Top 10 Things to Do in the Faroe Islands
Top 10 Things to Do in the Faroe Islands
Nestled in the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islands feel like a world apart - a cluster of emerald peaks, cascading waterfalls, and rugged coastlines that seem untouched by time.
Our Travel Specialists have explored these islands extensively, from quiet villages perched on fjords to trails overlooking lakes that seem to float above the ocean. They know exactly where to witness the Faroes’ dramatic landscapes, spot puffins in summer, navigate the islands’ scenic drives and tunnels, and enjoy authentic experiences like home dining or local festivals.
With long summer days and fewer crowds than almost anywhere in Europe, the Faroes invite you to slow down, immerse yourself, and see a part of the world that rewards curiosity and careful exploration.
For a closer look at the best experiences, keep reading our guide to the top 10 things to do in the Faroe Islands.
Plan your Faroe Islands adventure
1. Ress Spa, Hotel Føroyar
A journey of slow travel and relaxation
Hotel Føroyar
The Faroes are the perfect destination for slow travel: the pace of life is dictated by nature, weather, and light, allowing you to savour each moment.
Amongst the rolling hills and the wild, atmospheric waves of the surrounding sea, mornings can be spent wandering quiet streets or watching the water, afternoons indulging in spa treatments, and evenings sampling local cuisine.
Perched on a hillside overlooking Tórshavn, the Ress Spa at Hotel Føroyar provides a peaceful retreat from the world below. With its distinctive grass roofs, you might wake to the gentle sound of a sheep munching just outside your window. From the infinity pools and sauna, mist drifts across cliffs and valleys, while the soft scent of grass and the quiet surroundings remind you that you are far from the usual tourist crowds.
Sandoy Island
Discover the Faroes at a gentle pace on this Faroe Islands Experience Break. Meander through emerald mountains, dramatic fjords, and quiet villages, taking time to absorb the islands’ wild beauty. Perfect for those who want a slow journey, with plenty of moments to pause, reflect, and truly connect with the landscape.
2. Exceptional cuisine culture
Rich heritage and Heimablídni - traditional Faroese home dining
Heimablídni
Step inside a Faroese home and experience Heimablídni, the traditional practice of dining with local families. You're welcomed into kitchens and living spaces where recipes and customs have been passed down through generations, offering a true insight into the islands' living culture.
Your visit might begin in a humble sheep shed or family kitchen, with local appetisers prepared from ingredients grown on nearby farms. Stories of generations of resilient farmers - their traditions, their challenges, and their ties to the land - unfold naturally over the meal. Walk past preserved pastures, visit ancestral homes, and taste dishes that have shaped Faroese life for centuries.
This experience is especially rewarding for solo travellers, offering a warm, social environment and genuine connections with local people, history, and heritage.
Nólsoy
On the Travel Solo: Authentic Encounters in the Faroe Islands tour, you’ll enjoy Heimablídni, the Faroese tradition of dining in a local home, tasting seasonal dishes prepared by welcoming families. Beyond the meals, the tour takes you through charming villages, scenic fjords, and dramatic coastal landscapes, offering a true insight into Faroese life and heritage.
Perfect for solo travellers, this carefully curated itinerary balances cultural encounters, storytelling, and sightseeing, making it easy to connect with locals and fellow travellers alike. Every element, from farm visits to home-cooked meals, has been chosen to give a meaningful, immersive experience of the islands.
3. Sea tunnels and underwater roundabouts
Unusually scenic drives and smooth routes
Eysturoyartunnilin
Only in the Faroe Islands would a tunnel become a sightseeing highlight. Driving beneath the North Atlantic in the Eysturoyartunnilin, you descend below sea level before reaching what is believed to be the world’s first undersea roundabout - illuminated by a striking art installation that glows in shifting blues and silvers. It feels quietly theatrical, yet entirely practical.
These subsea tunnels have transformed travel between the islands, making self-driving remarkably easy. Roads are well maintained, traffic is light, and distances are short, meaning dramatic fjords, mountain passes and remote villages are all within effortless reach. A fly-drive itinerary allows you to explore at your own pace, pausing whenever the light changes or a waterfall appears around the next bend.
Small town on the cliff edge
The Faroe Islands Explorer Fly-Drive makes exploring the islands smooth and enjoyable. With your own hire car, you can travel at a relaxed pace, stopping to admire dramatic fjords, towering cliffs, and quaint villages. Drive through the Eysturoyartunnilin undersea tunnel and its glowing roundabout, and pause wherever the scenery calls, from waterfalls to bird cliffs - the freedom to explore is entirely yours.
4. Remote Villages
Less crowds and no chaos
Gjogv village
The Faroes’ tiny villages seem to have stepped straight out of folklore. Turf-roofed houses cling to cliffs, fjords cut deep into the landscape, and almost no traffic disturbs the quiet, a place where it feels less like visiting and more like discovering.
Gásadalur, once the most isolated settlement on the islands, is framed by the Múlafossur waterfall, which plunges directly into the ocean. Saksun sits at the end of a narrow mountain road, opening onto a natural amphitheatre of houses, cliffs, and a tidal lagoon. Gjógv is carved by a dramatic sea-filled gorge that once served as a natural harbour, now one of the most striking geological features in the Faroes.
With so few visitors, these villages offer a rare sense of peace and no crowds, no chaos, but remember to tread lightly; these are people’s homes and private land, so always respect local life while exploring.
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Gjogv village
The Tórshavn Short Break offers three nights in one of the world’s smallest capitals, where winding streets, turf-roofed houses, and vibrant cafés await. Explore museums, galleries, and handicraft shops, or join optional excursions to remote villages and waterfalls; a perfect introduction to the Faroes’ culture, landscapes, and hidden corners.
5. James Bond filming locations in Kalsoy Island
Striking film-worthy scenery
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Kallur Lighthouse hike on the island Kalsoy
On the remote island of Kalsoy, cinematic history meets the Faroes’ wild beauty. A basalt memorial marks the dramatic finale of 'No Time to Die', where Bond’s on-screen fate was sealed, and is now a popular photo stop for film fans.
Beyond the film connection, Kalsoy’s cliffs, narrow valleys, and windswept coastline reveal the islands at their most striking. As you traverse the rugged paths, the sea crashes against jagged rocks below, and clouds often swirl around the peaks, creating a landscape that feels both untamed and cinematic in its own right.
Saksun Village
The Faroe Islands In Depth Group Tour takes you through some of the islands’ most cinematic landscapes. From Kalsoy’s cliffs and the James Bond filming spot to soaring mountains, dramatic sea stacks, and remote villages, this small-group journey offers an intimate, fully guided experience of the Faroes’ striking scenery.
6. Tórshavn
The world's smallest capital city with a big personality
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Tórshavn's harbour front
Tórshavn may be small, but its charm is undeniable. Wander the cobbled streets of the Old Town and discover turf-roofed houses tucked between modern cafés, galleries, and creative spaces. The city pulses quietly with energy, from the new OY Brewery and lively pubs to casual fish-and-chip spots, offering a range of dining experiences.
Here, you can savour Faroese cuisine, watch the harbour bustle, and explore cultural highlights without the crowds of a larger capital. Every corner reveals a blend of history and contemporary life, making Tórshavn the perfect base for exploring the surrounding islands while immersing yourself in the archipelago’s distinctive culture and relaxed pace.
Streets of Tórshavn
The Tórshavn Short Break offers a perfect introduction to the Faroes’ capital and surrounding landscapes. Wander cobbled streets, explore turf-roofed houses, visit museums, and discover local cafés. Optional excursions take you to dramatic waterfalls, sea stacks, and picturesque villages, giving a balanced mix of culture, history, and Faroese scenery in just four days.
7. Birdlife
Puffins, guillemots, razorbills and more
Puffins on the bird cliffs of the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are a haven for bird enthusiasts. From May to August, the cliffs and islands are alive with puffins, gannets, guillemots, and countless seabirds. A boat trip to Mykines, the bird-watching capital, offers remarkable views of nesting colonies, while the dramatic cliffs of Vestmanna rise 1,500 feet above the Atlantic, providing a striking backdrop as birds wheel and call overhead.
Cruising close to the cliffs, you may spot pufflings learning to fly or razorbills tending to their nests, all under the watchful guidance of local boat captains who know the safest and best vantage points. For anyone who loves nature, the Faroes deliver a up-close connection with wildlife that feels untouched and truly wild.
Bird watching in Mykines
The Faroe Islands On the Road Fly-Drive is perfect for bird enthusiasts. Drive at your own pace to remote islands, from Mykines’ thriving puffin colonies to Suduroy’s dramatic bird cliffs. With ferry crossings and short hikes included, this 11-day tour offers thrilling encounters with the Faroes’ rich and wild seabird life.
8. Hiking
Spectacular views and dramatic weather
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Landscapes of Faroe Islands
Hiking in the Faroes is as much about atmosphere as it is about distance. Light shifts in moments, clouds race across vast skies, and long stretches of trail unfold in near-total silence, broken only by wind and seabirds. Routes trace cliff edges, cross high moorland and reveal sweeping Atlantic views that feel raw and elemental.
Many of the most iconic hikes cross private farmland, where access is carefully managed by local landowners. A small hiking fee often applies, helping to maintain paths and support rural livelihoods - an important part of travelling responsibly in these fragile landscapes.
One of the most famous routes leads to Lake Sørvágsvatn and the cliffs of Trælanípa, where the optical illusion of the “floating lake” creates one of the Faroe Islands’ most photographed views. Reached via a paid trail across private land, the final reveal is genuinely jaw-dropping, a vast lake poised high above the ocean, framed by sheer cliffs and endless horizon.
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Saksun Village on a cloudy day
The Faroe Islands Winter Fly-Drive is perfect for a crisp Nordic escape. Over five days, explore remote villages, dramatic cliffs, and the Northern Islands at your own pace. Winter offers almost empty landscapes, wild weather, and spectacular views, while the freedom of a hire car lets you savour every colourful village and rugged coastline.
9. Feeling truly off-the-grid
Safe and stress-free
Sheep in the remote landscapes of Faroe Islands
The Faroes are refreshingly untouched by conventional tourism, where plans are often at the mercy of the weather, sheep may casually block the roads, and cafés close when the locals do. It’s this unscripted rhythm that gives the islands their charm, offering visitors a rare chance to step completely out of everyday life.
Suðuroy, the southernmost island, perfectly embodies this sense of remoteness. A scenic ferry ride of around two hours from Tórshavn delivers you to a landscape of dramatic cliffs, rolling green hills, and quiet villages where life moves at its own pace. Here, you can explore rugged coastline trails, wander through tiny settlements with grass-roofed houses, and witness local life unfold in its simplest, most authentic form.
Despite its wildness, Suðuroy feels safe and welcoming, with friendly locals happy to share stories of island life. A day here is a reminder of the joy of slowing down, embracing unpredictability, and discovering a Faroese world far from the crowds.
Solo traveller exploring Faroe Islands
Discover the Faroes off the beaten path on the Solo Holiday – Authentic Encounters in the Faroe Islands. Explore remote villages, cycle through Tórshavn, and enjoy home-cooked meals with welcoming locals. Carefully chosen B&Bs and guided tours make it a safe, immersive journey, perfect for solo travellers seeking connection and authentic Faroese life.
10. Faroese design, knitwear & wool culture
Keeping warm in true Faroese fashion
Woollen fashion in Faroe Islands
In the Faroe Islands, wool is more than a material, it is a way of life. From the rugged hills where hardy sheep roam freely to the hands of local artisans, wool shapes both daily life and the islands’ distinctive aesthetic. Traditional knitwear, with its geometric patterns and natural tones, speaks of generations of skill, passed down through families who know how to endure the Faroese weather while creating something both practical and beautiful.
Tórshavn is a treasure trove for wool lovers. Local studios and boutiques offer contemporary takes on classic Faroese designs, where hand-knitted sweaters, scarves, and accessories sit alongside modern textile art.
Knitted woolen clothes in a market
Every summer, the Faroese Knitting Festival brings communities together to celebrate this heritage. From workshops and demonstrations to competitions and exhibitions, the festival is a lively showcase of both tradition and innovation. Whether you’re seeking a souvenir, a wearable work of art, or simply a deeper understanding of Faroese life, the islands’ wool culture offers a tangible connection to its people, landscape, and enduring creativity.
Ready for a Faroe Islands adventure?
Discover the dramatic landscapes, charming villages, and rich Faroese culture at your own pace. Let our Regent specialists design your perfect trip, from scenic fly-drives to immersive local experiences. Get in touch today and start planning a journey shaped entirely around you.