Exploring the Faroe Islands: Northern Isles

“The remotest place on Earth can sometimes be the most attractive place on Earth especially in times when our belief in humanity is lost!” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

It has been two months since we returned from the Faroe Islands, and people are still asking me “why did you pick that place?” I keep coming back to the same answer: because it was so remote and so different from anything we’ve ever seen. The last few days of our trip were the most remote of all, as we traveled across the large island of Eysturoy to the smaller northern islands of Borðoy, Viðoy, and Kunoy.

Our route from Streymoy to Borðoy took us through three mountain tunnels, past mountain valleys and fjords, and through an undersea tunnel. The tunnel connecting Leirvik to Klaksvik was 20,295 feet, making it the longest tunnel in the Faroe Islands. It felt like it took forever driving through that tunnel, especially as we kept going down, down, down…but just as we reached the bottom a burst of colored lights greeted us to light the way back up. The tunnels that terrified us were the two on Borðoy, which were cramped one-way tunnels built in the 1960s. These resembled old mining tunnels.

Eysturoy

Borðoy Tunnel

Eysturoy

The tunnels were worth it, however, to reach the remote villages of Norðdepil and Viðareiði. We spent two nights in an AirBnB cottage with our own personal waterfall in the backyard. There were no restaurants on that side of the tunnels, so we made do with canned mackerel, cheese, bread & potatoes. The second night we had seafood cocktail and vegetable medley, compliments of a Klaksvik grocery. We had comfortably embraced Faroese cuisine at this point. Across the water in the neighboring village of Hvannasund, we were delighted to find an old one room school turned into a cozy cafe. In such a remote area, Cafe Old School’s rhubarb cake and hot chocolate was enough to send me into rapture! Hvannasund appeared to be in the early stages of development, with a new walkway being built along the shore and old boat cabins being converted into rental cottages.

Hvannasund

Cafe Old School

Hvannasund was one of two villages on the northern island of Viðoy. Viðareiði was the second village, and it was the farthest north we have ever been. We drove to Viðareiði with plans to hike up the mountain of Villingadalsfjall, but the trailhead had a sign saying they charged a hiking fee.

Viðareiði Viðoy faroe islands villingadalsfjall — Villingadalsfjall entry

We looked up at the steep mountain, then down at the lovely village, and decided $20 per person wasn’t worth it. So we spent the rest of that day exploring tidal pools by the water, eating a picnic lunch by the Viðareiði waterfall, and soaking up the amazing scenery. One of my favorite things about Viðareiði were the flower boxes strategically placed in the road all throughout town — the friendly Faroese way of saying “slow the f down!”

Viðareiði Speedbump

Viðareiði Church

The reason we stayed two nights on Borðoy was so that we could do two iconic hikes: Villingadalsfjall and Kallur Lighthouse. We did neither. I have no regrets about skipping Villingadalsfjall but I do regret missing out on the hike up to Kallur Lighthouse. We knew it was a beautiful hike, but it required a ferry with a very specific time slot and we just didn’t want to be bothered with timetables on this trip. So we opted to explore the island of Kunoy instead, which we could drive to.

Walking trail of Kunoy

In all my research leading up to this trip, I never saw Kunoy mentioned. I certainly never saw anything mentioning a hidden forest, but lo and behold Kunoy had a magical forest hidden away from all the tourists! Seeing a grove of trees in the Faroe Islands was like seeing a lush green oasis in the middle of a desert.

To reach Kunoy Park, find the Kunoy sign in town and park there. Walk up the path that leads to a red 2-story building. There are public restrooms in this building. Look up behind the town and you’ll see the forest. You can drive up the road and park at its entrance, but the road is in terrible shape so be careful.