Here are the photos which I edited after I got back from the holiday, along side some top tips!
Getting around
We saw plenty of buses and there were plenty of bus stops, but I suspect it is most convenient to get around in a car. I’m going to be honest and say that I have no idea how frequently the buses ran, but we did see a lot of them.
Hiring a car is expensive, but you will not need a big one. We hired a Vauxhall Corsa for the week and were just fine. Most of the roads are well paved, and even the ones that aren’t (road to Muli, road to Trollfinger/Klakkur car park) weren’t that bad. Just go slow and be careful of pot holes.
The rules for driving around the islands are fairly straight forward, 50 in towns, 80 else where. Single track roads give way to someone if they are coming up hill. Single track tunnels will indicate who has the right of way before you enter.
It can be pretty tricky to judge how far away a car is when you are in a tunnel, so I would say to pull over even if you are sat waiting for a while – better to be safe than sorry, especially in the ones which don’t have lights!
Pricing / Costs
More or less everything is expensive. Our AirBnB was reasonably priced, but food and drink wasn’t cheap. You could “go cheap” by buying things from the supermarket, but everything is a lot more expensive than we are used to.
Oddly petrol was the same price as at home (UK), but that probably says more about the price of petrol in the UK than anything else.
Hiking / More Costs
All of the land in the Faroe Islands is privately owned. This means that the farmers / land owners can charge you for walking on it.
I think that due to the increase in tourists this is becoming a problem, and whilst we were there there were signs for an upcoming election where the tourist boom was apparently a hot voting point.
The hike to Draganir was really expensive (About 70Euros/£65 each) and can only be done with a guide on set days. No one can say that they “didn’t know” because you have to walk past signs everywhere declaring this.
The hike to the lake on Vagar was 200DKK (£25/30Euro) each, and as much as this is really expensive – they were at least building in a new path steps etc so you could see what your money was being spent on.
My advise would be to pay when you get there rather than booking in advance. The Faroese hiking website (hiking.fo) lists more hikes and people have paid for them only for a guide not to turn up and others have done the hike for free. I think it is something that will be sorted out better in the future.
Where to Eat
We stopped in Skala, which is about an hour from the capital. Outside of the capital restaurants are few and far between.
You will have a fairly decent range of places to eat in the capital itself, and Klaksvik also had a fair few places to eat. Everywhere else expect small cafes or maybe a restaurant.
We found that the range of what to eat in the cafes wasn’t great. A lot of places sold soft drinks or a tea/coffee and waffles for 50DKK (£6/7 Euro).
Clearly though the islands are not set up for tourism, so my advise would be to buy your food from a supermarket and take it with your for the day/lunch. This is what we did, and then ate in the capial for tea on certain days / ate in at the AirBnB for others.
Top Sights
Some of the prettiest things to see and do are on the island where the airport is situated. Some require some planning. We never made it to Mykines because the ferry had sold out too fast for us. Check what you can book in advance, and decide where to spend your cash. Things like ferrys can’t always be booked in advance, but if you can book it then do.
Like I said earlier the islands aren’t particularly set up for tourism, so expect some weird ferry times and long waits.
Everything is pretty spread out as well, so be prepared for a lot of driving.
Buttercup Routes
Buttercup routes are scenic routes that connect villages together. I think you can get a map with the buttercup routes marked on it from the tourist information centers, but we managed to do most of them just by driving around.
They are clearly marked with a bright yellow buttercup next to them.
Be Respectful
There aren’t a lot of people on the Faroe Islands, and they are not really used to the big influx of tourists. In certain places signs have been put up to point out issues the locals are having with the tourists, eg. “Don’t fly drones less than 150m away from a village”, “Take your rubbish with you”. Be respectful of the people living there.
Weather
Be prepared for every weather type! The week we were there we experienced, mild 10 degree days which we cloudy, 20 degree blue skies, persistent rain, very low handing cloud…..
Pack for everything!
Photo Opportunities
There are plenty of places to pull over and grab a quick photo – just make sure that you aren’t using the passing places on single track roads to do this.
It is pretty clear when it’s a passing place, or if you can pull in and stop for a bit. A lot of places to stop have rubbish bins and seating.
Toilets (Yes, really!)
An important point to consider – if there are not really many restaurants, what is the toilet situation like??
Surprisingly good! Most of the villages have somewhere to park (Usually near the church), and then there is usually a public bathroom!
These tended to be fairly well maintained as well!