Eighteen islands, and where to actually go
What each island is genuinely good for, what it is not, and whether you can reach it without a car.
Islands and regions
Streymoy
The largest island and the one you will almost certainly land on. Tórshavn, the airport road, and the north-west valleys.
Eysturoy
The second island, reached by bridge or subsea tunnel. Gjógv, Slættaratindur and the sea stacks at Eiði.
Vágar
The airport island. Sørvágsvatn, Gásadalur, and the ferry to Mykines.
Norðoyggjar
The northern islands. Klaksvík, Kalsoy’s lighthouse walk, and the villages at the end of the road.
Suðuroy
The southern island, two hours by ferry and the least visited large island in the country.
Sandoy
Low, green and gentle, now reached by the newest subsea tunnel rather than the ferry.
Mykines
The puffin island at the western edge. Ferry or helicopter, summer only, and it cancels.
Towns and villages
Where BEST has verified coordinates, these pages carry real data on what is nearby. Where it does not, they say so.
Tórshavn
The capital, and the only place in the country where you can genuinely live without a car for a week.
Klaksvík
The second town — a working fishing port around a deep harbour, and the gateway to the northern islands.
Gjógv
Nineteen people at the top of a natural sea gorge. One guesthouse, one restaurant, no shop.
Sørvágur
The airport village and the Mykines ferry harbour. Practical rather than pretty.
Saksun
A handful of farms around a tidal lagoon. No shop, no bus, no facilities of any kind.
Vestmanna
The harbour the bird-cliff boat tours leave from, on the west coast of Streymoy.
Eiði
North-west corner of Eysturoy, looking out at the Risin og Kellingin sea stacks.
Tvøroyri
The main village on Suðuroy, along a fjord, near the ferry terminal at Krambatangi.
Kirkjubøur
The country’s historic seat, twenty minutes south of Tórshavn — a ruined cathedral and the oldest inhabited timber house in the world.
Gásadalur
The village behind the waterfall — Múlafossur, which falls straight off the cliff into the sea.
Once you know where you are going, the shape of the trip is the next decision.
See trip shapes