Family-friendly Faroe Islands: all you need to know about travelling with kids
The Faroe Islands are a great place to travel with children. The accommodation is comfortable, the distances by car are relatively short and most excursions take an hour or so to reach a scenic spot. However, the slow pace, dictated by the constantly changing weather, does mean that you will have to spend a few hours a day indoors or in a café, waiting for the rain to ease off and the sun to come out again.
Based on our experience of travelling with another couple and two children aged 1.5 years, here are a few tips to make your family trip to the Faroe Islands easier.
ACCOMMODATION
Typically, accommodation is in small cottages, most of which provide high chairs, cots or at least an extra mattress, as well as a few toys.
It was also essential to have a flat because many of the restaurants on the island offer rather gourmet menus with 5–7 courses. Going out for dinner to enjoy local cuisine rather than a steakhouse meal with children was almost impossible.
Most shops close before 6 pm, but some supermarkets stay open until 11 pm. Prices are very high in both restaurants and supermarkets, especially for imported items such as fruit.
TRAVELLING AROUND
When travelling by car, you can adapt your itinerary to suit the needs of your children.
Having a van rather than a car proved to be a lifesaver, as it gave us more space to pass the time while waiting for the rain to stop before setting off on an excursion. This was particularly useful in the more remote parts of the islands, where there weren't even any cafés to take shelter in.
EQUIPMENT
When hiking with young children, you will need a rucksack, walking poles and a raincoat, given the rugged nature of the trails. Snacks and food are essential as there are rarely any shops or cafés nearby where you can cater to the children’s needs.
Also bear in mind that few of the hikes lead to a place where you can stop and have a bite to eat, with space for the children to run around freely. Plan them carefully according to their needs. If you have older children who can walk unaided, it may be a good idea to bring a safety harness to keep them secure on slippery terrain and near vertiginous cliffs.
To visit the main family-friendly attractions, choose accommodation on different islands to minimise travel by car. Our itinerary allowed us to explore most of the archipelago and go on excursions without travelling for more than an hour (one way) each day.
Here are the highlights of our trip to give you some ideas:
3 nights in Torshavn
Tórshavn is the perfect place to start your Faroe Islands adventure. As it is the only real town in the archipelago, you can stock up on food and other supplies here, as well as getting a feel for the local pace of life, cuisine and customs.
You can explore the city in half a day, visiting the marina, the old town, the lighthouse and a few museums. The town centre has a few cafés and plenty of restaurants, which require advance booking. There are also lots of little design and clothing shops. The SMS shopping centre, which has the largest and best-stocked supermarket as well as a play area for children, is a short drive away. Here, you can stock up for your trip, as well as stock up on fruit and vegetables, salmon, and other local specialities which are in short supply in other supermarkets. (BTW if you are in search for local salmon, it is ridiculously impossible to find it anywhere rather than here. Stock up!)
Just a 10-minute drive away, the small village of Kirkjubøur is home to one of the island’s oldest settlements, featuring several beautiful black wooden houses with red window frames, the ruins of a stone church, a white wooden church, and a few wild horses roaming the cliffs.
From Tórshavn, you can take a couple of hours to explore the island of Streymoy. Drive from one coast to the other and stop in the small village of Saksun, which boasts a beautiful bay and a few stone houses with turf roofs. There is also a house museum with a café. This part of the island is often battered by wind and rain, and it can be so persistent that you might not even be able to leave the car.
Another interesting spot to visit is Tjørnuvik, a small, green cove with a village of turf-roofed houses nestled right next to a windswept black sand beach, overlooking towering cliffs.
The village lies dormant at the foot of a gently sloping hill, covered in lush green pastures. In this quiet and seemingly uninhabited spot, there is a coffee house that offers a very unique experience. It is an actual house where, as soon as you enter, you take off your shoes and find yourself in the kitchen.
No one asks what you’d like; you’re served a waffle and coffee or tea, for a fixed price per person, by children running back and forth with giant, steaming pots.
You can explore Eysturoy on a one-hour road trip from Tórshavn to Gjógv, a small village nestled at the foot of a tall, steep cliff inhabited by puffins. A 20-minute walk from the village takes you to the top of the cliff, where you can admire the village and its colourful houses from above, with dizzying rock faces all around you and puffins flying around.
2 nights in Klaksvik
Once you have settled in, you will have the chance to explore the northern islands. This tiny town has a couple of large supermarkets and a few dining options in the town centre near the fjord, but no meaningful attractions. From here, you can catch a boat to Kallur Lighthouse on the island of Kalsoy.
When travelling with children, it was essential for us to stay in this harbour to ensure we could catch the first ferry to Kalsoy without too much hassle. This ferry cannot be booked in advance, has only 12 spots for cars on board and gives priority to residents for boarding. You need to arrive very early in the morning to join the queue and wait to board.
3 nights in Gàsadalur
For the final part of our trip, we moved to new accommodation in Gàsadalur. The black wood-clad cottages here are very comfortable and offer stunning views. A short drive will take you to the main port of Sørvágur, from where you can take a boat to the unmissable island of Mykines – especially popular with children. The Mulafossur waterfall is just a 10-minute walk from the cottages and the airport is a short drive away, making it easy to continue your journey.
Staying here also allows you to easily access the path leading to Trælanípa, also known as 'The Lake above the Ocean', which is another easy walk offering magnificent views of the cliffs.
