The Faroe Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, boasting beside their remoteness with very erratic and unpredictable weather all year round.

So doing small hikes in the vicinity of settlements like the capital Tórshavn are kind of reasonable outdoor activities, but anything beyond that would be rather foolish during the winter time, especially if you’re hiking alone like myself who is also not familiar at all with the terrain around (and, as it happened, I injured my foot after a slip an spent the rest of my first hiking day in the emergency ward).

Kirkjubøreyn is a rocky hill of about 350 meters, located southwest of Tórshavn. It offers a splendid and expansive view over the southern tip of Streymoy, one of the two main islands, and to Nólsoy, a smaller island in the east.

An interesting fact is that there exist virtually no trees on the Faroes, and besides sheep and scores of different bird species almost no larger animals (I did encounter and frighten some rabbits along the way though).

So you get this lunar landscape impression wherever you pick to go on these islands, what is spellbinding and yet at the same time a little unsettling.

Photo gallery