Ten years ago, I first set foot on the Faroe Islands. Ten years ago, a passion emerged and I haven’t looked back since. It’s hard to believe that it’s already five years ago since I wrote this post, celebrating my five-year Faroeversary. And here I am, five years later, feeling very old as I comb back through my memory and remember all the wonderful times I’ve had in my favourite country.

During my first five years of Faroe adventures, my trips were mostly short, limited to a few weeks or sometimes even just a few days. But they were more frequent than recently. Most years, I was able to visit the islands twice. But no matter how often I travelled there, I always longed for more. For longer stays, for more in-depth explorations and to someday be able to tie my love for the Faroe Islands into my studies in archaeology.

Well, the following five years gave me much more of what I had been longing for. I travelled to the Faroes less frequently, “only” managing to go once per year, but I spent much longer on each visit. And in May this year, I conducted my very first independent research project – and it was on the Faroe Islands!

I thought it would be fun to do a recap of my trips just like the last Faroeversary. So here it is – a celebration of my 10-year Faroeversary with a recap of the past five years of visits!

April-May 2019

• Time spent: 1,5 month
• Islands visited: Vágar, Streymoy, Nólsoy, Eysturoy and Suðuroy
• Nights spent in: Nólsoy, Vestmanna and Toftir
• Hikes done: Summit of Eggjarklettur, east coast of Nólsoy, summit of Slætteratindur, to the bridge over Ásmundarstakkur and to the lighthouses at Borðan
• Best moment: Finally getting back to Nólsoy’s village after hiking all night from Borðan with two strained legs (and in hindsight hiking in the dark under the stars was magical!).

This was my first visit over three weeks to the Faroe Islands. I was in the middle of writing my Bachelor’s thesis and needed a calm place to be for a while. After my semester abroad in Greenland, I didn’t want to move back to Copenhagen where my studies were based, so I chose one of my favourite islands in the world, the tiny Faroese island of Nólsoy. I found an old house in the village to rent for six weeks after asking on a local Facebook group, and it was the perfect place for me to hunker down and just write. I spent my birthday on the island and actually saw the northern lights on my last day as a 23-year-old!

While I spent most of my time inside my little house writing and baking, I also explored Nólsoy in depth and went for a few visits to Tórshavn to go grocery shopping and to Vestmanna to visit friends. For Easter, my two best friends came to visit. We rented a car and explored some of the other islands, including Suðuroy which I hadn’t visited since 2015!

I enjoyed getting to know Nólsoy better, and I was not surprised to learn that I thrive living in small island communities. I would love for that to be my reality again one day.

Read more:

• Climbing Eggjarklettur, the highest mountain on Nólsoy (06/04/2019)
• The wild side of Nólsoy: Hiking along the rocky east coast (17/04/2019)
• On top of the Faroe Islands: Climbing Slætteratindur at 880 m (26/04/2019)
• Little bridge over the gorge: Discovering Ásmundarstakkur on Suðuroy (07/05/2019)
• Hiking in the night: A camping misadventure at Borđan (07/05/2019)
• Suðuroy’s wild west coast: Finding the Eggjarnar Cliffs (10/05/2019)
• Suðuroy’s Café Mormor oozes with history and charm (16/05/2019)
• Six weeks on Nólsoy: Writing my BA thesis on a tiny Faroese island (26/05/2019)

October 2020

• Time spent: 1 month
• Islands visited: Vágar, Streymoy and Eysturoy
• Nights spent in: Sandavágar, Toftir and Strendur
• Hikes done: Trælanípan and beyond, Miðvágur to Vatnsoyrar, Bøur to Gásadalur, Dunnesdrangar, Gásadalur to Slættanes to Sandavágur, Drangarnir, Oyrargjógv to Sørvágur, Gásadalur to Víkar and back, Vatnsdalsvatn + 35 summits on Vágar
• Best moment: This was an epic month with so many incredible hikes, but if I have to choose a favourite, it would be the two-day trek to the abandoned village of Slættanes!

When the world entered Covid-19 lockdowns, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to return to the Faroe Islands for a long time. Thankfully, Denmark and a few other European countries opened their borders in late 2020, and travel between Denmark and the Faroe Islands became possible again. I had to get tested twice upon arrival and stay in quarantine until I got my negative results, but after that, I was free to roam as I pleased.

Since I didn’t have much else going on in my life at the time, I decided to spend a whole month on this trip. I’ve long wanted to climb all 340 mountains in the country, and for this trip, I finally got serious about it. I spent the whole month on Vágar, staying at a cozy hostel that only cost me 95 DKK per day because it was off-season (and they have the cutest cat!). I managed to climb 35 out of Vágar’s 41 peaks and also hiked most of the cairn trails on the island. In the process, I made many wonderful new friends, one of whom is Lucie who has become one of my best friends and has been an important part of my Faroe adventures ever since!

Read more:

• Welcome to Vágar: I’m spending October on the Faroe Islands (03/10/2020)
• Mountains above Lake Leitisvatn: Finding the undiscovered in a touristy area (11/10/2020)
• A rainy day on the mountain slopes: Hiking from Miðvágur to Vatnsoyrar (31/10/2020)
• Above the heart-shaped lake: Climbing Vørufelli, Eindalsfjall and Vatnsdalsfjall (06/11/2020)
• Defeated by the mountains of Gásadalur: The attempt to climb Heinanøva and Árnafjall (10/11/2020)
• High above Miðvágur: Climbing five mountains in five hours (15/11/2020)
• Bøur to Gásadalur: Hiking the old postman’s trail with two mountain detours (19/11/2020)
• Kayaking on Lake Leitisvatn: An adventurous alternative way to Trælanípan (24/11/2020)
• Dunnesdrangar and Suður á Fjalli: To the dramatic cliffs of southern Vágar (30/11/2020)
• An abandoned world: A two-day trek to the deserted village of Slættanes (08/12/2020)
• Up close and personal with Drangarnir: A gorgeous hike to one of Vágar’s hotspots (13/12/2020)
• The mountains above Trøllkonufingur: From Krosstindur to Heldarstindur (22/12/2020)
• Cairn trail to the old harbour: Hiking from Oyrargjógv to Sørvágur (04/01/2021)
• Six peaks in a day: Climbing the mountains above Fjallavatn (08/01/2021)
• An abandoned world: A challenging hike to the forgotten Faroese village of Víkar (16/01/2021)
• Misty Vágar: A spontaneous afternoon hike to Vatnsdalsvatn and Snældansfjall (23/01/2021)

July 2021

• Time spent: 2 weeks
• Islands visited: Vágar, Streymoy, Nólsoy and Eysturoy
• Nights spent in: Sandavágur, Hoyvík, Nólsoy and Strendur
• Hikes done: Klovningur and Trøllkonufingur, around Stongin on Nólsoy, over Nólsoy’s four summits to the lighthouses at Borðan, Tjørnudalstjørn, Skarðsáfossur waterfall, Sørvágur to Slættanes to Oyrargjógv + the last six summits on Vágar
• Best moment: Reaching the last of the 41 mountain summits on Vágar!

The following summer, I returned to the Faroe Islands for a two-week visit. I based myself on Vágar again, in order to finish my mission of climbing all 41 peaks on the island – and I did it! Lucie joined me for the last climb, which was to Vágar’s highest. Such a full-circle moment!

When I wasn’t climbing mountain peaks, I focused on exploring what else I had left of Vágar and also spent a few nights camping on Nólsoy. I’d realized that there were a few places on the island that I hadn’t explored back in 2019, so I just had to return to make sure I didn’t miss a thing. Yes, that’s how obsessed I am with the Faroe Islands!

I also spent a night in Strendur visiting my friends that had recently moved there from Vestmanna, and it was actually my first time ever in this pretty village (but certainly not my last!).

Read more:

• Back on the Faroes: A sunset hike to Klovningur on Vágar (07/07/2021)
• To Eysturtindur and beyond: Scaling four peaks on northwestern Vágar (16/08/2021)
• Stongin, Nólsoy: Finding a hidden puffin paradise on the Faroe Islands (27/08/2021)
• The ultimate Nólsoy hike: Over the mountains to the lighthouses in the south (17/05/2022)
• Summiting Árnafjall and Heinanøva, my final two peaks on Vágar (21/07/2022)
• A short hike to Vágar’s unknown lake, tucked away below the misty mountain peaks (27/09/2022)
• Secrets of Vágar: Finding the Skarðsáfossur waterfall near Bøur (19/10/2022)
• A sunset walk in Strendur, perhaps the prettiest village on Eysturoy (26/10/2022)
• Sørvágur to Oyrargjógv via Slættanes: A long hike across the middle of Vágar (21/01/2023)

September 2022

• Time spent: 2,5 weeks
• Islands visited: Vágar, Streymoy, Eysturoy, Sandoy, Borðoy, Kunoy, Viðoy and Fugloy
• Nights spent in: Miðvágur, Vestmanna, Kirkja, Eiði, Tórshavn, Toftir and Sørvágur
• Hikes done: Skarvanes to Dalur, Trælanípa and Bøsdalafossur, the two summits on Fugloy, Eiðiskollur and the four summits above Kaldbak
• Best moment: Finally setting foot on Fugloy and falling in love with the island!

The next time I returned to the Faroe Islands, my family joined me for a week! They’d all visited before but only for a few days, so I was excited for them to explore the country more in depth as well as to show them some of my favourite places. We stayed in an airbnb on Vágar and spent the days roadtripping around the three main islands and three of the smaller islands in the northeast. We also sailed over to Sandoy for a day of hiking and sightseeing, and spent a day out sailing around Eysturoy with a friend of ours!

The day before my family left, a friend of mine arrived and stayed with me on the islands for another ten days. We went sailing among the majestic bird cliffs of Vestmannabjørgini, hiked up Eiðiskollur for a fantastic view of the Risin and Kellingin sea stacks and spent two days exploring every corner of Fugloy – my 17th island (just one to go now!). Shortly before it was time to leave, we went for a long hike to the four summits above Kaldbak with Lucie and my younger brother, who had spent the past week staying with his friend in Tórshavn.

It was two busy weeks full of roadtripping, hiking and camping, and I was so happy to share it with my family and friends. Everyone deserves to discover the Faroe Islands, and I just love being the guide!

Read more:

• Back on the Faroes: A rare dolphin sighting and a boat trip around Eysturoy (09/03/2023)
• Kunoy, Borðoy & Viðoy: A joyful return to the Northern Isles (17/05/2023)
• Across Sandoy in thick fog: A short cairn hike from Skarvanes to Dalur (21/06/2023)
• Vestmannabjørgini: A boat trip among the majestic Faroese bird cliffs (10/09/2023)
• More posts coming soon…

May 2023

• Time spent: 1 month
• Islands visited: Vágar, Streymoy, Koltur, Nólsoy, Eysturoy, Borðoy, Kalsoy and Kunoy
• Nights spent in: Tórshavn, Koltur, Nólsoy, Toftir, Skálatoftir, Sandavágur, Klaksvík and Skarð
• Hikes done: Fjallið on Koltur, to Í Kassunum on Nólsoy, Muli to Skálatoftir to Strond, Kallur Lighthouse, Syðradalur to Blankskáli and back, Haraldssund to Skarð twice, Trælanípa and Bøsdalafossur, Sørvágur to Slættanes to Oyrargjógv and Vatnsoyrar to Víkar to Gásadalur.
• Best moment: It was a month full of incredible moments, but mainly I just felt so thankful that I could finally combine my two passions of archaeology and the Faroe Islands!

For this year’s visit – which was my 14th in total! – I could finally combine my studies in archaeology with my growing love for the Faroe Islands. I’d always found the abandoned settlements of the archipelago fascinating, and so I decided to make them the subject for my Master’s dissertation! I spent the entire month of May collecting my data by doing fieldwork on eight sites, which involved flying over the settlements with a drone to produce 3D models, surveying and measuring structures. I also spent lots of time at the national museum and the libraries in Tórshavn, collecting all of the literature I’d need.

I made sure to hike out to the settlements so I could get a feel of how isolated life was back when they were populated, and spent a night in a tent or shelter at most of the sites. I was joined by friends for half of the sites which only made the work more fun and memorable! When I wasn’t doing science stuff, I spent time with Lucie in Tórshavn, volunteered at the first colour run in the country (soo much fun!), visited my friends in Toftir, hung out with fun travellers I met at the hostel on Vágar and went on a few additional hikes.

It was so much fun to do research on the Faroe Islands, and I hope this wasn’t my last time doing it. I’m currently in the process of writing my dissertation and analysing all the data, and I should be done with it in January. However, I would love to be able to expand on the project in the future!

Read more:

• On the road to ruin: A month of dissertation research on the Faroe Islands (11/06/2023)
• More posts coming soon…

Future plans for my favourite country and I

During these ten years, I’ve managed to visit the islands at least once per year and often more, but I’m not sure this will be possible in the future as I’m now a dog mum, and travelling with a dog has its limitations (especially when the Faroes don’t allow pets to be brought in unless you’re staying for at least three months…).

Three months is an awesome amount of time to spend on the Faroes, but I don’t know when and if I’ll be able to – only time will tell! One thing’s for sure though – this is definitely not the last time I’ve been to the best country in the whole world!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

Eg elski Føroyar!