Faroes Photo Album

Saturday, 20 June 2009

From my recent trip to the Faroes I’ve posted blogs on the pretty little village of Gjógv and the island of Mykines, the place to go if you want to see puffins. I also spent some time in the capital city – Tórshavn – drove around all the major interconnected islands (linked by bridges and some often seriously scary tunnels) plus I took a ferry south to the island of Suduroy. Here are 10 photos summarising my Faroes travels.

Even flying in to the Faroes can be spectacular, here’s my first view of the islands, a typical sheer cliff face on the island of Vágar as I flew in to the airport on the island. It’s then nearly 50km by road to the capital Tórshavn including a 5km tunnel linking Vágar Island to Streymoy Island.

The National Museum’s prize exhibit is the wonderful collection of medieval carved pew ends from the old church at Kirkjubøur. This one illustrates a charming little Virgin Mary and cheerful baby Jesus.

Tinganes, the compact ‘old town’ centre of the capital Tórshavn, features numerous buildings with the turf-covered roofs which you’ll see all over the islands.

I was continually amazed by the places Faroes sheep can find themselves. They’ll contentedly graze on the top of knife-edged ridges with multi-hundred-metre drops straight down to the ocean. A tiny dot in the middle of this picture is another suicidal sheep, it’s at the Glyvraberg bird cliffs.

Almost every walk in the Faroes eventually ends at a sheer drop into the churning ocean below. This one was at Beinisvǿrð Cliffs, the sea is 469 metres (1538 feet) below. Oooh!

(well it was a calm day)

 

 

 

 

 

Right down at the southern end of Suduroy the village of Sumba is a typical Faroes
village.

I really enjoyed my visit to the village of Gjógv on the island of Eysturoy, but perhaps it was just that charming name?

You’ll see turf-roofed churches, often beautifully sited, all over the islands. This one was at the village of Funningur, also on Eysturoy Island.

I spent my final day on the island of Mykines, where I walked the trail right down to the end of the island, the westernmost point in the Faroes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back to the east from that end was yet another stunning view, no shortage of those in the Faroes, lots of places where you feel ‘wow, I am glad to be alive!’