November in the Faroe Islands: An afternoon walk in Kirkjubøur

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Yesterday at 7.45 PM, I arrived in Vágar Airport for my seventh visit to the Faroe Islands. As all people who have ever met me know, I LOVE this country. I’m fascinated by every corner of it, and I go back as much as I possibly can.

I started travelling to the Faroe Islands in 2013, then went back twice in 2015, twice in 2016, in April this year, and then now in November. It’s the first time that I’m here during the winter time, so I’m crossing my fingers for some serious snowfall and some northern lights! This time there is no camping on the itinerary, which I usually do a lot here on the islands. The weather is extremely cold, and there are not enough daylight hours for it to be worthwhile. Also, my friend Solveig is visiting a family that I’ve stayed with before, so of course I’m staying there too!

Solveig is the main reason I’m here again, as I wanted to explore this favourite place of mine with her, even though it means that I’m going to miss a few uni classes. It’s worth it, and it has already proven to be the perfect choice. I’ll choose the Faroe Islands over uni (or anything really) any day!

The flight in was so clear, which is rare for the usually fogged up country. It was a real shame that it was dark outside, but it was fun seeing all the tiny villages lit up down below. Solveig picked me up in the airport and drove me to Vestmanna, where the family of 6 lives. It consists of Rigmor and Jens, their three sons Petur Sigurd, Sonni and Karstin Otto, and their adorable dog Alex. Getting back ‘home’ was great as always, and I was so happy to see them all again. I’m thankful to have a second family like them!

In the evening, we had to drive some friends of Rigmor and Jens to Tórshavn, so we decided to stay there for a while and go clubbing! What better way to celebrate my arrival than hitting up Glitnir, my favourite karaoke bar in the city!?

But getting to Tórshavn didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. After driving through the USA for two weeks back in August, I had gotten so used to having automatic gear, that I didn’t even remember how to get the car started, let alone how to drive it! When I eventually figured it out and we were off, I had to back down the driveway and accidentally drove the car down a steep ridge, so the car got stuck and had to be lifted out by 5 strong men, before we could finally get going! It was dark and that driveway is really steep, haha. Anyways, Solveig and I thought the situation was so funny that we couldn’t stop laughing for the entire 45-minute trip, and I’m sure the people in the back thought we were bonkers.

When we finally got to Tórshavn and had dropped the others off, we went straight to Glitnir, where we had a fun night watching other people get more and more drunk (I had to drive, so no alcolol for me!), singing karaoke at the top of our lungs and meeting old friends! We’ve already decided that next Friday will be our epic night out on the town! I can’t wait to sing more karaoke and get Monkey Night at Glitnir (100 DKK for unlimited drinks for four hours!).

We arrived home from Tórshavn at 4 AM, completely exhausted, but there wasn’t much time to sleep, as the sun rose at 8.47 AM! Since the Faroe Islands is located so far north, the winters are really dark, so you have to take advantage of the few daylight hours there are!

So we got up early, had some breakfast, took Alex for a short walk and then were off to Tórshavn with Rigmor. She had other plans, so she dropped us off in Kirkjubøur, a quaint and beautiful historic village with a stunning view over the islands of Sandoy, Hestur, Koltur and Vágar. Kirkjubøur is the most important historical place in the Faroe Islands with the ruins of the Magnus Cathedral from around 1.300 AD, the Saint Olav’s Church from the 12th century and the old farmhouse Kirkjubøargarður, which was built in the 11th century and is one of the oldest still inhabited wooden houses of the world, inhabited by the 17th generation of the Patursson family!

In Kirkjubøur, we decided to go for a little hike as the weather was gorgeous with a bright blue sky and the sun that was getting ready to set. It was the perfect light for photography!

Even though I’ve been to Kirkjubøur three times before, there are still places in the tiny village that I haven’t yet seen! We walked along a path going out of the village towards the southernmost point of the island of Streymoy. We walked about two kilometres, until the path ended at a farmhouse. We walked along the coast with sheep beneath us and high mountains above us the entire way.

We didn’t go all the way to the southernmost tip of the island as it was getting darker and colder, so we decided to head back to the village and try our luck with hitchhiking back to Tórshavn, as there are no busses going to or from the village in the weekends.

A few cars drove past us, but after maybe 10 minutes a lovely local woman picked us up and drove us to the capital. Hitchhiking is so easy in the Faroe Islands, especially when you’re female and wear a big smile!

We were back in Tórshavn at about 2.30 PM, and the weather had turned from sunny and bright to rainy and dull. We walked around the harbour for a few minutes and then decided to go to SMS, the only shopping center in the city, where we coincidentally ran into Rigmor! The shopping center was decorated in the most beautiful Christmas display I’ve ever seen! Christmas in the Faroe Islands truly is something special. I dream about spending Christmas Eve here someday! We got ourselves some food and then headed back to Vestmanna, where I’m now sitting on a couch writing this.

My first 24 hours in the Faroe Islands have been amazing, full of adventure and fun times. I’m excited to see what the next 10 days have in store for us!

Interesting tours to Kirkjubøur

Are you also visiting Kirkjubøur in the off-season and want to hear all about the history of the place? Then you might consider this winter bus tour to Kirkjubøur!

Do you want to hike to Kirkjubøur but not quite sure how to do it alone? Or maybe you’d just like to hear interesting stories and enjoy some local beers along the way? Then join this four-hour beer hiking tour!

Or maybe biking is more your thing? Then this tour has you covered!