Three days in Faroe - Part One

Faroe is an island that has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It’s a place that Shetland has long had strong associations with, from the Vikings of our Sagas who passed through Shetland en route to Faroe and Iceland to the northwest to the cod hunters of the 19th century who fished these northern waters, returning many months later with boats brimming with fish to my own father who fished the area, often forced into Torshavn by bad weather and the maalie, or fulmar, a bird so synonymous with Shetland, but one that has only been here since the late 19th century when it came south from Faroe and is now our most abundant seabird.

Our histories are woven together by these Viking explorers, our fishermen, our language and the common thread of relative isolation, self-reliance and independence that only island communities can truly understand.

Faroe sits at 62° north, halfway between Shetland and Iceland. Like Shetland, it’s an island archipelago comprising 18 significant islands and many smaller islands, rocks and skerries. Where relatively low-lying hills form Shetland, the terrain of Faroe is mountainous, imposing and almost impossible to farm. It’s a rugged country where communities are strung out along the shoreline at the head of deep fjords or bays, many of which are connected today by tunnels, forging routes through mountains and undersea. Yet, despite its harsh landscape and climate, the islands are home to a thriving community of around 54,000 people – almost twice the population of Shetland living in a similar-sized island group.

FAROE IS A COLLECTION OF 18 LARGER ISLANDS, MANY CONNECTED BY TUNNELS, MEANING IT’S EASY TO GET AROUND.

WE FLEW FROM EDINBURGH, WHERE ATLANTIC AIRWAYS OPERATES FLIGHTS ON MONDAY AND THURSDAY. WE FLEW IN ON MONDAY, GIVING US AROUND TWO-AND-A-HALF DAYS TO EXPLORE.
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