Night on Svínoy: Island charm at the far northeast

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After spending three great hours in the cozy village of Hvannasund, Amanda and I were off to the island of Svínoy on a small ferry. That day, we wanted to get to both Svínoy and Fugloy, two islands that I hadn’t yet visited, but as I’ve learned in this land of maybe, you always need to have a plan B!

Sailing to Svínoy went perfectly fine and the people got off on the island without hassle. Amanda and I decided to stay on the ferry, as we wanted to head to Hattarvík on Fugloy first for a few hours before returning to Svínoy for the night. But as you might have guessed, things didn’t quite go as planned.

Half an hour later, the ferry docked at Kirkja, the first of two villages on Fugloy. There, the waves were so high and the wind so strong that it was dangerous trying to get people on and off the ferry. Therefore, most people were tied to a rope before being helped off and on! It was crazy to witness as people were scared and some were even crying from fear. But thankfully the ferry crew knew what they were doing and got everyone on and off safely.

Off we went again, but I soon noticed that we weren’t going around the island to Hattarvík, but heading back to Svínoy instead! We were told it was too dangerous to try to dock at Hattarvík, so we were heading back. So Amanda and I decided to instead spend the three hours on Svínoy and then catch the ferry later to Fugloy to spend the night there.

Once on Svínoy, we quickly found a place to put our backpacks and then went for a wander to the only village on the island. Svínoy is one of the most isolated islands in the country, and is home to just 52 hardy people. We met two little girls and their dog Thor who were staying on the island in their family’s summer house. To me, it sounded like the perfect place to spend the summer!

We decided to follow an asphalt road that the girls had recommended to us. We walked and walked, out of the village and into the mountains until we came to the end of the road where we got a great view over to Fugloy.

When the three hours were up, we went back down to the ferry and got on it, ready to explore Fugloy. But a few minutes after setting out to sea, we were told we wouldn’t get there after all, so we sailed back to Svínoy once again. It was time for our plan B; to spend the night on Svínoy instead of sailing back to Hvannasund on the mainland.

Svínoy has a cute little tent site in the village which is free to use and even has a kitchen, toilets and showers, so we decided to spend the night there. But first we wanted to get some food and heat at the only café on the island, located at the first farm you get to when walking from the harbour to the village. The café was so cozy and offered wonderful and reasonably priced food, so we decided we would come back in the morning for breakfast!

The owner of the café recently moved to the island with her husband and six children. They’ve lived in many places around the globe, including four years in Qatar, but two years ago they decided to try out the isolated life on Svínoy. When they moved there, the island school was reopened for the first children that had lived there in many years.

At the campsite it was extremely windy and we were getting tired, so we decided it would be okay for us to sleep indoors on the floor. We got a good and warm night out of that!

The next morming, we headed back to the little café for breakfast and learned that the owner also had a little flea market, where we found a few great pieces! I love local secrets like that!

At 8.45 AM, our Svínoy adventure came to an end as we headed back on the ferry before catching a bus back to Tórshavn. Another amazing adventure on the Faroes had ended and I could now add another island to my list!

↠ This trip was made in collaboration with MM Tours ↞

Interested in visiting Svínoy?

Why not visit a traditional farm while you’re there and take part in the chores for the day? See more here!