Faroe Islands (Bradt Travel Guides) by James Proctor

Author:James Proctor [Proctor, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781784772581
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Published: 2016-05-08T21:00:00+00:00

THE WESTERN ISLANDS: VÁGAR AND MYKINES

VÁGAR The third-largest of the Faroes, with an area of 178km², Vágar is generally the first island you see when approaching the country by air. The terrain, although less dramatic than that of Streymoy and the northern islands, is certainly varied: broad green valleys, patches of cultivated land around the villages that are clustered on the south coast and dozens of small rivers flowing down from rounded hilltops. The highest point is Árnafjall mountain (722m) in the extreme northwest, whereas the centre of the island is dominated by a long valley running north–south where the island’s two main lakes are found. Although Vágar isn’t going to be the highlight of any trip to the Faroe Islands – it simply doesn’t have enough attractions for that – it does have vast expanses of untouched wilderness, especially around the uninhabited north of the island, which offer first-class hiking, and it’s to that end that most people come here. However, Vágar is also of interest for two other reasons: it’s the location of the Faroes’ only airport, and it has a ferry connection to Mykines.

From the Vágatunnilin (100kr per car; fee payable only in the Vágar–Streymoy direction), as the tunnel which links Streymoy with neighbouring Vágar is known, Route 40 climbs up the steep hillside en route to the island’s first main settlements, the adjoining villages of Miðvágur and Sandavágur. From here the road, the only one on the island, hugs the southern shore, skirting Leitisvatn/Sørvágsvatn lake, as it heads west towards the airport and the neighbouring village of Sørvágur, from where the boat sails to Mykines. Although there’s not much beyond Sørvágur, the road continues west out to the hamlet of Bøur and ultimately through the tunnel to Vágar’s westernmost settlement, Gásadalur. On the deserted north coast, there are traces of two now-abandoned villages, Víkar and Slættanes, both of which can reached on foot (see Click here).

Miðvágur and Sandavágur Sitting snugly around the head of the tooth-shaped Vágafjørður fjord, the twin villages of Sandavágur and larger Míðvágur are essentially one and the same place and home to around 2,000 people; we’ve given an account of Miðvágur first, since that’s where the services are, then Sandavágur. The fjord here is regarded as being the best place in the whole of the country to trap pilot whales; numerous sandbanks and a long sandy beach make it difficult for the whales to swim back out of the bay at low tide. However, local tradition has it that the women of the village don’t start preparing their husbands’ dinners the day of the grindadráp (see Click here) until the whales are driven past the Presttangi headland at the southern entrance to the bay; once past this point there’s no escape.

Getting there and away Bus #300 runs from Tórshavn to both Sandavágur and Míðvágur roughly hourly (timetables are available at www.ssl.fo) before continuing on to the airport and Sørvágur.

Where to stay and eat Míðvágur is home to a great little guesthouse, all

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