Skansin to Hoyvíkshólmur: Exploring the dramatic coastline of Tórshavn

On March 27th, it was finally time to head back to the Faroe Islands, my favourite piece of the Earth, where I spent Easter with my friend Andras and his family and five dogs. It was my eighth visit to the country, but still I was just as excited as always to go back. I really never get tired of visiting the Faroe Islands over and over again.

I arrived at 8 PM after a foggy flight, where I got to see a bit of the south coast of Norway on the way, and also had a beautiful landing where I could see bits of the Faroe Islands between the thick clouds.

Andras picked me up at the airport and after a quick change of outfit, we were already out of the door on our way to his brother Geir’s birthday. We had a cozy evening with Geir, his girlfriend, his son, Andras’ two nieces and Andras’ parents. The three children are a great example of how clever Faroese children in general are with all the languages they speak. I talked to them in Danish and English and they understood it all and were able to answer in those languages as well. Since Faroese is their mother tongue, and they learn Danish in school and English from watching tv and youtube, most Faroese children speak three languages already at a young age. Later on, they also learn German, French or Spanish in school! It’s very impressive and definitely makes me want to move there (even more) when I eventually have children.

After having coffee and cake at Geirs’, Andras and I were off to the gym for some midnight training! Well, Andras basically did all of the training, while I just acted as his photographer and moral support 😉

The next day, Andras had to work, and since it was raining and too foggy to climb any mountains, I decided to go with him to Tórshavn and spend the day there. There had been a storm during the night, and it had only dropped slightly by the morning. He dropped me off in the suburb of Hoyvík, from where I walked into the city center, already drenched form top to toe after just five minutes of walking. I really wanted to go to the two charity shops in the city to see if I could find some (more) wool sweaters, but they weren’t open until 1 PM, so I had to kill three hours somehow.

I’ve been to Tórshavn many times before, and since the city is really tiny, I’ve seen most of it already, but I love the city so much so I don’t mind seeing it all again – plus there’s always something new to discover anyways!

I walked through the city center to Viðarlundin, a huge plantation in the middle of the city. I’d been there many times before, but I’d never thoroughly explored it, so I decided to do just that despite the heavy rain and wind that was consistent throughout the day. Viðarlundin is my favourite place in Tórshavn, it’s a beautiful little haven, an oasis in the middle of the semi-busy city. A place where people come to relax, take a walk and feed the ducks.

I spent the next hour in SMS, the biggest shopping center in the country, where I know there’s free wifi. When it was finally time for the charity shops to open, I headed back into the very center of the city and spent quite a while looking through all of the cheap gems. I ended up buying only one thick wool cardigan, which I’m absolutely in love with! It’s from the Faroese brand Sirri, which is really expensive, but I bought it for only 60 DKK! Such a bargain. I also bought a cup with the Faroese flag, haha.

When I was done shopping, I decided to go for a little hike along the rocky coastline. Or actually it wasn’t so little, because by the end of the day, I had walked over 22.000 steps!!

I started my hike at Skansin, a historic fortress and lighthouse located on a hill beside the port of Tórshavn. The fortress was built in 1580 for protection against pirate raids. In 1780, the fort was considerably expanded and underwent several rebuildt for many years afterwards. During the Second World War, the fortress served as a military base for the British. There are still two cannons from the British occupation that can be seen at the site, along with many older Danish cannons.

From there, I walked along the coastal road Yviri vid Strond until I got to a large nature park in Hoyvík, where I finally found a path leading away from the road. Throughout my walk, I witnessed some pretty crazy waves crashing into the cliffs by the coastline. The weather was wild that day.

Further into the nature park, I came to a little village, not realizing that I had actually walked into an open air museum! Unfortunately, the place is only open during the summer months, but I had all the opportunities to explore the exterior of the place! There are many old houses in the area, including an old farmhouse which dates back to the 17th century. I would love to come back in the summer and explore the place properly!

Further out to the ocean from the open air museum is a small peninsula, from where there’s a great view of the tiny holm of Hoyvíkshólmur, which has a cute little lighthouse. I walked past several sheep and even saw two baby sheep following a well trodden path on my way out to the outfield. After getting to the outfield, there was no longer any path to follow, I simply had to use my own sense of direction to find the right spot (and I don’t have any sense of direction, but somehow, I managed).

I walked right to the end of the peninsula, from where I had a brilliant view over the tiny holm and lighthouse. In the near distance, I could see the island of Nólsoy peaking through the mist.

Thinking I’d now seen it all and was finished for the day, which my legs and feet seriously needed, I then spotted this spectacular cliff formation just a few hundred meters north of the peninsula. The cliff looked like something you’d see on the north part of Eysturoy, Kalsoy or Vágar, but definitely not in the outskirts of Tórshavn!

I can’t believe I haven’t seen or heard of this place ever before, as I feel like it’s just as beautiful as all the so-called “insta-famous” places such as the Kallur Lighthouse, Gásadalur Waterfall and the gorge in Gjógv.  Only it’s actually better, because I had it all to myself.

The hike from Skansin to the peninsula overlooking Hoyvíkshólmur is about 4 km long and while the beginning of the hike is on an asphalt road, most of it is in rocky terrain that definitely requires good hiking boots. This hike is not a typical “tourist itinerary” hike, but is nonetheless very much worthwhile, especially if you have a day extra in Tórshavn and want to see something else than most others.

That day, I really got to love and appreciate Tórshavn more. Because Tórshavn is not just a quaint city surrounded by low mountains, it’s so much more than that. It has the most dramatic coastline I’ve ever seen in a city, and it has landscapes that really blew me away. It definitely won’t be the last time I take a hike in this area.

At 4.30 PM, I was finally done for the day and walked to Andras’ workplace in Hoyvík to wait for him to finish at 5.30 PM. Afterwards, we did some grocery shopping, had a meal at Sunset Boulevard (THE best fast food restaurant in the world), and then went home for some quality time with the dogs and a good film.

A wonderful first day on the Faroe Islands had ended, and I was more than excited to see what the rest of the Easter days would offer – stay tuned!