A Tale of Two Villages: The Faroese Forest of Kunoy and the Colorful Harbor of Klaksvík

01

Oct

After spending the night in Tórshavn, Matt and I drove to spend the morning in Kunoy and Klaksvík. We were going to take the ferry from Klaksvík to Kalsoy (it’s a lot of “k” names, so I’ll try to keep them straight!), and we wanted to make sure we got in line for the ferry early enough, so we went to Kunoy for a bit before parking the car in line at Klaksvík and exploring there. If you want to follow a similar itinerary to ours, I definitely recommend checking out both Kunoy and Klaksvík if you have the time because they’re both very different villages! 🙂

A Tale of Two Villages: The Faroese Forest of Kunoy and the Colorful Harbor of Klaksvík

Exploring Kunoy

Kunoy church

Kunoy is a little village on the island of Kunoy with a population of 64. It’s known for having a “forest” since there isn’t a real Faroe Islands forest, and no trees grow naturally anywhere on the islands. These trees were planted in the 1800s, and there are a few other planted groves around the islands. The grove of trees are a little ways up the cliffside, and you can get a great view from the top!

We walked around the little town first, and even though it’s so small, there is actually a community center with a public bathroom. The town has some cute houses and lots of sheep, of course! The church is also very pretty and you can get some great photos of it from the forest.

Kunoy church

Kunoy church

Kunoy creek

Cows in Kunoy

Cows in the Faroe Islands

Horses in the Faroe Islands

Horses in Kunoy

Mountains in Kunoy

Mountains in Kunoy

Mountains in Kunoy

Grass roof shed in the Faroe Islands

Kunoy ocean view

View from Kunoy

Grass roof shed in the Faroe Islands

Kunoy, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands mountains

Faroe Islands mountains

Faroe Islands forest

The hike to the grove of trees takes about 30 minutes (with stopping to take photos of the mountains and animals). The forest is pretty small and you can see it all in about 10 minutes. It is on an incline, so it isn’t just a flat walk through the trees.

Kunoy forest

Kunoy forest

Forest in Kunoy

Forest in the Faroe Islands

Forest in the Faroe Islands

Kunoy, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands mountains

Faroe Islands horse Kunoy church

Exploring Klaksvík

Frida Kaffihus in Klaksvik

After spending a couple of hours walking around Kunoy, we headed over to Klaksvík and got in line for the ferry. We got there super early because I really didn’t want to miss the ferry to Kalsoy because it runs so infrequently, but thankfully there weren’t many people in line before us and the ferry ended up being only halfway full!

Like Tórshavn, Klaksvík has lots of restaurants and shops, and there’s also a tourism office if you’re looking for recommendations for things to do. We stopped by Fríða Kaffihús to get some coffee and food before walking around the harbor. The Vikings were the first to settle in Klaksvík, and it is now the second largest town and the fishing capital of the Faroe Islands. Klaksvík is known for its music scene, which we didn’t get to experience this time, but we had a nice stroll around the harbor!

Frida Kaffihus in Klaksvik

Klaksvik harbor

Klaksvik harbor

Klaksvik downtown

Downtown Klaksvik

Klaksvik church

Christianskirkjan

Klaksvik church

Faroe Islands brewery

Faroe Islands brewery

We tried some Føroya Bjór beer later and it was pretty good! We got some in the airport to bring back

Klaksvik harbor

Klaksvik harbor

Purple tulips

Purple tulips

Klaksvik harbor

Faroe Islands grass roof house

Faroe Islands grass roof house

So if you’re heading to hike on Kalsoy, make sure you stop in Kunoy and Klaksvík first! With the unique Faroe Islands forest and the beautiful harbor, they’re very different towns, but they’re both great places to explore in the Faroe Islands 🙂

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Blog, Europe, Faroe Islands, Photography, Travel

  1. Anne says:

    I love the cow poking its head out of the window! So cute.

  2. Laura says:

    The Faroe Islands really seem to be having a moment, and I can see why! The photo of the barn with the cow poking its head out of the window really made me laugh.

  3. Christine says:

    I’ve always heard such great things about the Faroe Islands, this makes me want to go even more! It looks like such a beautiful place to explore!

  4. Okay, honestly. It doesn’t even look real. It’s like straight out of a fairytale. Thank you for educating me on places I had never heard before. x

  5. Kristen says:

    First of all, loved the pictures you captured with the little stream running through. Also, that baby forest was so precious! I never knew trees don’t naturally grow on the Faroe Islands. Lovely!

  6. Eric says:

    Beautiful! How is the population faring? It seems as though in other parts of the world places like this are either dying out or growing rapidly.

    • Julia says:

      I haven’t heard of the populations dwindling so I think they’re doing well! I’m sure living there has become easier with better technology, and I was very impressed with the quality of their roads.

  7. Katie says:

    Oh wow! How dreamy is that landscape in Kunoy? Absolutely stunning!

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