The Faroese often open their homes to share traditional crafts, food, and conversation.
Here’s how to plan a perfectly local trip.
A river fell steeply from the mountains to the harbor.
A marina in Tórshavn.Line Klein
But I had come to learn about Faroese knitting.
Almost all Faroese families keep sheep.
Susanna has collections of the oldest patterns and uses them in her own designs and to teach students.
From left: Anna and Óli Rubekson prepare a heimablídni meal for guests; monkfish ceviche, mussels, and salt-cod fritters at Barbara Fish House.Line Klein
Local people invite travelers to their homes to share traditional skills and food in exchange for modest payment.
Some families can be contacted directly, while others take bookings through the islands' tourist board.
Local people invite travelers to their homes to share traditional skills and food in exchange for modest payment.
From left: The dining room at Koks, which sits at the foot of the mountains near Lake Leynar; a traditional turf-roof house in Tórshavn.Line Klein
Some families can be contacted directly, while others take bookings through the islands' tourist board.
I slept with the windows and curtains open and woke with the subarctic summer sunrise in the early hours.
At around 5 a.m.
From left: Múlafossur waterfall, on Vágar, one of the Faroe Islands, crashes into the Atlantic from a height of more than 100 feet; Koks, a Michelin-starred restaurant that serves a tasting menu centered around Faroese ingredients.Line Klein
I set out for a run up the hill above Torshavn and out along the road above the sea.
Is anyone talking about race?
Seabird populations across the North Atlantic have collapsed, partly because of climate change.
From left: Tórshavn’s old town; Maud Wang Hansen with produce from her garden.Line Klein
The rocks rose gray and tapering as Gothic cathedrals.
In sunlight the water was brilliant blue and the hills bright green.
A few white birds flashed, not enough.
Everyone I met envied my booking at the Michelin two-starred restaurant Koks.
The road ended at the edge of Lake Leynar, where the taxi driver gestured toward a wooden hut.
Go in there, he said, and someone will come.
No roads, no houses.
Flowers and native plants brought unexpected flavors: bilberries, reindeer lichen, wild herbs, dulsepanna cotta.
The magic of strangers breaking bread together worked again.
Happily the next day was going to include the first of my long hikes.
The magic of strangers breaking bread together worked again.
We swapped tips about hiking routes, camping places, an elusive micro-bakery.
Pale fish hung drying under black eaves, and again villagers were bringing in the hay.
The next day I took the boat to Nolsoy to meet Maud Wang Hansen.
She teaches sustainable agriculture and offers lunches from her garden to visitors in the house built by her grandparents.
Then there was steamed cod with charred cauliflower, cheese, and another rhubarb cake.
Pale fish hung drying under black eaves, and again villagers were bringing in the hay.
We climbed steeply out of the village as the fog shifted, cleared, returned around us.
Hotel Froyar: The rooms and suites of this Torshavn hotel are large and light-filled.
KoksItbooks up months in advance and lives up to its Michelin two starred fame.
Expect fish prepared in unusual ways.
A meal at the home of Annaand Oli Rubeksen in Velbastaur can be arranged throughtheir website.
On Nolsoy,Maud Wang Hansenserves dishes using produce from her garden.
Sjoferir Boat Tours: Cruises along the cliffs leave from the village of Vestmanna.
A version of this story first appeared in the February 2022 issue ofTravel + Leisureunder the headlineThe Friendly Faroes.
