Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an archipelago of 18 mountainous islands located halfway between Iceland and Scotland in the North Atlantic Ocean. With a population of just over 50,000 people most of the landscape is open pasture or mountains (with lots of sheep). The terrain is a bit like a mix between western Ireland (with swathes verdant green grass) and southern Norway (with deep fjords). The climate is decidedly like western Ireland, with frequent storms, rain and mist.

In the Summer of 2018, took our Land Rover Defender from Ireland on a 3 month Arctic adventure to the Faroes, Iceland, Northern Norway and Swedish Lapland. Our aim was to do photography, videos and some long distance trekking. Our first stop was the Faroes which is reached by a vehicle ferry from Denmark.

Some of our photos from our trip are in this post and more can be found on our Instagram page and there is a video of mainly timelapse (taken with my Pentax K1) on Youtube



Moody blues. A view of Risin and Killingin (the giant and the witch) sea stacks on Streymoy island viewed from Tjørnuvík.



The iconic Kallur lighthouse on Kalsoy is reached on foot after a 40 minue hike. But to get this viewpoint you have to have nerves of steel as it entails a traverse of a knife edge arete with precipitous 400m drops either side straight into the sea.



The Gasadalur waterfall on Vagar Island. The Faroe Islands, cast adrift in the stormy North Atlantic, are a magical destination for photographers.



A Tolkienesque scene from Streymoy in the Faroes. The old Viking village of Saksun

Sounds like a fascinating adventure. Wonderful atmospheric photo's too. Maybe you will have some more to share?

What a fabulous adventure, the Faroes have a magical aura and would love to visit.

I was there in June and the weather was worse than what you experienced.

When you were in Tjørnuvík did you try the local waffles?

Thanks for your comment (didn't try the waffles but did see them on sale). We were in the Faroes from 27th June to 11th July 2018. The weather wasn't great most days and Vágar island was covered in mist for days on end. In fact most of the North Atlantic area had bad weather this summer. It rained every day for 5 weeks in Iceland, except when there was a 4 day respite when we trekked the Laugavegur trail in the volcanic highlands. Norway (Lofoten) and Swedish Lapland wasn't much better, but again we had a 7 day window in the weather to trek over 100km in Sarek (one of the last wilderness areas in Europe). We're going back for the winter season to run photo tours in Lofoten (Norway) in early March 2019 and the Faroes in late March 2019 - hoping for better weather (although having been in Iceland and Lofoten in winter several times we know how bitter it can be in Winter especially when trying to take photos).

Despite the weather, I would certainly recommend the Faroe Islands. Expensive, but nearly as much as Iceland and Norway.

PS. Intrigued by your PU username. As well as the Land Rover Defender I have a SAAB 9-5 Aero and SAAB 9-3 convertible.

Sounds like a great trip, certainly lovely photographs the weather adding to the atmosphere.

Yes... super set... have been itching to get out there for a while... appetite well and truly whetted...

Best

Great shots of an unusual destination...feel free to post some more!

Regards

Karlo

Thanks for sharing these. Looks like an adventure and a half.

WoW! Wonderful collections of images. #A Tolkienesque scene from Streymoy is very beautiful. I loved it.

Some great looking scenery there.

No.3

Thumbs up

So you were there a week after I was - can't put anything in the gallery as I was using my other system during the trip....the advantage of using the other kit is the standard 77mm filter thread across 16 up to 400.....my photos are in my Flickr gallery (look for Welshwizard645)

A trip to Faroes is defintely recommended - there's a lot of driving for sure but while Vagar airport isn't equipped to handle anything bigger than A320s the islands remain a hidden gem. My trip was sort of full board so all we needed money for was beer (Faroe beer is good), snacks and souvenirs...

It's amazing how many people I come across drive Saab and use Pentax gear. I actually have one of the last NG9-5s (2011 Aero Turbo 4) which replaced a 2009 Turbo Edition Aero. Amazing cars bu the parts situation makes me very nervous, I knew this before I bought Helga (the NG) but I've been waiting 9 months for a new windscreen and at least another 4 months to wait, MOT is due in 4 weeks. I've had a 2003 9-3 SS Aero and a 1983 99GL 4-door (you can tell I like my 3-box saloons), my father owned 13 Saabs altogether - so Saabs were drummed into me from an early age, as was my love for Wrexham AFC and the K-mount.

As for the waffles, probably just as well you didn't try them, the whipped cream was off on the 2nd day we were there....

I look forward to seeing more of your photos.

Stunning images....

Beautiful places and images. I particularly like the second one, wonderfully framed.