20250617_112038Sørvágsvatn, aka “Floating Lake” (June 2025)

The Faroe Islands had been on my bucket list for the past few years. I recall stumbling across a photo of Sørvágsvatn (aka “Floating Lake”) online and fell in love with it– since then, I knew I had to make the journey over, no matter what it took to get there. My fiancée and I had the incredible opportunity to spend five days in the Faroe Islands during our trip to Denmark last summer, and it was a dream come true.

Situated in the middle of the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands consists of 18 islands that are home to tons of green mountains, waterfalls, and lots of sheep– more sheep than people! The islands’ closest neighbors are Iceland (280 miles/450 km) and Scotland (200 miles/320 km), yet still quite isolated from the rest of the world. The Faroe Islands are part of Denmark, but are considered a self-governing, autonomous territory, similar to Greenland.

A total of 56,000 Faroese live on the islands and the population is surprisingly growing every year. Many people from mainland Denmark and other parts of the world have been moving over for its pristine nature. However, the Faroe Islands are still fairly untouched, with less than 150,000 visitors annually, so the islands still remain rather sleepy in comparison to over two million visitors to its neighbor, Iceland, each year.

Getting to the Faroe Islands isn’t difficult, but it does require a bit of planning for the weather and accommodation– best time is between June and August, for the best chance at sun and longer days to explore as much as possible. At the same time, it’s also peak tourist season, which means accommodations (hotels, Airbnbs, etc) get booked up well in advance. Not to forget that the Faroe Islands are expensive to visit and stay in. I was able to secure a guesthouse room for $90 USD/night over a year in advance, and it turned out to be a comfortable stay!

It was then a matter of booking our flights to the Faroe Islands. There’s only one airport on the islands, Vágar Airport, and there are daily direct flights from Copenhagen, as well as few weekly ones (Reykjavik, Bergen) and seasonal ones from Edinburgh, Paris, and London. Despite its small size, the Faroe Islands has its own airline, Atlantic Airways, which we booked round-trip for $400 USD each. Not cheap given it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Copenhagen, but we made it work!

20250616_200427Atlantic Airways

After a two-night stay in Copenhagen, my fiancée and I headed to the airport once more to catch our 18h30 flight to Vágar Airport. Given we were traveling in the summer, weather conditions were good to take off– flights to the Faroe Islands can get cancelled if there’s bad weather, so we were fortunate that it was a pleasant evening flight. Interestingly, my fiancée and I were one of the very few non-Faroese/Danish passengers on-board, as Atlantic Airways is a local airline. But we had a pleasant ride over, even chatting with a nice Faroese man sitting next to us who gave us tips on what we could check out on the Faroe Islands.

We landed into Vágar Airport at 19h50 local time (same time zone as the UK, so one hour behind Denmark). We’d arranged a taxi transfer from the airport to our hotel, so we found our driver and began the 45-minute drive to Tórshavn, the Faroese capital, where we would base our time to explore the other islands. We got to our guesthouse close to 21h00– we had a bit of issue finding the key to our room, eventually calling the owner for help, and finally being able to get inside! Room was small, but comfy, with a communal kitchen and bathrooms shared among three other rooms. The guesthouse was a bit outside of Tórshavn city center, but for the price and comfort, it worked for us.

My fiancée and I rested up before waking up early the next day to begin our tour of the Faroe Islands. We’d booked a multi-day packaged tour through Guide to Faroe Islands, which I highly recommend. We went with the 3-Day Highlights Package, and I believe it was a solid introduction to exploring the best parts of the Faroe Islands. One thing to know is that these packaged tours get outsourced to the smaller, local companies, and that many of the tours are hike-heavy, so it requires a good amount of physical activity to get through. All the same, we enjoyed our tours and saw so much beauty all around.

Our first day was spent visiting Vágar Island, the same island where we’d flown into the evening prior. Our tour guide picked us up at 9h00 and we headed back to Vágar. We began strong with a three-hour hike to Sørvágsvatn (aka “Floating Lake”): the first 45 minutes of the hike were relatively-easy, on a flat dirt path, before we had to hitch ourselves up and over a grassy slope to reach the vantage point. From there, we saw the illusion of the Sørvágsvatn lake “floating” over the cliff, and it was such a surreal experience. I was so happy it was the first site we visited, and my bucket list dream became a reality!

20250617_112038Views of Sørvágsvatn

20250617_102657Hiking to the views

20250617_102811Waterfall along the hike

20250617_110624Just before the ascent…

Afterwards, we hiked back to the entrance, having a packed lunch outside on the benches and taking in the gorgeous views (including some sheep close to us)! The rest of the tour wasn’t as physically-demanding, with a scenic and tranquil stroll through the picturesque village of Bøur. The village was very cute and charming, notable for its turf roofs– in fact, these roofs are iconic to the Faroe Islands, not only used for protection, but also insulation from the outdoor elements. They remind me vaguely of the hobbits’ homes in Lord of the Rings, and it really felt like The Shire!

20250617_143122Strolling the village of Bøur

20250617_143435Turf roofs

Our final stop was at Múlafossur, one of the 10,000 waterfalls on the Faroe Islands, but the most-photographed one of them all. I’d seen photos of it online, which also influenced my decision to visit the Faroe Islands, and I was happy we went on a nice, sunny day to see the waterfall tumble into the ocean. We also saw a rainbow, which was the icing on the cake!

20250617_140035Múlafossur

That concluded our tour, and we returned to Tórshavn by 15h30. I decided to explore a bit of the capital while my fiancée rested back at the hotel (more on Tórshavn to come later). I also brought back some fish and chips for dinner, and afterwards, we turned in for the night. It was a solid day in the Faroe Islands, exploring Vágar and already seeing the sites I’d dreamt of seeing (Sørvágsvatn, Múlafossur) that first day. However, we would continue to see other stunning sites on the other islands over the next few days, and I will recap them soon! Stay tuned 🙂

— Rebecca

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Published by Rebecca

Blogger, world traveler, poet, foodie, part-time penguin. Welcome!

61 thoughts on “Destination: Faroe Islands, Denmark (Hiking to Sørvágsvatn, Strolling Bøur Village, and Visiting Múlafossur– DAY 1)”

  2. Gorgeous photos-what an amazing trip. I’d love to visit the Faroe Islands, I did look at the ferry from Denmark with our camper but we’d need a lot of time ( and the budget!) to do that from the UK. Enjoyed coming along with you!

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    1. We’d also thought about taking a ferry from Copenhagen, but it would’ve been almost 40 hours of travel. As we were on limited time, we opted for the two-hour flight. Regardless, I hope you make it to the Faroe Islands some day; it really was magical!

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    1. I highly agree! My photos really can’t do justice to how sublime the Faroese landscape was to the eye. You’ll need to go and see it for yourself!

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  14. Wow, what a truly amazing bucket list destination, dear Rebecca. I also fell in love with the Floating Lake when I saw it online for the first time, but I haven’t visited it yet. I love those historic grass-roofed wooden houses and winding narrow lanes from the village of Bøur -it looks peaceful, and unbelievably scenic. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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    1. Thanks, Aiva! The Faroe Island were truly a dream, and I highly recommend a visit should you have some time in the Nordic countries. More of my adventures there to come soon. Have a wonderful day! 😊

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  16. The “floating lake” illusion at Sørvágsvatn is one of those images that lodges in your head once you’ve seen it — I completely understand why it pulled you all the way out there. And the turf roofs at Bøur looking like The Shire made me grin; that’s the kind of detail that turns a place from a photo into somewhere you actually want to stand. Múlafossur with a rainbow on top feels almost greedy!

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    1. Absolutely agree! The Floating Lake was stunning to see IRL, and our first day on the Faroe Islands was a fantastic start to our visit in this remote part of the world. More to come soon!

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  17. Sørvágsvatn and Múlafossur look so dramatic! I can see why you had been dreaming of going to the Faroe Islands since you saw their photos for the first time. This, indeed, looks like one of the most spectacular corners of the world.

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    1. I’m glad I finally got to make my dream a reality, Bama. The Faroe Islands went above and beyond my expectations, and it’s definitely a place worth seeing at least once in your life. More of my adventures on this Nordic archipelago to come soon!

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    1. Given that it’s so remote, the Faroe Islands is definitely not budget holiday-friendly! Regardless, it’s a worthwhile trip if you have the time and budget for it. More of our adventures on this Nordic archipelago to come very soon!

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  22. Yay! I’ve been looking forward to these posts, mostly because I’ll be here very soon and was hoping for some quality insider intel. Looks like you had a beautifully sunny day. Can’t wait to see what else you guys got up to.

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    1. Awesome! Yes, the Faroe Islands were magical; we got really lucky with the weather during our stay. More Faroe Islands posts coming very soon, and I hope you make it over there sooner than later, Diana! 😊

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  24. It’s weird that my first impression of the Faroe Islands is based on the UK shipping forecast. Being 200 miles north of Scotland I guess the weather there gives some indication of what is to come in North Scotland and so is always mentioned?
    It sounds like you had a great first day. Accommodation seems expensive given you were sharing bathroom and kitchen facilities but I’m guessing being part of Denmark it is somewhat based upon the prices there?

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    1. I can see that! I’ve been to Scotland, and I did find the weather and landscape on the Faroe Islands to be quite similar. That, and also of Iceland’s. The Faroe Islands are a territory of Denmark, but I think it’s also due to how remote the place is, which makes shipping food and materials over more expensive.

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  25. That waterfall is stunning! The floating lake has always appealed to me as well, such a cool perspective. I know the Faroe Islands are a bit controversial and a lot of people boycott it (which I am in two minds over), but it does look like a great place to visit, and much less touristy than places like Iceland.

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    1. Yes, the Faroe Islands are controversial in terms of the whaling culture; I’ll be touching on that in the next following posts of my adventures there. It has similar vibes to Iceland, but much-less tourists. However, I can imagine it’ll get more popular in the next years to come!

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  26. What a photogenic island! I must admit that I didn’t know much of the Faroe Islands before, I’ve seen a few photos but that’s about it. Given its location, I can see why it’s expensive to get to but it looks well worth the effort 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Finally have a chance to catch up on your articles.

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    1. Thanks, Elle! The Faroe Islands are known, but it has yet to become an ultra-touristy destination. It’s expensive to visit, but so worth it! Welcome back to the blogosphere 🙂

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  27. What beautiful landscapes. I can see why you wanted to visit Sørvágsvatn; it looks really neat. I also love the turf rooves. They remind me a little of the “living rooves” you occasionally see on eco projects in the UK. Handy to know there are flights from Edinburgh… I might have to look into those for a potential future trip. Looking forward to catching up on the rest of your time in the Faroe Islands!

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    1. Yes! The Faroe Islands are readily accessible from Scotland, as it’s just north of it. I also know that there are seasonal flights from London, Paris, even Brussels! Given you love hiking, the Faroe Islands are nothing short of trails with spectacular views all over!

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  29. On a trip to Labrador, I remember meeting a Danish couple who, when introducing themselves, immediately said they were from the Faroe Islands, as if that were enough to define them. I can well understand how much people can be attracted to such extreme landscapes.

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    1. I think those from the Faroe Islands would consider themselves Faroese first, Danish second. The pride they have in their little island territory is remarkable, beautiful and long-lasting in history!

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