Faroe Islands, Denmark
The Faroe Islands are located in the north of the Atlantic, in the open ocean, significantly north of Scotland. Officially, they belong to Denmark, but in fact life in the Faroe Islands is subject not so much to the Danish crown as to its own laws and rules. Tourists are not waiting here for azure waters, chic hotels and well-trained bartenders serving colorful cocktails to vacationers on the beach. The nearest inhabited coast is Icelandic, and it is 450 km away. But if you are looking for a place to escape from everything, then the Faroe Islands are the perfect place for this.
In one of its publications, National Geographic magazine called the Faroe Islands the best islands in the world. It seems that even their inhabitants themselves more than agree with this characterization.
How to get to the Faroe Islands
By plane to Torshavn with a transfer through Denmark (Copenhagen) or Norway (Bergen or Stavanger). The most popular local transport in the Faroe Islands is, of course, water, and you need to travel between the islands by ferry. In the summer, you can also take a ferry from Bergen to Tórshavn.
Visa
According to cachedhealth, the Faroe Islands are not part of the Schengen area. To visit these territories, it is necessary to obtain a national Danish visa, valid for entry into the Faroe Islands, in addition to the regular Danish Schengen visa. If the tourist already has a valid Schengen visa of another country, it is enough to apply for a national Danish visa with a note about entering the Faroe Islands. The list of required documents and the process of obtaining a visa to the Faroe Islands is identical to the process of obtaining a Schengen visa to Denmark.
History
In total, the Faroe Islands include 18 islands, and people live on all but the last, Small Dimun. The first inhabitants appeared on the islands around the 8th-9th centuries; then the islands saw the Vikings and for some time served as a staging post in their sea expeditions. Once the Faroe Islands were divided between Norway and Denmark, but at the beginning of the 19th century they were completely taken over by the Danes. During the Second World War, the islands were occupied by Great Britain in response to the capture of Denmark by the Germans (this did not affect the course of the war in any way). The next year after the end of the war, the Faroe Islands were about to secede from the Kingdom of Denmark, but it was not there: the maximum that the islanders achieved was partial sovereignty.
Interesting Facts
In one of its publications, National Geographic magazine named the Faroe Islands the best islands in the world (this is a consolidated expert assessment of half a thousand specialists in the tourism industry). It seems that even their inhabitants themselves more than agree with this characterization. Despite the fact that the economy of the islands rests, figuratively speaking, on sheep and herring, the weather is gloomy, and fuel and other essential items have to be purchased on the mainland for five hundred kilometers, the standard of living in the Faroe Islands is one of the highest in the world. And almost all the islanders are ardent patriots who optimistically paint their houses in different colors in spite of gloomy weather and gray skies.
Due to unacceptable fishing taxes for local residents, the Faroe Islands have not yet entered the European Union.
Faroese cuisine
The traditional dishes of the Faroes, dense and simple, are all rather curious, but by modern standards they cannot be called healthy. Although local dishes, for obvious reasons, are often prepared from fish, the Faroese themselves prefer fatty and unsalted meat, in particular lamb, and potatoes from vegetables. However, more and more European establishments have recently been opened in large settlements. So you need to look specifically for traditional restaurants to try smorrebrod for breakfast (a sandwich with butter and meat eaten with cutlery), for lunch – dried cod and mutton kidney soup, and for dinner – puffin meat pie, rhubarb and potatoes.
Weather in the Faroe Islands
The climate here cannot be called mild: in summer it usually does not get warmer than +15 ° C, it rains about 280 days a year, and the winds blow almost constantly. Therefore, there are few trees on the islands – solid rocks and moss, but there are a lot of carved picturesque fjords, bays, bays and mountains.
In winter, the islands are very wet and particularly cold. But the Gulf Stream washing them does not allow coastal waters to freeze and even maintains their temperature at about +10 ° C. This season, when there are no people around, and the water is especially clear, is considered ideal for diving enthusiasts.
3 things to do in the Faroe Islands:
- Buy and bring home to your grandmother a few hanks of local first-class sheep’s wool for knitting. This can be done in almost any grocery store.
- Get to the town of Skopun on the island of Sandoy, where the largest mailbox in the world is located. This is a huge blue building of several human heights, against which you should definitely take a picture (alas, the box is non-functional).
- Try local meat and fish dried-cured snacks: whale meat and lamb in the Faroe Islands are dried in a dozen different ways, sometimes for a year.
