The Faroe Islands: Eighteen Islands at the Edge of the Atlantic

Halfway between Iceland and Norway, eighteen grass-roofed islands rise from the Atlantic — sea cliffs, waterfalls and fast-changing weather.

The Faroes are Europe’s great near-secret: a self-governing archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark, eighteen islands of sheer sea cliffs, turf-roofed hamlets and a gastronomy that punches absurdly above its size. Compact, dramatic and gloriously uncrowded, it is the connoisseur’s North Atlantic.

Cliffs, waterfalls and weather

The Faroese landscape is relentlessly vertical: waterfalls that blow back upward in the wind, the optical drama of Sørvágsvatn, the lake that appears to hang above the ocean, and Múlafossur tumbling straight into the Atlantic beside the turf village of Gásadalur.

We design helicopter island-hops on the government-subsidised Atlantic Airways service and private boat tours beneath the bird cliffs to take it in whole.

A gastronomy beyond its size

The Faroese food scene has become a genuine pilgrimage. KOKS opened in 2011, took the islands’ first Michelin star in 2017 and a second in 2019 under chef Poul Andrias Ziska, and has since changed site and spent seasons operating abroad. We confirm where it is serving before we promise anyone a table. Tórshavn now holds several serious kitchens drawing on local ingredients and the Atlantic larder.

Securing the right table — and the chef’s-table experiences around it — takes planning and local know-how, and we book as far ahead as the restaurants allow.

For more New Nordic dining, read our Denmark dispatch

Small, but never simple

You can drive much of the country in a day, yet the weather rewrites every plan without warning. We build in flexibility and local fixers who know which island will be clear when the forecast insists otherwise.

The Faroes give you Iceland’s drama at a fraction of the scale — and almost none of the crowd.

When to go

Mildest, longest days: May — Aug
Puffins (Mykines): May — Aug
Fewest visitors: Sep — Apr
Suggested stay: 4 — 6 nights

How we design it

In the Faroes the weather is the whole game. We build flexible routing with local fixers, and book the sought-after tables as far ahead as the restaurants allow.

Plan a Faroe Islands programme

Nordic Privé works with the travel trade only. See our Faroe Islands DMC page, or send us a brief.