The Faeroe Islands
Got the Faeroe Islands photo album sorted now: Faeroe Islands, June 2009
The whole trip was a sort of round trip; sailing by ferry from Denmark to the Faeroe Islands** (30 hours), staying there for three nights, and then on to Iceland (another overnight ferry trip), where we drove around in seven days. All in all, it took two weeks. I think I could easily have spent two weeks on Iceland - after all it's about 1400-1500 km of driving, and I could have done with a more leisurely pace. But after all, for me, vacations are meant to be used to explore and experience new things, and I certainly did that here.
The Faeroes are small, and very pretty. Very mountainous, almost no flat land (at least not what I saw). We arrived after midnight, but early enough for almost a full night of sleep. The hotel was situated very nicely on a hill with a view over the fjord of Tórshavn, the capital city of the Faeroes. The first day we took a boat trip from the town of Vestmanna, to see cliffs along the coast of the island of Streymoy (one of the largest central islands), and then we did some stops on the way back to Tórshavn. The second day, we were on a combined boat trip and hike to the island of Mykines. It's famous for its birdlife, especially the large number of puffins. It was a great day, beautiful sunshine, and nice to get some exercise. The last day it rained a bit, so we saw a couple of museums before we needed to board the ferry for Iceland.
I loved the puffins, they are an iconic bird in Scandinavia and it was great seeing them this close. Tórshavn also has a rather interesting art museum, especially for such a small place. Culinary-wise it was less interesting, but with a total population of 50.000, it's understandable that variety is limited.
**Just to clear up any misunderstandings, the Faeroe islands is not part of Iceland, they're their own nation, under the Danish crown, with their own flag and language. A small group of islands in the North Atlantic - approximately between Iceland and Scotland.
The whole trip was a sort of round trip; sailing by ferry from Denmark to the Faeroe Islands** (30 hours), staying there for three nights, and then on to Iceland (another overnight ferry trip), where we drove around in seven days. All in all, it took two weeks. I think I could easily have spent two weeks on Iceland - after all it's about 1400-1500 km of driving, and I could have done with a more leisurely pace. But after all, for me, vacations are meant to be used to explore and experience new things, and I certainly did that here.
The Faeroes are small, and very pretty. Very mountainous, almost no flat land (at least not what I saw). We arrived after midnight, but early enough for almost a full night of sleep. The hotel was situated very nicely on a hill with a view over the fjord of Tórshavn, the capital city of the Faeroes. The first day we took a boat trip from the town of Vestmanna, to see cliffs along the coast of the island of Streymoy (one of the largest central islands), and then we did some stops on the way back to Tórshavn. The second day, we were on a combined boat trip and hike to the island of Mykines. It's famous for its birdlife, especially the large number of puffins. It was a great day, beautiful sunshine, and nice to get some exercise. The last day it rained a bit, so we saw a couple of museums before we needed to board the ferry for Iceland.
I loved the puffins, they are an iconic bird in Scandinavia and it was great seeing them this close. Tórshavn also has a rather interesting art museum, especially for such a small place. Culinary-wise it was less interesting, but with a total population of 50.000, it's understandable that variety is limited.
**Just to clear up any misunderstandings, the Faeroe islands is not part of Iceland, they're their own nation, under the Danish crown, with their own flag and language. A small group of islands in the North Atlantic - approximately between Iceland and Scotland.