A Friday excursion with MMTours will take you on an adventure to the island of Vágar, where you will be able to enjoy some of the best scenery the Faroe Islands have to offer. This tour truly epitomizes its name as a photography tour. The landforms you encounter on this day are a photographers paradise. Weather permitting of course, you will explore views of Drangarnir and Tindhólmur, Múlafossur and Sørvágsvatn. I know these are impossible to read for most of you, but I’ll come back to each.
This is one of the best excursions MMTours has to offer, especially if you are lucky enough with the weather. MMTours makes it really easy on their guests by picking them up at their hotel. If the hotel is out of the way, a very close destination will be provided for as a meeting point. The day tour is about 9 hours in length.
The tour begins with a ride out of the capital, Tórshavn, while listening to the voice of your guide. On Friday, it is very likely that Harry will be on the mic. Harry is the brother of one the founders, Magnus, and provides some great background about the islands. He is very intelligent and is always ready to answer any questions you may have about the islands or Faroese culture in general.
On the day of this tour, I left my Airbnb in Tórshavn only to be hit in the face with high winds, rain and a lot of cold weather. I was very excited knowing where this tour would take us, but extremely worried that the weather would not allow me to truly photograph and enjoy it.
The tour begins with a ride through some fjords and incredible scenery along the way to Vàgar island. This island is best known as the home of the airport as well as some of the Faroe’s most popular views. The first stop puts us in the small village of Sandavágur. The church demands the scene here as it has a unique and different look compared to the rest of the churches among the islands. After sending photos home to my parents, they described it as a lego look alike, and I couldn’t agree more.
As we moved on, the wind and rain continued to come in hard as the roads were covered with intense fog. This is normal in the Faroes, but not what you want on a day like this. However, the Faroe Islands‘ weather can drastically change in a matter of seconds. The farther we drove, the more clear it became. Our ride seemed to be covered in fog and rain until we arrived at our first scenic view point. At this moment, the surrounding fog vanished for the most part, and the dramatic scenery opened up.
Our next stop was in another small village that provides a fisherman’s atmosphere, Bøur. Many of the houses are similar to the rest of the Faroes, covered with turf roofing as insulation to the daily wet weather.
The small streets weave through out the wooden houses while a small stair case leads down to the shore line. As the rest of the Faroe Islands are, the village is very charming and one that has gorgeous views surrounding it, specifically into Drangarnir and Tindhólmur.
Drangarnir and Tindhólmur are two very unique landforms that can be seen protruding from the ocean. Drangarnir is a small sea arch that can be passed through by small boat. It is similar to the famous lover’s arch in Capri, except that the surrounding seas are much more cold and violent. The top of the rock is covered with moss to add to its unique beauty.
Sitting right beside Drangarnir, or behind it based on the angle you’re looking from, is Tindhólmur. This wild landform is the one that truly stole my attention on this day and the rest of the trip. I can’t think of another place in the world where you can enjoy the view of a single lush mountain erupting out of the ocean on its own.
The top of Tindhólmur is molded with some jagged rocks that look as if it has been crowned “King of the Sea”. While the front edge seen from our view point is covered with grass, the back side is a very steep cliff that has only one landing point, the freezing cold North Atlantic.
After enjoying the sights of these crazy landforms, you will be on your way another five minutes up the road to one of the most famous photo stops in all of the Faroes, Múlafossur. It is a definite that when you type “Faroe Islands” into google, this famous waterfall is one of the first pictures you will see. I expected it to be a little bit more touristy than it was, but I felt as if I was the only one there. That is the beauty of the Faroe Islands, they feel seemingly untouched.
The best way to enjoy the incredible sight of the water falling into the ocean is to follow the path along the cliff, and then walk down the stairs. There is a sign there that says “Do Not Pass”, but it is unguarded. From these steps you will have a better view into the waterfall and the cliffs surrounding it. Enjoy your time here as Múlafossur is truly one of a kind.
After some stunningly beautiful photo stops, you are offered a packed lunch to enjoy during the ride to the next destination. The lunch is either a smoked salmon or chicken sandwich. I ate the smoked salmon everyday and can admit that I never became tired of it. How can you go wrong eating smoked salmon in the Faroe Islands whilst being surrounded by the views?
Our next stop with MMTours is another one that you have probably seen on Google or Instagram, Sørvágsvatn, or, “The Lake Above the Ocean”. To reach the lake, you will have to drive about 30 minutes to a small farm. In the past, you were able to walk out along this path on your own, but in the last year or so, this farm has taken advantage of tourism. Páll, the owner of the land, is very intelligent in this sense to take full advantage of the booming tourism. Not only is he making some extra money, it will limit the number of noisy visitors as the tourism continues to grow. If you came this far, there is no way you should not pay the small extra fee of 350dkk to enjoy this hike. The hike is about 8km round trip, but is very easy while being topped off with one of the most incredible views you can find.
Sørvágsvatn is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands and is situated next to the airport. Because of its location, a visit here is typically most traveler’s first or last adventure. Páll will hike along with you as other local guides do on different daily excursions. He is a great guy to talk with and is willing to answer any questions about his own land or the rest of the Faroe Islands. The hike to the view point overlooking the lake and ocean is about 45 minutes. Once you have made it out to the top, turn around as the view is spectacular.
It is not often you will have the opportunity to see something like this. At first glance, it is an optical allusion. It feels as if the lake is floating above the ocean, but it is actually only 30 meters higher than the ocean while the large cliff is about 100 meters high. This incredible sight is one to enjoy, but not fool around with. These cliffs are extremely high and your only stopping point is about 100 meters down into the freezing ocean. Stay back and enjoy the views with out jumping around.
After soaking in this amazing and extremely rare sight, Páll will take you further to a small waterfall that many visitors often miss. That is the best part about enjoying an excursion with a local, they always know the ins and outs of places to go. At the bottom of the lake lies a tiny waterfall named, Bøsdalafossur, which is the spot in which the lake distributes its fresh water into the ocean.
Standing amongst the rocks will also provide you a view into some gorgeous sea stacks in the distance behind the tiny water fall. On a calm day, this is a perfect spot to relax. However, if the winds and ocean are rough, you can expect massive waves to bang into the rocks. We happily stayed dry on this day. After enjoying these stunning and incredible views, the time sadly came to hike back to the farm house where we were picked back up by MMTours. The walk back is about an hour, and is very easy.
After reaching the finish line, you will probably be quite exhausted. However, you are happily greeted with one of the best things that MMTours provides, some local beer. Black Sheep is my favorite, but Slupp is delicious as well. The what I like to call, “celebration beer” is a great touch that not enough tour groups provide. It only adds some light and happiness to a tour and is always very refreshing after a hike.
The day concludes with another ride through the amazing landscape of the Faroe Islands with more commentary provided by Harry or another guide based on availability. Make sure to ask as many questions about Faroese culture as you’d like. These guys are always ready and willing to answer. MMTours will drop you off in the same place you started. Don’t forget to book your tour for the next day if you didn’t get the package deal! The Saturday Viking Excursion is one you cannot miss!
If the pictures didn’t do enough for you, take a look at our video of Vágar
To book your photography tour of Vágar Island, follow the link below
https://www.mmtours.fo/product/visit-vagoy/
For more photos of a trip to the Faroe Islands, check out my photo gallery!
https://ryantinglephotography.pixieset.com/faroeislands/
As always, make sure to comment below with any questions you may have. Don’t forget to subscribe and follow us on Instagram @travelingle or @egtrotters for more daily travel inspiration!
