Tiger Travels: Faroe Islands, Pt 1

Amber and I just returned from a whirlwind trip to the Faroe Islands! Over the next week of we're going to let you know all about our journey, the sheep, the wool, and the people. We traveled to Faroe with our friends Kate, Courtney, and Meghan of Kelbourne Woolens. Kelbourne organized the trip because they are starting to distribute Navia yarns from Faroe to the US (it's already in our shop!) and they needed to learn more about the company and the yarn. 

To travel to Faroe, you can fly on several airlines from most larger cities in Northern Europe (Edinburgh, Bergen, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, etc) Amber and I flew from Denver to Copenhagen, enjoyed a day and a half exploring, and then flew to Faroe from there. 

The Faroe Islands are an island archipelago located in the Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland. They are a self-governing nation under the external sovereignty of Denmark. The 50,000 occupants of these islands speak their own language, Faroese, in addition to Danish and English. The first settlers were Irish monks in 300 AD. When Viking settlers arrived in the 9th century, they named the island Faereyjar or Sheep's Island because there were sheep already living on Faroe. 

The Faroe Islands are made up of 18 islands - most of these are connected by bridges or underwater tunnels, making it easy to drive from one to another. A few of the islands require taking a ferry or helicopter to access. 

We were in Faroe for 2 full days + 2 half days - not nearly enough time, but we made the best of it! We rented a car and explored the islands of Vágar, Streymoy, and Eysturoy while we were there. We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb home in the village of Stykki, right on the ocean. 

Faroe is a ridiculously beautiful place. The islands are mountainous, creating epic landscapes of tall cliffs and grass-covered landmasses shooting out from the sea. They are relatively small - its possible to drive from one to another and around in just a couple of hours. There are sheep everywhere - sheep and geese (both brought to the island on boats) are almost all of the local fauna along with over 300 species of birds. 

While we were in Faroe, we got to eat at homes of two families, meet many sheep, go on several hikes, and visit picturesque villages. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog post about the food and culture of Faroe and the first knitting friend we made!