These Tiny but Mighty Islands Combine the Best of Scotland, Iceland, and New Zealand

[Celerity]

Last edited Thu Sep 3, 2020, 08:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Some of the most epic 500 square miles on Earth.

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/visiting-faroe-islands-things-to-do



The Faroe Islands -- the very definition of "under the radar" for most travelers -- recently drifted into the spotlight. Some have even dubbed this lush, supernaturally beautiful Danish territory “the next Iceland.” Set foot on the Faroes, though, and you’ll realize that statement isn’t quite true. First of all, the primary airport is barely long enough to accommodate hang gliders, let alone jumbo jets like the ones shuttling North Face-clad tourists en masse to Reykjavík. But beyond that, the sheer abundance of fairytale wonders on this archipelago puts even its Icelandic neighbors to shame. You'll continuously wonder whether or not a rip in the fabric of reality swallowed you whole and then spit you into a Tolkien-like fantasy realm.

These 18 isles, nestled in the North Atlantic between Great Britain and Greenland, are all singularly serene. Yes, the stark beauty and rugged isolation of Iceland is here, but it’s fused with the ceaseless rolling green of Scotland, girded by the grandiose solitude and scale of New Zealand's South Island. This is a place where grand, epic scale exists in distillate form. You want to get here as soon and as you safely can. And though the pandemic temporarily grounded plans for direct flights from New York, once they’re up and running it will be easier than ever for Americans to visit. Even then, though, you’re going to need to plan: Many of the obligatory sites and experiences are well off the motorway. But what’s the point of only treating the concept of “off the beaten path” figuratively? This is a place ripe for discovery. Here’s what you’ll see.



A surreal land of giants and optical illusions

At a scant 540 square miles, the entire archipelago is roughly half the size of Rhode Island. But somehow, it contains an obscene wealth of dreamlike villages and sites, like ocean waterfalls, clifftop lighthouses, mythical statues, and geometrically puzzling rock formations. To access most of it, you don’t really need to wander too far from the car. “Even though I have lived here most of my life, it is still breathtaking,” says Dánial Hoydal, co-founder of Faer Isles Distillery, whose cutting-edge facility is a must-visit stop on a mostly out-of-time journey. “The constant presence of the vast North Atlantic Ocean makes it different. It is omnipresent. You are very close to it at all times, and you can hear, feel -- and even taste it in the wind.”



He recommends the steep mountains of the northern islands, notably Cape Enniberg. Towering 1,300 feet over the surf, these are the highest sea cliffs in the world. And “Suðuroy [the southernmost island] is the most isolated but therefore has the least tourists,” he explains. “A forgotten gem.” Before you get too deep, start with the most obvious attraction, since it’s only a 15 minute drive west of the airport. Múlafossur is an iconic site. In fact, it will likely be the first image that pops up when you google, “Faroe Islands.” But that doesn’t make it any less breathtaking to behold in real life. After a 10 minute walk from the carpark, sea cliffs come into view. Careening off the edge is a steady stream of freshwater, fed from hills high above, plunging a sheer 200 feet into the ocean below. In the background, the Hobbit-like village of Gásadalur (population 18) is caught between the edge of the Atlantic and the shadows of a crenulated massif overhead.

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[alwaysinasnit]

1. What wonderful eye candy for an armchair traveler like myself. Thanks for posting.

[Cornus]

2. Beautiful pics

Hard to believe something as incredible as that even exists on our planet!

[Warpy]

3. Well, they're not part of Scotland, they're self ruled but claimed by Denmark

and are way out in the Atlantic, about halfway between Norway and Iceland.

There are few trees, just a few discouraged shrubs, because of the force of the winds that are frequent there., so the land is starkly beautiful. A couple of years ago, they put webcams on some of the sheep as a way of increasing tourism and as a way of trying to shame Google into giving them street cam views.

I've always wanted to go but I've never had money, time, and health all at the same time.

[Frustratedlady]

4. Suppose they'd allow any of us to move in if Trump manages to pull this election off?

Looking for a safe, sane and Trump/Covid-free spot. My DNA says I have Iceland in the chain.

[Celerity]

7. Denmark has pretty strict immigration policies, but if you have a shortage skillset, it might be a

lot easier. The total population is only around 50,000, so I am sure they have some areas of need. I will also add this, you better like darkness for months on end (very short days). They are farther north than we are here in Stockholm, and the winter darkness even here can be be brutal on people not used to it.


Living in the Faroe Islands

https://old.visitfaroeislands.com/en/about-the-faroe-islands/living-in-the-faroe-islands/


Work & Live

https://www.faroeislands.fo/people-society/work-live/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Could they use a crazy old cat lady?

I'm used to cold and dark, which is manageable with cats.

[Celerity]

10. It cannot hurt to enquire further. It's certainly what I would categorise as an extreme move overall

given the small population and fairly extreme, isolated location. It is not as hardcore as Svalbard, but few places are, lolol. Pretty much everybody there leaves their houses unlocked so people can run inside to escape the very common wandering polar bears. Anyone on the planet (with no legal issues), Americans included, can move there, BUT you have to have a job. There are only around 2,700 permanent residents as well.

https://www.norden.org/en/info-norden/moving-or-travelling-svalbard

https://www.lifeinnorway.net/living-on-svalbard/


NORTHERN LIGHTS AND HEAVY DRINKING: WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SPEND 100 DAYS WITHOUT SUNLIGHT IN SVALBARD

With a brutal winter that sees no sunshine for four months, no wonder the residents of Svalbard drink more booze than anywhere else in Norway

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/svalbard-100-days-dark-winter-no-sunlight-arctic-norway-holidays-tours-a7591366.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Svalbard sounds like my kind of place.

I love the northern lights, I like fish, I think puffins are cute, and I can speak some Norwegian. I'm sure I'll fit right in. Not sure the cat will go for it, though.

[Celerity]

12. I doubt you can bring the cat, unfortunately.

One of my fellow post-grad student's brother spent half a year plus up there at UNIS, studying Arctic Geophysics for his masters degree here in Sweden. He said he would never go back for more than a week or two, lolol. And yes, he ran into MANY polar bears, eeeeeeeek. He said no one goes outside (it is illegal to carry loaded weapons inside the town) of Longyearbyen without a gun, it is asking for big trouble.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. I can do without free-range polar bears, and I imagine the cat would prefer

not to be eaten. So I guess Svalbard is out, then - alas.

[denbot]

5. Wow.

Thanks for posting.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. I totally want to go there!

[Marthe48]

8. I read a mystery set in the Faroe Islands

Blood Strand by Chris Ould

As soon as I read your description, I knew you had to be talking about the Faroe Islands.

As I read it, I started looking at maps and pictures of the Faroe Islands. I have my daughter talked into to going, if we can ever travel. Just a beautiful place!

The book was well-written, btw.

[Celerity]

13. I will check that book out!

https://www.bookdepository.com/Blood-Strand-Christopher-Ould/9781783297047?ref=grid-view&qid=1599190169599&sr=1-1

Having left the Faroes as a child, Jan Reyna is now a British police detective, and the islands are foreign to him. But he is drawn back when his estranged father is found unconscious with a shotgun by his side and someone else's blood at the scene. Then a man's body is washed up on an isolated beach. Is Reyna's father responsible?Looking for answers, Reyna falls in with local detective Hjalti Hentze. But as the stakes get higher and Reyna learns more about his family and the truth behind his mother's flight from the Faroes, he must decide whether to stay, or to forsake the strange, windswept islands for good.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Thanks for this! Just got the Kindle version.

Something to read when I get tired of reading tell-all books about the Trump regime. This book looks interesting.

[Marthe48]

17. I enjoyed the book

Brooding, laid back. I gave my copy to my daughter and she liked it too.

[malthaussen]

16. First of a series.

Three books so far, the last in 2018.

-- Mal

[Marthe48]

18. I haven't been to the library for aawhile

I got the book I read at Dollar Tree. Sometimes they have books about something other than republican virtue

[Mendocino]

19. The other Faroe (graphic)

[link:

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