📍 Waterfalls like Streymoy's Fossá (meaning "river with waterfalls") - a multi-tiered cliff fall

(possibly Faroe's tallest @140m) Or Vágar's Bøsdalafossur & Múlafossur flowing from lake

Sørvágsvatn & most famous Svartidalurfoss outside the quaint Gásadalur Village, all 3

       dropping straight into the Sea🔍  

📍 Turf-Roof Cottages, clustered all over, but also found in Reyn & Undir Ryggi villages of

Tinganes (Tórshavn's Old Town, meaning "parliament jetty") - small Streymoy neighborhoods

of 14c black-tarred wooden houses with white-framed windows & traditional grass roofs

plus the Løgting, Alting; one of the world’s oldest parliaments (since 850 AD)

📍 Village of Saksun | Streymoy - a cluster of turf-roof farmhouses & homes enclosed by

mountains plus white stone, turf-roofed Saksunar Kirkja (church) c.1858† & cemetery

on the edge of Saksunarvatn, once a fjord, until a storm in 1600 blocked the entrance with sand creating

a lagoon (now only be reached by small boats at high water,) and black sand beach.)

📍 Trækirkjur - Traditional Wooden Churches 🔍  built between 1829 - 1847, turf/grass roofs with black-tarred wooden

walls, white windows & ridge turrets (towers) 10 of 14 are still remaining including:

      Sands Kirkja | Sandur, Sandoy; built on the site of a small 11c Norwegian-style stave church, one of the earliest in the

F. I. & one of the oldest continuously used church sites in the Faroes with nearby excavations of Viking longhouses,

pagan & early Christian graves & settlements (possibly pre-Norse) dating to the 4th–6th centuries In 1863, a

Viking-Age silver hoard was found in the churchyard.††

       Funnings Kirkja | Eysturoy, looking over Funningsfjørður, on what used to be a small island, Niðri í Hólma, (meaning

down on the islet’) between two cemeteries, an old & new, on the river Stórá

     [Also on Esturoy are the Old church of Gøta, Sjóvar Kirkja | Strendur, Oyndarfjørður & Nes. On Streymoy are Hvalvík, the oldest,

Kaldbak & Kollafjørður, and on Suðuroy is Porkeri]

📍 Village of Gjógv (meaning "gorge") | Eysturoy - a picturesque village around a stream and a deep, 200m cleft in the

black basalt serving as the village’s natural harbor. Known for it's narrow-gauge railway, the only operating railway

in the Islands from the harbor up the steep incline to the boathouses and used to bring goods up from the boats.

(There are no locomotives, and it's powered by a rope winch system)

📍 Abandoned Villages of Múli (meaning "muzzle" / "snout" after it's Mt. headland) | Bordoy; nearly deserted hamlet (that

didn't get electricity until 1970) full of rough rock & wood turf-roofed cottages OR Skarð | Kunoy; a tiny ghost town

of crumbling stone cottages. Once home to just a handful of families, on Dec 23, 1913 all 7 able-bodied men of the

village went out on a single fishing boat & never returned, forcing most of the remaining women & children to

relocated with the last resident leaving in 1919.

📍 Kvívík Village | Streymoy - one of the oldest in Faroes, with reconstructed foundations of Viking longhouses (9–10c)

📍 Historic Viðareiði (meaning "wood-isthmus") | Viðoy - northernmost settlement in F. I., with stunning bird cliffs;

historical capital of the Northern Islands and one of the oldest Faroese villages, (mention it in Hundabrævið

c.1350), known for distinctive hand-built stone field 'fences' and 1892 Viðareiði Kirkja (church) on the

water with views of Borðoy & Kalsoy, built partly from the stones of an 1831 church of a nearby village.

The interior houses an altar plate dating to 1533, gifted by the German Thomas Koppen (one of the

oldest church artifacts in the Faroe Islands) and British silver*

      Nearby is Cape Enniberg, (meaning "mountain's end"); 2nd highest sea cliff in Europe, @754m (2,474 ft) above

the ocean. Popular with hikers but challenging terrain & unpredictable weather make using a local guide wise. **

📍 Remote Suðuroy - only reachable by boat (or helicopter), was once home to the religious capital of the Faroese

Vikings; the Village of Hov, (meaning "temple") in the shadow of Halgafelli ("holy mountain") Today it's home to the

tiny Myri Museum of Viking history and above the village today is a partially excavated burial, which

legend says belongs to the chieftain Havgrímur, called “blótmaður mikill” meaning "a man who conducted sacrifices,"

no doubt at the nearby Hørg ("sacrificial mound").

        The Turkagravirnar ("The Turks' Graves") north, in Hvalba, also hides evidence of ancient history, speckled stones

of red, green & white called Turkarasteinar ("Turkish Rocks") can be found, believed to be ballast remnants from 17c

Turkish Pirate ships run aground after plundering & kidnapping the Faroese

† Until the mid. 19c believers in Saksun walked all the way to Tjørnuvík on the other side of the island to attend services until that church was found to be in such poor

condition it was advised a new church was needed. Instead of building in Tjørnuvík they chose to build their own church in Saksun using parts of the old church

carried on foot to Saksun

†† 98 silver coins from ~ 1000AD, plus part of a bracelet, from Norway, England, Germany eg.

* In 1847 a British merchant ship, Marwood, lost its rudder during a storm, drifting for three weeks before running aground near Viðareiði, where the locals took

care of the crew. The British Royal Navy donated the church silver to say thank you

** So many have died the village established a memorial grove to honor those who have lost their lives to the sea or fallen from the cliffs

Surprises:

  📍 Lake Sørvágsvatn (or Leitisvatn) the “Floating Lake” | Vágar - the largest lake in the Islands seems to "float" 100's of

          meters above the ocean (the elevation difference is actually only ~30 m). On the drive from/ to the airport is the Nykur;

       a rearing horse-shaped Nix statue marking the legend of a young boy who accidentallyoutwitted the threatening

        creature, saving all his friends.† [Great views of the illusion are found hiking to Trælanípa]

  📍 Europe's Oldest (still-inhabited) Wooden House (@900+ yrs) |  Kirkjubøur Village, Streymoy - called Kirkjubøargarður 

         (possibly the oldest in the world) occupied by the 13th generation of the Patursson family, now a museum.

         The village also has 12c St. Olav’s Church (Ólavskirkjan) oldest, and only medieval church still in use in the F.I. 

     (previously known as Virgin Mary Church) and the ruins of medieval buildings like 14c St Magnus Cathedral, (Magnus-

        katedralurin, dismantled after the Reformation, remains of its interior, such as church benches, are now @ the

        F. I. National Museum, Tjóðsavnið)

  📍 Eysturoyartunnilin (Eysturoy Tunnel) - subsea tunnel, (600 ft below sea level) from Streymoy, with the world's

          1st underwater traffic circle , surrounded by local artwork

.

  📍 Lítla Dímun Island - an isolated island between Sandoy & Suðuroy, often capped by its own fluffy cloud†† Smallest

          of the main 18 isles, the only one that remains uninhabited; for centuries occupied only by sheep; originally black,

         short-tailed & feral, possibly descendants of those brought to during the Neolithic era. Sadly, the

         last of this rare sheep was shot in the 1800s, the island then became a summer home to domesticated sheep

  📍 James Bond's Grave | Kalsoy - not far from the  Kallur Lighthouse, is a tombstone on the spot where the fictional

         legendary British spy met his end in "No Time To Die" (though the actor, Daniel Craig was never on the site, his

          portion of the scene was shot on green screen) The gravestone, saying "The proper function of man is to live, not to

           exist" was erected by local Faroese a few years after the film crew left

  📍 Lake Gróthúsvatn’s Witch Rock | Sandur - According to local folklore, the lake (specifically a near by cave called

       Gívrinarhol = witch's hole) is home to a blind, gold-making witch; every summer, women cover the stone with knit

         'graffiti,' inspired by the famous witch

  📍 Heimablídni - meaning "hospitality"; a Faroese tradition where guests can pay to experience traditional meals in

         local people's homes while often hearing interesting stories about the village

      † The Nix or Nykurin, is a sea creature that's said to live in almost all lakes in the Faroe Islands, with the magically power to transform, often taking the shape of a

          beautiful horse that people can’t resist getting closer to it and wanting to climb up on its back. (similar to a Scottish Kelpie) It emerges from the water to lure

          people close, often children, but the moment someone touches him, they're stuck, and the Nix drags them into the lake, drowning them.

    But there is a trick to getting free, like Rumplestitslkin if you shout his name he will lose his power. One day some village children were playing at the lakeside

          and spotted a beautiful horse. Fascinated they ran towards it and climbed onto its back. The Nix then took off towards the deep part of the lake. One of the boys,

          Hanus, was only 2 or 3, however, and wasn't fast enough to get on the horse, like his friends and older brother. By chance his brother was named Niclas and

          Hanus yelled out  “Brother Nics! “Brother Nics, wait for me!” causing the Nix lost his power, and set the children were free.

     †† A lenticular cloud; stationary clouds typically form over mountain peaks or other protruding landmasses. It's name means "Little Dímun" where "Dímun" may

          have Celtic origins, possibly meaning "double-neck"(with the 2nd neck being nearby island "Stóra Dímun" = "Great Dímun.")