are hardcore into hiking and side trips, most folks would get bored. I know that the Australian couple I met that had been there for a month house-swapping were still enjoying it, but had remarked that after the first two weeks they were like "Yeah. Another little village with turf roofs and a church."

Part of it, however, is paced by airline availability. Neither of my flights in or out is a daily flight, just 3x/week flights.

Pilot whales. Missed that by a few days (it's not scheduled, they basically wait until a large pod shows up).

I did. Saint-Pierre has an awesome beach (and reef-protected so no sharks).

turnleftbrighteyes

Thank you for posting this incredible trip report, Kaszeta! I've been toying with the idea of going to the Faroe Islands next summer, so this is wonderfully timed. Your report is one of the most useful sources I've seen so far (the other has been looking at the official tourist web site and the Visit Faroe Islands Instagram account, which posts amazing photos.) Your summary of what you'd do differently is exactly the kind of information I've been looking for.

One question-- you mentioned in a comment that some people thought Faroe was like a "low-rent" version of Shetland. Can you expand on that? Any chance you've also been to Shetland and so could compare more directly? I went to Shetland this summer, and I loved it, and Faroe seemed appealing in many of the same ways. And Faroe seems like it might be slightly easier to get to from the U.S. by flying via Iceland, rather than the multiple connections required to get to Shetland.

kaszeta

I should also give a good plug here. The Bradt travel guide to the Faroes is quite good and well researched. I found it very useful. (As opposed to, say, Lonely Planet where the Faroes only rate half a page in the back of the Iceland guide.

Mostly, for better or worse (mostly better, in my experience), the Faroes are still developing a tourism economy. There's not a lot of accomodations, hotel or otherwise. Airbnb is still making inroads there (although that's where half our lodging came from, and quite a good deal at that!). A lot of the various ferries have limited capacity, and even worse, it is perfectly plausible that you could get stuck on Kalsoy or Mykines if you are unlucky. And restaurants? I'm not kidding when I say that I could count all of the non-gas-station restaurants in the Faroes outside of Torshavn on my fingers.

The Shetlands aren't that much better in these respects, but they have fewer challenges.

Mind you, I like the rustic nature, but many people seem to be turned off by it.

Yeah, if I timed it right, I could get to Vagar in a not-too-long day of travel with one connection in Iceland (and rumor is that next year RC is going to be flying out of KEF year-round).

For that matter, it was also delightful to talk to my brother (who was meeting us in Edinburgh) while we were in Višareiši and he was in London, and realizing that from a "travel time" perspective we were a lot closer to Edinburgh than he was (70 minute drive to Vagar, 60 minutes for checkin and security, and a 1:45 flight.... vs his combination of tube and train for 6.5 hours)

Romanianflyer

Thank's very much for sharing the report about an unknown destination which is on my list to visit already for a while longer (it might be heresy to say here, but I'd heard great stories about taking the Denmark-Faroe-Iceland ferry).

Beautiful pictures, and a great read from start to finish.