I am SO excited for my first post about the Faroe Islands! 🙂 I had been wanting to visit for a long time because it’s such an untouched place and photos of it looked amazing, and when Matt and I were planning our trip to Denmark, it was the perfect chance to visit the Faroe Islands for a few days.
We flew from Copenhagen into Vágar Airport, picked up our rental car, and drove to our first stop, Kirkjubøur (and don’t worry, I’ll have a whole post about getting to and around the Faroe Islands because it can be trickier than other countries). Kirkjubøur is a small village in the Faroe Islands just a 20 minute drive outside the capital, Tórshavn, and it’s the perfect first stop in islands 🙂
Driving to Kirkjubøur
On the drive to Kirkjubøur, we passed some AMAZING views and I just had to pull the car over and take some photos! I did this many times during our trip because I just couldn’t get enough of the beautiful landscapes.
Get ready to see a LOT of sheep because I took a million photos of them!
Kirkjubøur
Kirkjubøur is may be small, but it has a TON of history. It’s one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands, and it’s home to the 900-year-old farmhouse Kirkjubøargarður that is thought to be the oldest wooden house in the world still being used today. One family has lived there for 17 generations!
Kirkjubøur also has a lot of religious history, and it was the cultural and Episcopal center of the islands during the Medieval period. Ólavskirkja was built in 1111, and the Magnus Cathedral was built in the 1300s. Magnus Cathedral was actually never completed because it never got a roof, but it’s still the biggest Medieval building on the islands.
So needless to say, if you like history, Kirkjubøur is the place to go!
Ólavskirkja
Kirkjubøargarður
Magnus Cathedral
I was so excited to see these cows!
We probably spent an hour walking around Kirkjubøur, and you probably don’t need much more time than that. We got really lucky with the weather, but we did have the worst weather of our trip in Kirkjubøur with super strong winds! Kirkjubøur is the at the southern tip of Streymoy, so it makes sense that it would be windy. So just be prepared!
Kirkjubøur was one of my favorite towns in the Faroe Islands, and I definitely recommend visiting if you’re going to Tórshavn! The historical buildings were some of the oldest I’ve ever seen (especially the oldest wooden house in the world!), and the views were just beautiful 🙂
Julia I adore your pictures, what a cute place!
Thank you! 🙂
What a stunning landscape! Must be a magical place to escape to. What time of year would you recommend for visiting the Faroe islands?
Yes it’s amazing! The weather is about the same all year long, but I did like going in the summer because the days are much longer then.
Great post! I went to the Islands a few years ago and this has got me wanting to go back. Unfortunately, Kirkjubøargarður was our last stop and we didn’t have a ton of time, I would have liked to explore more. Great shots! Love the foggy ones. So Faroe Islands 😉
I hope you can go back! Kirkjubour was one of my favorite towns there!
Such Gorgeous pictures of Faroe Islands. It was interesting to read about the oldest wooden 900-year-old Kirkjubøargarður farmhouse!
Thank you! 🙂 Yes it’s such a cool thing to see!
Your pictures are beautiful! And I love the landscape, the wooden houses and all the animals there! Just been to Scotland and reminded me a little bit of the scenery there.
Thank you! 🙂 I can see the resemblance!
I wouldn’t be able to resist the sheep, either. The landscape looks so lush and beautiful! I love that so many of the homes have grassy rooftops that blend into the surrounding environment.
Yes I loved all the grass roofs!
This place is on my travel list too! Is it true that there’s a certain kind of lace made in the Faroe Islands?
It’s an amazing place! I’m not sure about lace, but they are famous for their wool sweaters!
Wow! I love the scenery! Why do some of the buildings have grass on the roofs?
That baby cow looks for fluffy!
Grass roofs were historically used for insulation and irrigation, especially where wood was rare! (There aren’t any natural forests in the Faroe Islands).
Yes he was so cute and looked so soft!
What stunning photos! Absolutely breath taking scenery!
Thank you! 🙂
What lovely photos and what a stunning place, so glad I discovered your website.
Thank you so much! 🙂
What a stunning landscape! The buildings are so charming. And you have to love the sheep and cows, I would have taken a ton of photos of them too 🙂
Yes the animals were so cute! 🙂 Everything about Kirkjubour was amazing!