I'm thinking of visiting the Faroe Islands for a week in late July 2013. I've read the tourist board sites and looked at their photographs and it looks a beautiful, rugged and relaxing place to visit. What are your opinions and experiences of the islands? I know it won't be cheap, the ferry crossing from Denmark alone will come in at £500, but is there enough there to keep me amused and justify the expense?

Hiya

My wife and I stopped over (3 nights end of Aug) on the way to Iceland in our camper, so as such I think there was no extra cost in doing so?

We stayed at a camper stopover which was just a tarmac car park with no facilities but still £15 (although electric hook up for the camper was there for more £, but locked until the guardian arrived late that night) Camping is only allowed in the few designated places around the islands. The only campsite in Tórshavn at least was comparatively excellent, but maybe isn't big enough to take everyone when the ferry arrives in peak season.

We looked at some of the Viking ruins which were well worth it. The tunnels getting onto the other islands are too expensive so we didn't. We wanted to use the helicopter taxi since you could get on just next to the Tórshavn campsite and stay on for the whole loop (£130 each, two hours, 2011) to get a good look round the whole group of islands, fog, cloud, wind, rain, snow permitting . Trying to buy tickets at the tourist info by the ferry the lady said we couldn't since its only for locals The campsite owner said we could, but thought you could only buy tickets from tourist info :confused1: So we waited at the helipad (helpful phone numbers not answered), expecting the office to open just before the timetable said the helicopter would arrive so we could get tickets. No-one came, it landed, then took off again :confused1: If we had prebooked it, and accomodation/activities on other islands then maybe we would have had better luck and more fun.

Several times on Iceland we received a less than warm welcome as we had turned up at advertised things but without booking, partly out of season (Sept!), and sometimes felt like we shouldn't be there. Us plus cash are clearly not a reason for them to provide a service, and we felt this more on the Faroes If you prebook stuff well before arrival at least you know what to expect perhaps?

The chinese buffet in Tórshavn is well worth it though! And even if you are on a Denmark direct to Iceland ferry you can still walk (and maybe drive, there was one Swiss Landy who did for some reason) off if you ask and wander round the town for an hour or two which is worth it

How much more for you to get to Iceland instead? Everyone we spoke to said they were glad to have visited the Faroes as they were passing anyway, but wouldn't go back. Having spent a fair time in the Scottish Highlands and islands, and then visited Iceland, I don't think I'd have missed too much by not going? Sorry if thats not what you wanted to hear, but I'd be interested if anyone else fared better

Jason

Thanks Jason, an interesting insight that might have saved me some disappointment and a few hundred quid. I don't fancy Iceland because you have to do gravel tracks to get the most out of the interior of the island. I'm on a Harley so don't want to go off tarmac so I thought the Faroes would give you a taste of that sort of scenery with the bonus of decent roads. There is no mention anywhere of tolls for roads or tunnels, they probably save that treat until you get there. What sort of price were the tolls?

We were forced to stop off in the Faroes for 3 days on our return from Iceland to Scrabster in Scotland in 2007. I personally didn't like it, but my mates did a brewery tour which they enjoyed (I recall the brewery man(ager) was apparently very welcoming). They also liked the Faroes as a whole. We (4 of us) rented an apartment for the 3 days.

It rained the whole time we were there, except the last morning when we were re-boarding the ferry. I recorded a video. Please, I don't want this thread to become a discussion for the pros/cons/ethics of hunting pilot whales.



Chris

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2010 I stopped there for 3 days when returning from Iceland.
If you are doing Iceland - Faroe trip, go to the Faroe islands at first. If you do it like I did, then nothing feels interesting anymore after Iceland
Tunnels are free for motorcycles, so only cars need to buy tickets.

I went through almost all islands during the 3 days.
In good weather there are nice places to visit and photograph, but unfortunately it was raining most of the time when I visited this them.

When I took the boat to Iceland there were +/-80 bikes in the hold of the ship, most of them "dual sport" style. You'd think they were intending to do the same as me: tour the interior of the country: I headed inland on the mainly easy gravel roads and in 11 days riding only saw 1/2 dozen other bikes. I presume the rest rode on the paved main road round the island and the many other paved roads going off it.

You'll get to see plenty of the country by just riding tarmac. If there's somewhere "interesting" you don't want to take your HD, there'll be a tour bus/truck to take you there.

IMHO, the Faroes are like Iceland, but without the good bits...

Some pics/vids to motivate (?) you to visit Iceland: Iceland TBSdotCom

Chris

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You ride a Harley (so must be tough!) but don't want to get it dirty?!

The map we had said which roads were tarmac and which weren't, so you could fork out a small sum for a map before deciding Iceland will eat your bike?

Hello Grizzle;
Thank you for your friendly and informative response. I notice on your profile you haven't made any friends yet, quelle surprise!

I was going to see if I could find my map and offer to post it to you, but now...

But you could certainly see if you could plan a decent tarmac Iceland trip by getting one? (Which is what I meant in the above post)