W A L K I N GTHE FAROE ISLANDS

With this walking guide, the Faroe Islands TouristBoard welcomes you to go for walks in ourbeautiful nature. There is nothing like a walkingtrip in the natural environment, where you canenjoy the tranquillity and breathe the fresh air.The Faroes is an exceptional place to travel inbecause there is no need to go far to experienceoutstanding and unspoilt nature. In addition,many interesting places connected to history andtradition can be seen on the routes.

Fauna and Cultural History

In the Faroe Islands, land is divided into infieldand outfield areas. Often divided by a fence, theinfields tend to be close to towns and are oftencultivated, while the outfields are likely to beoutside of towns and are left wild or for grassing.

In the outfields, you can get a feeling of how lifewas for our ancestors.

Stone houses, boathouses, old strips of fields,peat lands and store places for peat remind us ofhow close they lived to nature. You can also seeold fences, fenced cattle runs, stone sheep runs,stone sheepfolds, sheep sheds and Fransatoftir(French ruins), which are the remains of smallhouses, where people sought shelter from thepirates in the old days.

Many birds breed in the outfields: Whimbrels,Snipes, Golden Plovers, Oyster- Catchers, ArcticSkuas, Great Skuas, Ravens and Crows. Sheep,geese and hares are also commonly seen.

Village Paths

All but two of the walks described in this guidefollow the old village paths. These are ancientcommunication routes between villages. Beforethe construction of roads, it was normal to walkbetween the villages, for example to a Thing(local assembly), on trading errands or to thenearest church for services, christenings,weddings and finally, for the last trip - carried ina coffin.

The ancient paths are marked by cairns. As inneighbouring countries, the cairns mark thedirection of the path, so the traveller does not getlost.

The walks up the Klakkur and out to Bsdala-fossur are not along village paths, but alongfootpaths.

The walks in this guide are described for peopletravelling by bus, but of course people travellingby car can also follow the guide. The duration setfor each walk shows how long it takes to walk ata standard walking pace one way. The referredlength is equally one way (except for the foot-paths, where the duration and length is bothways). There are no food breaks and the like. Thereferred map numbers are topographical maps,1:20 000 from Kort og Matrikelstyrelsen, 1991.Maps can be obtained from the bookshopsmentioned in the chapter useful information.The necessity for walking maps differs accordingto the level of difficulty. Please seek advice at thelocal tourist information.

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WELCOME

Publisher & distributor: Faroe Islands Tourist Board, undir Bryggjubakka 17, P.O.Box 118, FO-110 Trshavn, Tel +298 316055,

Fax +298 310858, tourist@tourist.fo, www.tourist.fo Photographers: Absalon Hansen, Guillaume Desmurs og Faroe Islands Tourist Board

Text: Randi Meitil Layout: Reproz Maps: Map extracts are from map of the Faroe Islands 1:100.000 Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen (A 61-03)

Walking the Faroes Islands is at your own risk The Faroe Islands Tourist Board is not liable for printing errors or changes that may occur

www.visit-faroeislands.com

3Respect Nature

Nature is sensitive, which is why it is very im-portant to treat it well and protect it for futuregenerations.

- Follow the cairns or other marks and do not gooff the paths out into the meadow or outfield.

- Close the outfield gates behind you.- Treat the cairns, fences and walls well.- Do not disturb the sheep, birds and plants.- It is prohibited to pick plants or to take stones,eggs, or chicks.

- It is customary to pick up loose wool that the sheep have shed.

- Do not leave your rubbish behind.- Beware of loose stones, especially when there are several of you together.

- Beware of not walking out into marsh land, asit can be deep.

- Dogs must not be taken out into the outfields.- Tents may not be put up in the outfield withoutpermission from the land owners.

- It is prohibited to travel by bicycle or motor vehicle in the outfields or along the cairn paths.

So off we go

- If you travel by bus, be advised to enquire about departure times before you leave. Some bus routes do not have many departures andin addition, changes may be made to the timetable.

- For safety inform your host or the informationoffice about where you are going. And then inform them when you have arrived.

- Always walk with others.- Bring something to drink, food and/or e.g. chocolate.

- Always take a map, compass and whistle withyou.

- There are some areas in the outfield where cellphones (mobiles) cannot be used.

Weather dependent

- Listen to the weather forecast to hear if conditions are favourable for walking.

- Do not walk in fog.- If fog arrives whilst on a walk, it is advisable tokeep to the cairns. If it is so dense that you cannot see between the cairns, it is best to waitby a cairn and keep yourself warm.

- Turn back if all is not well. There is no shame innot finishing the walk.

- Clothe yourself well, preferably with several layers of clothing layer on layer. The weather can quickly change.

You walk from the ferry landing through thetown and then along a partly asphalted gravelroad, starbreytin1 (the Love path), which runsright up to Hlsur. People with cars may parktheir cars there.

Even though the path up to Klakkur is notwell marked, it is very easy to find. Standing atthe outfield gate, you head for the highest pointnorth of you. There is also a cairn that you seestraight away and can use as a landmark. Youstart walking through old peat fields. It is grassyall the way up to Klakkur with scarcely a singletiny stone. This is one of the few places where itis possible to ski in the winter.

Many birds breed here: The Oyster-Catcher,Arctic Skua, Snipe, Golden Plover, Whimbrel,and Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Ravens can alsobe seen, and Rock Pipits inhabit the remains ofpeat stores.

In the valley just south of Hlsur is what theold folk called Vaktini2 (on the watch). Thestory says that it was here that people sat watch-ing out for hostile ships.

When you have nearly come right up themountain and you look down the west side, youcan see Fagral.3 Here, the Folk High School,which was founded in 1889, originally stood, un-til it was moved to Trshavn. Smun av Skari, aFaroese writer and poet, composed the nationalanthem here in 1906.

Arriving at the top of Klakkur, you have anexcellent view in all directions (the way down issteep, so beware). Westwards, you can see Leir-vksfjrur with Gtunes, Mjvanes and, in goodvisibility, also Nlsoy towards the south.Northwards, you can see Kalsoy and the fjordKalsoyarfjrur. You can see three villages onKalsoy. The southernmost is Syradalur, andthen comes Hsar and Mikladalur. Further northis Trllanes, which you cannot see. In front of

you, there is the magnificent Kunoyarnes. Onaverage, Kunoy is the highest island in thecountry. There are six mountains over 800 me-ters. Eastwards, you can see Haraldsund, andfinally you have Klaksvk spread out below you.There were originally four villages here: Upp-slum, Gerum, Myrkjanoyri and Vgi.

When you come down from Klakkur, you seeHalgafelli in front of you and then Hfjall. On theother side of Klaksvk, you see Myrkjanoyrafjalland Kjlin (The Keel, because it looks like thekeel of an upturned boat).

Duration: 3 hours both ways from the ferry landing, 11/2 hours from Hlsur to Klakkur and back.

Difficulty: EasyLength: Almost 10 km (from the ferry landing

and back).Height: 0 m - 413 mMap: 611

KLAKSVK HLSUR KLAKKUR

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5Bus route 400 runs to Fuglafjrur.The trip begins at the information office in the

middle of the town. Walk up the road west of thefootball pitch.

The first stretch of the path is throughmeadow. Above the lowest cairn is a ridge calledRossaryggur1 (The horse back). Traces of the pathare seen winding up it. Fuglafjrur is behindyou and to the west, you can see Blbjrg,Jklaskar, Gjgvarfjall and Nian Hs, wherepeople from Fuglafjrur hid from pirates in theold days. Then comes Nn (where the sun hits atnnbil at 3 p.m.), Breiaskar, Kambur, Trla-vatnaskar, Tyrlar and towards east Ritafjall(Leirvksfjall to people from Fuglafjrur).

The path from Fuglafjrur to Hellurnar iscalled Sjrargta. There is a story about a giantfrom Suuroy who went to Oyndafjrur to testhis strength. No one dared to fight him. Thepeople from Oyndarfjrur urged Sjurur, thefarmer, to challenge the giant. He wanted hisyoungest son, also named Sjrdur, to try. Theywrestled and Sjurur beat the giant. His fatherpaid him well for his deed.

On the way up to Fuglafjararskar,2 you walkalong Malunar Hav (Malans rock). There is astory about a milkmaid named Malan, who waspregnant and was teased by the other milkmaidsfor not keeping up with them. Malan picked upa 176 kg rock and challenged the others to do it.They could not. 100 m west of the path runsNeytakonukeldan (The Milkmaids spring). Themilkmaids tankard, which could be used toquench ones thirst, lay here.

At the top of Skari, you see two large cairns.An old custom is that each time you passSkari, you throw three small stones at thesecairns, while saying: In the Name of the Father,and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This ismeant to protect you from getting lost and to

bless the trip. To the north from Skari, you cansee the village Oyndarfjrur and the mountainsTindur, Knkur and Sandfelli. On the first Sundayin August, it is the custom to hold a publicmeeting on Skari in the open air with speechesand songs.

From Skari, it is possible to extend yourwalk by 40 minutes and walk up to Altari3 onthe top of Rustakambur. From here, there is a fineview of the Northern islands and Norurhavi.

Hulduheyggjar4 lies to the west when you walkdown from Skari. Here, a huldu woman (greyelvish people of the outfield) received help inchildbirth from the midwife from Dalbur inFuglafjrur. The midwife received a goodreward from the huldu folk.

Another story tells about a landownershipstruggle between the Oyndarfjrur farmer andGullbrandur, a farmer in Fuglafjrur. Gullbrand-ur was killed and hidden in Gullbrandshelli5 andlater buried in Gullbrandsleii,6 which this pathpasses.

Approaching Hellur, you walk down Kliv7and down Spreingisbrekka. It is a little steep towalk, until you come to the outfield gate.

Bus route 481 runs from Hellur to Oyndarfjr-ur and Sklabotnur.

FUGLAFJRUR HELLURNAR

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Duration: 2 hours. 40 minutes extra up to Altari.Difficulty: Average. Even slope up to Skari.

It is steeper to walk down to Hellurnar.Length: 9 kmHeight: 0 m - 353 m (Altari lies at 483 m)Map: 512

Bus route 400 runs between Trshavn and Fugla-fjrur to Kambsdalur where the tour begins.

Walk some 300 m from the bus stop to thescouts hall, Kambur.1 The path begins by the riv-er. First, you walk by the old peat strip in theoutfield and by places where peat was stackedby the people of Fuglafjrur.

On Skarsbrgvin,2 you have a panoramicview over Fuglafjrur. To the north of the moun-tains of Fuglafjrur, Nestindar on Kalsoy aresilhouetted against the sky. At the extreme southunder Borgin, a rocky knoll juts out, called Eingil-skahs (The English house). Here, a man keptwatch in hostile times. You can see both north-wards and southwards. Spotting a hostile ship,he ran over Eysturskar to signal the village bylighting a fire.

To the north, you can see some of Djpini, theisland of Kalsoy, Skarsgjgv on Kunoy and Leir-vksfjall. The first carriage road to Leirvk3 washere. By the coastline lies the warm springVarmakelda with its healing qualities. Here,allegedly two girls from Leirvk were taken onboard a Shetlandic ship at the end of the 19thcentury. They were walking from Leirvk to Eii.The girls were never seen again.

By the lake Trlavatn, a colony of lesser black-backed gulls nests in the summer. North of thelake, you come to an old cairn path. The path islevel, but the terrain is uneven and stony. Some100 m south, parallel to the path, there are someboundary cairns,4 which are outfield boundarymarks. Make sure you do not lose your way!

The path splits into two5 when you see Skla-fjrur, Toftavatn, and Nlsoy in the background,The left path goes down to nadalur, and theother goes to the village of Sklafjrur. Thecairns on the path to Sklafjrur can be seenwestwards with Reyafelstindur6 in the back-ground.

Walking down to Tundradalur, it is best to walkby the river on the south side (left side). Fromhere, you can see over to ksnagjgv (a cleft) andTyppafossur7 (a waterfall) on the other side of thevalley. According to a story, this is where thebrute farmer, Ormur bndi Skla, hid the bodiesof the Oyri farmer and his son, whom he hadkilled. Later, he undoubtedly got qualms of con-science and gave himself away by calling out inhis sleep: The clothes lie under the corn and thebodies under Typpafossur.

Another story tells that in ancient times, fourmen from Hattarvk, Flokksmenninir, planned tosubdue the whole of the Faroes. They embarkedon acts of violence, but one day, they werecaptured and sentenced to be thrown off Vala-knkar.8 The sentence was carried out and theywere buried by Tingsteinur9 under Valaknkar.

You can continue from Sklafjrur directly toSelatra (walk no. 5).

From Sklafjrur, the bus route 400 runs toLeirvk, Fuglafjrur and Trshavn. Bus route480 runs from Strendur and route 481 fromOyndarfjrur.

Duration: 2 hoursDifficulty: Average. Somewhat difficult to come up from

Kambsdalur. The path then runs level until you walk down towards Sklafjrur.

Length: 3.5 kmHeight: 0 m - 373 m Map: 511

KAMBSDALUR SKLAFJRUR

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7Bus route 440 runs from Toftir and passesLambareii where the tour begins. If you take bus400 from Trshavn or Fuglafjrur, you canchange to bus 440 at Sldarfjrur, which drivesto Lambareii. From here, you have twopossibilities. The first possibility is to walk 700 mtowards the village of Lamba, where the oldvillage path begins.1 You first go through a whitegate and begin to walk up along the stream. It isa little steep to get up. The other possibility is togo along the asphalt road, which goes down to astone quarry. From there, you can also reach thepath.2

When you have reached the top, you have apanoramic view over Lambavk. The Danish shipNorske Lve got stranded here on New Years Eve1707. It was on its way to the East Indies and astorm came upon them when they were west ofthe Hebrides. From there they were driven to theFaroes. The next day, there was no trace of theNorske Lve.

Some things from the ship can, however, stillbe seen today. The ships clock and a model ofthe ship, which one of the crew made, hang inthe cathedral Havnar Kirkja in Trshavn. Therewere also two planks from the ship. One of themis found in a farmers house in Lamba, and achair is in the local museum Blsastova inNorragta.

If you look southwards, you will see cairnsstanding one after the other along a long stretchtowards Rituvk. You walk along old peat strips.The terrain is flat and good to walk on.

When you approach Rituvk, you can seeNlsoy in the background and south to Eystnes,the wind turbine at Skarhddin, Svangaskar. OnStreymoy, you can see the mouth of Kaldbaks-fjrur.

There is grassy terrain all the way down to theroad in Rituvk.

Bus route 442 runs from Rituvk to Runavkwhere you change to bus 440 all the way toSldarfjrur where you finally take bus 400towards Trshavn.

LAMBA RITUVK

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Duration: 2 hours from the village of Lamba,11/2 hours from the stone quarry.

Difficulty: Easy. A bit difficult from Lamba and up to the top. Later, the trip becomes easy.

Length: 5.3 kmHeight: 30 m - 243 mMaps: 511 and 510

Bus route 400 runs through Sklafjrur fromFuglafjrur, Leirvk and Trshavn. Bus route480 runs from Strendur and route 481 fromOyndarfjrur.

Walk 2 km along the main road through thevillage Sklafjrur until you reach InnaraEnnis,1 which is north of a stone quarry wherethe walk begins. Here, you start walking up. Atthe top of the steep slope, you walk throughstony terrain, Ennisstggur.2 It is advisable tokeep to the path here and watch out for loosestones.

At the top, the path is straight for a longstretch. The terrain is stony at first, then grassy,but there is also some marsh land, where youmust be careful not to walk in the soft soil, as itcan be very deep. You can see much here.Eastwards you can see Stlafjall, Gtueii,Boroyarnes and Sigatind. Northwards, you cansee the high northern mountains of Eysturoy,among others Slttaratindur. On the right, youhave Reyafelstindur, and you can clearly see thespectacular basalt intrusion sill Eysturoyar-syllin. One can imagine the extreme forces ofnature which were working when the lavaemerged up from below and forced itselfbetween the basalt layers over 50 million yearsago.

There is a story about Orm, the farmer fromSkla, who was an evil-doer and a sheep thief. Hehad killed the farmer from Oyrar and his son. Hewas sentenced to death at the Eysturoy Thing, atStevnuvlur. When the sentence was pronounced,Ormur fled and rode along the path that you arewalking. Men followed him. The horse collapsedup the hill, so he had to continue on foot. Then aman with a knife in his hand caught up with himat Selatraskar. He threw the knife at Orm and hithim in the achilles tendon. Orm was arrested,executed and buried at Stevnuvlur, which is a

mound by the river Millum Fjara, some 50-100 msouthwards, where the river Heltnar runs downto Fjarar. From here all the outfield sections, inwhich he had stolen sheep, can be seen.

When you turn towards Selatra, you haveBorgarfelli on your left. You can also see over toStreymoy with Sornfelli and Sklingsfjall west-wards. When you arrive above the plain, you seeto the north Sundalagi, the village Hsvk and tothe south, the fjords Tangafjrur, the mouth ofKollafjrur and the northernmost houses inKollafjrur.

Above the village of Selatra, the path goesnear the path which comes from Skla. Take carenot to change paths! You must keep to the cairnson the path to the right.3 When you have gonedown towards the meadow fences, you cross ariver which runs by a stone sheepfold. Here, yougo through a gate and then down to the villageby way of a cattle track .

Bus route 480 runs from Selatra.

Duration: 3 1/2 hoursDifficulty: Average/difficult. It is steep from the road upwards,

difficult and long to walk. On the top, the walkis reasonably flat. Down to Selatra it is grassy.

Length: 7 kmHeight: 0 m - 360 m Maps: 511 and 510

SKLAFJRUR SELATRA

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9Bus route 400 runs from Trshavn and Fuglafjrurwith a stop in Hvalvk.

The trip begins at the river Myll which runsnorth of the Mission house in Hvalvk. Walk alongthe river, through a gate and through an old fencedcattle way. There is a narrow path along the river onthe north side. The first cairn is some 200 m fromHvalvksgjgv.1

When you have passed Eggjarmli,2 there is afine view through Saksunardalur, the longest valleyin the country. From here, follow the high voltageelectricity line path all the way to Vestmanna.

The first mechanical digger bought by the Faroescame to Hvalvk. It was called the Hvalvkskgvin.On one occasion, the people from Vestmanna wan-ted to borrow it for some work and it was carriedup over Hvalvksskar along this path.

Now, you arrive at a cairn, stacked on a largestone called Kellingarsteinur (witchs stone). At thenext cairn after Kellingarsteinur,3 the path divides.The path south goes to Kvvk and the path northgoes to Vestmanna.

On top of Hvalvksskar, you can see over toMrarnar and one of the first of SEVs dams, built inthe early 1960s. To the south is the mountain rangeEgilsfjall, Goturshlsur, Stan and Sklingsfjall and onVgar, you can see Reynsatindur,Heldarstindur and Havnartindur.

Loysingarfjall is just in front of you.There is an account of a girl in Vest-manna who disappeared from thetown and could not be found. Thenext day, a shepherd found her highup Loysingafjall. She said that a manin white clothes had led her by thehand and fed her. No one knew thisman.Another report is about a youngmilkmaid who disappeared in the

swollen river at Gjgvar.4 She had tripped andfallen and was carried down the large waterfall.There was no thought of her coming out alive fromthe fall. When people at home heard the news, theyimmediately went out to search. But they found nobody. The girl was not dead. Naked, in a bad state,she was lying in the cleft, clinging to a stone. Shecould hear people calling for her, but she did notdare to call out because she was afraid of huldupeople (stone spirits) and trolls. Not until the dayafter when the river had settled down, did she dareto approach the house. It was a miracle that shesurvived the incident.

The cairns and the high voltage electricity linetake you to the left side of Bjendalsgjgv.5 When thepath twists southwards, you should be careful asthere is a steep downwards slope. There are twopossibilities of walking down to Vestmanna. Bythe dam at Foss, the path divides. You can followthe road and walk down to Fjr or you can goover the first dam, follow the cairns and comedown to Vestmanna along Gjgvar (where themilkmaid disappeared) and down toMialsbrekka.6

Bus route 100 runs from Vestmanna to Trshavn.

HVALVK VESTMANNA

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Duration: 3 1/2 hours, down to Fjr in Vestmannaor 4 hours if you walk down along Gjgvar.

Difficulty: Average. From Hvalvk, it is a little difficult to walk upthe mountain. Otherwise, the path is easy to walk.

Length: 10 kmHeight: 0 m - 385 mMaps: 411 and 311

This walking trip starts at the Bnaardepilin1(the farming centre) in Kollfjaradalur. Bus route300 runs from Vgar and route 100 from Vest-manna or Trshavn. The busses from Vgar andVestmanna stop at the Statoil station in Koll-fjaradalur, where you have to change busses.You can also take bus route 400 from Fuglafjr-ur, Leirvk or Trshavn. The bus stop2 is at themouth of the tunnel above Oyrareingir. Fromthere, you walk along the main road to the Bn-aardepilin, about 1 km, until you come to a gateon the left side of the road. From the gate, youfirst walk along a farm road until you come tothe actual village path.

Three rivers run down to Kollfjaradalur bythe Bnaardepilin. The trip begins at themiddle river, Brekk,3 which flows north of theBnaardepilin. Walk along the river and keepthe cairn in sight as a landmark.

You turn northwards5 by the first cairn aftercrossing the old mountain road, Oyggjarvegurin,4a carriage road. At the next cairn, you arrive atSklingsvatn.6 The lake has had other names, oneof which is Nykatjrn (Nixs pond). In earliertimes, people noticed that something alive andabnormally large lived in the lake, and thegeneral opinion was that it must be the Nix. TheNix is a creature that lives in lakes, and is said toresemble a horse. There are reports of peoplewho went to catch it and caught a huge trout intheir nets. In this way, they got rid of the Nix andthe name Nykatjrn.

At the lake, three outfields meet: Norari Skl-ingshagi, Hagin Uttan Fyri Hsini in Leynar andHeygshagi in Kollafjrur. Several paths alsomeet here. They are the old paths coming fromthe south: Oyggjargtan, the path you are walk-ing from Kollfjaradalur to Leynar and the pathto Sklingur.

The mountain north of Sklingsvatn is calledStan. Here, you can see the geological formationThe Streymoy Sill (Streymoyarsyllin), and onecan often see fulmars on the mountain cliffs. South of you is Sklingsfjall. It was first thoughtthat it was the highest mountain in the Faroes,but when the height was measured with moderngauge equipment, it showed the mountain to be100 m lower than the highest. It is the custom toclimb Sklingsfjall on Janskukvld (Midsum-mer Night) to see the sunset and then the sunrisea few hours later.

As you walk further, you will get a view overto the islands Vgar to the west, and later ofKoltur to the south.

The cairns lead you all the way down toLeynar village.

The bus stops at Frammi Tr at the villageStykki just after you cross the bridge.

Duration: 21/2 hours from the bus stop by the mouthof the tunnel in Kollafjrur.

Difficulty: Easy - average. From Kollfjaradalur it is a little difficult up the slope to the cairn, which is inview. The rest of the trip is easy.

Length: 4.4 kmHeight: 0 m - 260 mMap: 410

KOLLFJARADALUR LEYNAR

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Bus route 300 runs from Trshavn to Bur.Follow the road just 3 km west of Bur village,where the walk begins. The road divids - makesure to take the road to the left.

Gsadalur has been one of the most isolatedvillages in the Faroes. It is difficult to get to thevillage by sea and there has been no road, so thispath has been the only connection to the othervillages. Even though the helicopter has flown toGsadalur since 1983, the postman has walkedup the mountain three times a week until the endof February 2003, when the hole was blastedthrough the mountain. The tunnel is expected tobe open for traffic in 2005 at the latest.

The first stretch of the path is steep and runsclose to the edge of the mountain.1 Therefore,walk extremely carefully, but do not forget toenjoy the outstanding view over Srvgsfjrur,Tindhlmur, Gshlmur and Mykines.

There is no church in Gsadalur, therefore theschool is used for services. The cemetery is from1873. Before then, people were buried in Bur.The coffin was carried over the mountain toBur. The trip was very difficult and the onlyplace that the bearers could rest was at the Lk-steinurin2 (the body stone), which you will comeupon in the middle of the tour.

Further on, you come to Keldan Vgda3 (theblessed spring). There is a story that a baby inGsadalur became seriously ill and had to betaken to the doctor in Bur. On the way to Bur,the babys condition worsened and it was aboutto die. According to the Christian faith, your souldoes not gain salvation if you die unbaptised.Therefore, the priest, who was travelling withthem, quickly blessed the spring and baptisedthe baby.

If you continue, you will see Risaspori4 (thegiants footprint). There is a story about two

giants. One lived in Gsadalur and the other inMykines. Once, they quarrelled and the Gsa-dalur giant wanted to go to Mykines to settle thedispute. He took running leaps along the moun-tain, took off and with one leap, he landed onMykines. He took off so hard that you can see hisfootprint to this day.

From Skari, the path twists down the moun-tainside to the village. Beware of loose stones!

In the village, there are ruins from the middleages, Uppi vi Gar and Gsutoftir.

There is a helicopter service to Gsadalur threetimes a week. Seat reservations from the airlinecompany, Atlantic Airways, must be made inadvance.

BUR GSADALUR

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Duration: 21/2 hours. Difficulty: Difficult. The hill Gsadalsbrekkan is

steep and difficult to walk up. It is alsosteep down to Gsadalur. Beware ofloose stones on the path.

Length: 3.5 kmHeight: 100 m - 434 m Map: 210

Bus route 300 runs through Mivgur from Burand from Trshavn.

Get off the bus at the police station1 inMivgur and walk southwards the first stretchthrough the village until you come to the out-field gate. Walking through the village, you willsee in an easterly direction Trllkonufingur (thetroll womans finger). It is a high projecting rockon Sandavgurs side. You now come to theoutfield gate where the path starts.2 You walkalong a lot of peat bogs and remains of peatstores. There are no cairns on the path.

Vatni is the largest lake in the Faroes. It iscalled Leitisvatn as well as Srvgsvatn, but mostpeople call it Vatni.

There are several legends about the enchantedrealm at Vatni. On the way from Mivgur toSrvgur, there was supposed to be a huldumound. One day, a huldu woman (stone spirit)asked a priest to come inside. There were suppo-sed to be many trolls inside. On leaving, thepriest, who knew how to practise witchcraft,made sure to seal the mound so that it could notbe opened again. There was said to be bothmoaning and wailing within.

There has also been a Nix at Vatni. The Nix,which is a creature that lives in lakes, oftenresembles a beautiful horse. It lures people to it,grabs them and then pulls them to the bottom ofthe lake. Once upon a time, children had gone toplay by Vatni. Then a Nix came to them in theshape of a horse and they climbed on its back toplay. The smallest boy, who could not get up,was frightened and called out to his brotherNiklas: Brother Nika (he had not learned to talkyet). The Nix, thinking it to be its name beingcalled, lost its power and disappeared, and thechildren were saved. The Nix loses all its powerwhen called by name.

In ti Svanga3, there are many birds in the sum-mer.

Trlanpa (slave mountain top) is a perpen-dicular rock wall, which juts 142 m straight upout of the sea. Supposedly, it has gotten its namefrom the Viking Age when slaves were pushedoff here. Be careful not to get too close to theedge, it is steep! From here, you can see thesouthernmost part of Stremoy, Hestur, Koltur,Sandoy, Skvoy and Suuroy.

When you arrive right at the edge of Bsdala-fossur, you can see ruins from buildings that theBritish left behind in Vgar after World War II.

You can cross Bsdala by using the steppingstones that are placed in the river. Then you canwalk up to a gorge, where there is a fine view ofthe cliff Geituskorardrangur. You also see the birdcliffs Srvgsbjrgini , Mykines and Mykineshlmurand to the south, you can see Sandoy, Skvoyand Suuroy.

For the trip back, use the path by the lake onthe same side you came. The end of the path isthrough a walled sheepfold.4

Bus route 300 has five bus stops in Mivgur.

Duration: 2 hours there and back.Difficulty: Easy. The walk is level, but it is possible

to climb up some 40 m to a viewpointout at Oyrar.

Length: 5 km there and backHeight: 30 m - 100 mMap: 309

MIVGUR BSDALAFOSSUR

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The walk begins where the roads Landavegur andVelbastavegur intersect. From there, a road goesdown to Sand and passes the farm where thepath to Kirkjubur starts. First you walk up a hill.When you arrive at the top, if you turn round, youwill have a good view over Trshavn and all ofNlsoy.

When you start to walk again, you go roundReynsmli and then you arrive at Reynsmlalg.Two small lakes are in front of you. You may seemany Kittiwakes there in the summer. Follow thecairns and you will see a speakers chair1 built ofrocks. For the past 120 years, open air publicgatherings have been held in this place with wa-ving flags, national speeches and patriotic songscomposed for the occasion. One can imagine howcrowds of people have sat on the hill before thespeakers chair and listened to, amongst others,Jannes Patursson, a pioneer in the Faroese natio-nal movement.

The path continues southwards. On the route,you have a great view of Sandoy, Hestur, Kolturand Vgar. There is a story about Magnus, a youngman from Koltur, who was courting a girl fromHestur. The girls father was not to know aboutthis, so they met in secret. Magnus swam fromKoltur, when the tidal current flowed south-wards, was together with the girl and when thetide turned, he swam back to Koltur. The fatherdiscovered this. One day, as Magnus came ashore,the father stood before him with an axe andthreatened to kill him. The wooer was forced to goback, and he was never heard of again. Undoub-tedly, an eddy took him and carried him out tosea. The story relates that after this, the eddy,which is called Grsarnir, arrived inside Koltur-sund. This must have been an act of revenge.

As you approach Kirkjubur, you will see asmall islet, Kirkjubhlmur, which used to be part

of the mainland and part of the village. Out on theislet, you can still see old ruins of houses.

The path now goes gradually down to the vil-lage and ends at a cattle grid some 50 m from thenearest houses.

Bus route 101 runs from Kirkjubur to Trs-havn.

TRSHAVN KIRKJUBUR

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Duration: 2 hoursDifficulty: Easy Length: 7 kmHeight: 100 m - 230 mMaps: 408, 508 and 509

From Trshavn, the small ferry Ritan sails fromBursatangi, on the eastern side of the harbour, toNlsoy.

The trip starts at the path that runs southwardsfrom Nlsoy village. Just inside the meadow wall,you come upon an area, Korndalur, with many ruinsfrom the old days. These are the Prinsessutoftir.1There is a story about a Scottish Kings daughterwho fell out with her father, because he would notacknowledge the man of her choice and by whomshe was with child. They fled and arrived at Nlsoyand settled here.

A short way outside the meadow wall, you seetraces of the old water pipe. Follow this trail to theold reservoir.2 Here, the cairns begin and soon youwill walk up the slope west of the island. Whereyou walk up, there is a place called Uppi Skipi (Upin the Ship), where people in the old days werehiding from pirates.

Near the top, you come to Hvliplssi3 (the restplace). It is usual to rest here. The view is outstan-ding. You can see the northern islands, Sklafjrur,Sundalagi, all of Trshavn and a little bit of Sandoy.A little further south, at Kagnum4 (the peek), thereis a very good view southwards. The name stemsfrom troubled times when people sneaked out fromtheir hiding places and came to peek southwards tosee if the pirates had left.

From the small spring Kolturskeldan,5 you seeKoltur outlined above Havnardalur.

Out on Boran, the path passes old peat fields.There are cairns all the way out to Nlsoyar Viti, thebeacon at Tumbin. However, some are small and alittle difficult to spot. You can use as landmarks thetwo masts6 that stick up where the lighthousestands. Just north of the house, the British built twoattraps houses to mislead the Germans during thewar.

The beacon, Nlsoyar Viti, was built from 1892-93.At the time, the lens equipment was one of the

largest in the world. The lens is 2.82 m high andweighs around 4 tons. The lighthouse buildings, asthe beacon, are superior workmanship. They arestacked from carved rocks and above the houses,you can see where they collected the rocks. Thehouses were built for three families. When Boranspopulation was at its peak, there were 10 children.Boran alternated with Nlsoy village in havingthe school. No one lives out at Boran now, but alighthouseman walks out there daily. The silhouetteof Kapilin can be seen in front of the beacon.

You can also walk down to Stallurin.7 This is thelanding place where everything which was taken toBoran was unloaded. People from Nlsoy havealso shipped peat from Stallurin. The name Stall-urin (the stall) stems from the boats being able to lieside by side like horses in a stable.

Be careful on your way back, follow the cairns, soyou do not get lost when walking down the hill.Two cairns are placed closely together. The north-ern one is Omansneiingarvarin.8 Turn here, whengoing down.

Duration: 5 hours there and back. 15 min. from Tumbin out to Stallurin.Difficulty: Average. Up to Hvliplssi (rest place) it is steep and a bit

difficult to walk. On the top, it is level right out to Boran. Avoid the soft ground in Langabrekka.

Length: 6 km out to the beacon Nlsoyar Viti and 800 m furtherout to Stallurin.

Height: 0 m - 200 mMaps: 508 and 509

NLSOY BORAN

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Bus route 101 runs from Trshavn to the harbourGamla Rtt. From there, you take the ferry Teistinto Skopun. Take bus route 601 from Skopuntowards Dalur and get off by the small riverGurunarlkur. You can also take bus route 600towards Sklavk and ask to get off at the cross-road Sklavk/Hsavk, then walk 200 m to-wards Hsavk to Gurunarlkur1 along a paththat runs by a sheepfold.

Walk from the sheepfold at Gurunarlkuronwards under the rock ledge to the south. Un-der the rock ledge is Runtaur2 (Runtis skree).The story is that Runti was a sheep thief who hidhimself there. On Christmas Day, he risked leav-ing his hiding place in order to cook himself ameal as he thought that people would not be out.But this was not the case, so he was seen andcaught.

A short way further on, the path comes toKlovnastein.3 These are two stones standing insuch a way that they appear to be a single stonecleaved in two. There was a superstition that ifyou walked between them, you would die beforethe end of the year.

The land you are walking on here is old peatland.

When you curve south at Larkur,4 you get abeautiful view of Dnjavatn5 with Stra and LtlaDmun and Suuroy in the background. You canalso see Salthvdi and the village of Sandur. Alittle north of Stra Dmun is ssursdrangur,named after ssur Havgrmsson, a chief from theViking Age, who was killed by Sigmundur Brest-isson in a power struggle. South of the toweringrock lies Grnaskor. ssur asked to be buried sothat his head faced Grnaskor. In good visibility,you can see all the way to Mykines. To the right,is the island of Skvoy which has a bird life andis worth a visit.

Further up Skarvanes, go through the opening inthe fence closest to the river. Make sure you walkdown between the river and the electricity py-lons and not through the meadow.

From Skarvanes to Dalur

From Skarvanes, there are two parallel paths. Gosouth along the upper one. The path ends by abroken stonewall, and there, the path to Dalurbegins. Past Dalsrk,6 about 1/2 km fromSkarvanes, there is a short steep stretchdownwards. Otherwise, the path slowly inclinesup towards Handasti Vari7 (see the map). Whileyou walk up to Handasti Vari, you can seemarsh land and Vatnsdalur lake on the right.After the last cairn in Dalur, you walk along theroad down to the village.

Bus route 601 runs from Dalur to Skopun.

GURUNARLKUR SKARVANES DALUR

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Duration: 3 1/2 hoursDifficulty: Easy to Skarvanes, average to Dalur.Length: 7.5 kmHeight: 0 m - 100 m (300 m to Dalur)Map: 506

Bus route 702 runs from Sandvk and from Tvr-oyri through Hvalba.

The path starts at Fitjarnar west of Nes inHvalba. First, follow the fence between the mea-dow and the outfield right up to Ltli Hamar.1 Upon the ledge, there is a stone laid path, which isnow grassy. It is called the Priests path, probablybecause it is so wide, that it was never necessaryfor the priest to dismount. The path goes up onKragjgv, where the priest Kri was said to havefallen. The path up the cleft is steep at times,however, it is not difficult to walk. It takes abouthalf an hour to reach the top of the mountain.

Upon arrival, you see Hvalbiarfjall in front ofyou. If you follow the cairns, the first peak youcome to is Ltli slendingur2 and just to the westare Sigmundarsteinar3 (Sigmunds stones). Theyare called Sigmundur, Trur and Einar. If youwalk between them, you will either becomesuddenly old or you will not live out the year.The story is that Sigmundur Brestisson carried thestones up here. Sigmundur was a Viking chiefand is known from the Faroese Saga. He lived inSkvoy around the year 1000. His greatestachievement was to swim from Skvoy to Sand-vk most of the way with two men on his back.

Arriving at slendingur,4 a rise in the terrain bythe highest cairn, there is a magnificent view. To-wards the east, you can see both Dmuns, Skv-oy, and Sandoy. Westwards, you can see a part ofHvalba village, Norbergsvatn, Norbergseii andGrmsfjall in the background. It is now a levelwalk south to Mannagjgv. The third cairn afterMijufjall has its own story. On 1 December 1917,a man from Hvalba went from Tvroyri toHvalba. The weather was good, but after he hadwalked for quite a while, there was a snowstorm.He did not dare to continue, but stopped by thiscairn. To keep warm, he took down the cairn andstacked it up again, hoping that people would

come looking for him. After a long time, when hehad almost given up hope of being helped, andhad sat down, men found him and got himsafely to Hvalba.

Half way between Hvalba and Mannagjgvyou have an exceptional view of Vatnsdalur andVatndalsvatn with two small islets, where thereare many birds during the summer.

The path runs from Mannagjgv down toTrongisvgur.

Bus route 702 runs from Trongisvgur to Sand-vk, Tvroyri and Drelnes.

Duration: 2 hoursDifficulty: Average. It can be a little difficult to walk

up along the cleft Kragjgv, otherwise the path is easy. Be careful as some areas aresteep.

Length: 6.5 kmHeight: 0 m - 350 mMaps: 403 and 503

HVALBA - TRONGISVGUR

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Bus route 700 runs from Sumba, Vgur and fromTvroyri trough ravk. Bus route 703 runs fromFmjin and Froba.

First, walk about 100 m in ravk along the roadto Fmjin. There is a path to the left. Nearly 200 mdown the path, you come to an outfield gate. Fromhere, you can see where the path goes up toMannaskar.

The path continues by Tinggil Uppi Millum Stov-ur,1 where the men from Suuroy held theirThing in the old days. Here, the scenery has acharacter of its own, there are gullies with highpeaked ridges on the sides. Also found here is theThing table, where the story says that the farm-hand Snbjrn in Hvalba was sentenced to fouryears in a labour camp in Bremerholm Copenhagenfor having bought scarves for his true love from asmugglers boat. Snbjrn was, dissatisfied withthe sentence and intended to kill the judge, but in-stead, he hit the sheriff so hard that he died. He es-caped from the Thing place and lived a long timeoutlawed in various places in the cliffs in Suuroy.

It takes some time to walk from Tinggil up toMannaskar. The last stretch up is stony. Be carefulnot to dislodge stones.

There is an excellent view from Mannaskar overDalurin by Vatnsnes and Bessavatn. At Vatnsnes, theelectricity corporation built a dam and drilled a tun-nel in the 1960s, which goes from Vatnsnes anddown to Botnur.2 They breed salmon and trout inthe lake. You can also see the mountain ridges,which at the south starts with Vgfelli. Then comesVgsskar, where this path also, goes and Hvanna-felli. On your right, you have Borgarknappur, amountain where the top resembles a castle from themiddle ages. Four municipalities have boundariesat Borgarknappur Hovs, Porkeris, Vgs and Fm-jins municipalities.

The path goes between the lakes along Vatna-ryggur.3 Here, you can see many birds. There is saidto be many huldu folk here. On the left of the path,

at Vatnaryggur, lies rgidalur.4 Here, The NationalMuseum of History has excavated the ruins of ahouse. The valley was used as an outfield pasture(rgi) in the Viking Age. At that time, it was normalfor people to stay in the outfield pasture in thesummer, looking after the cattle.

There is a story about the scoundrel farmhand,Snopprikkur, who rode along this path and on to-wards Hvalba, followed by the farmer of Laangar-ur in Sumba, whose horse Snopprikkur daringlyhad stolen.

From Vgsskar, the path gradually slopes downuntil it reaches Hvannadalur.5 From there, the des-cent is rather steep. The cairns guide you down toHvannadals. East of the river, some 50 m fromwhere you cross it, there is a byrgi. It is a fenced-inpiece of outfield, which was formerly used to accli-matise foreign sheep. You walk down to Vgur onthe west side of the grove. Notice the remains of anold stone wall down by the river!

Bus route 700 runs from Vgur to Sumba andTvroyri.

RAVK VGUR

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Duration: 4 hoursDifficulty: Difficult. It is difficult to walk to the top of

Mannaskar and Vgsskar. The rest ofthe trip is easy.

Length: 6.6 kmHeight: 30 m - 420 mMaps: 503 and 502.

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USEFUL INFORMATION

The local tourist information offices around the islands also offer information on other organised walks.

Noruroyggjar

Noroyar kunningarstova, Tourist information (T.i.)Nlsoyar Pls gta 32, P.O.Box 269, FO-700 KlaksvkTel +298 456939 Fax +298 456586info@klaksvik.fo

Eysturoy

Eysturoyar Kunningarstova Saltangar (T.i.)Heiavegur, P.O.Box 200, FO-600 SaltangarTel +298 449449 Fax +298 449180infoey-r@post.olivant.fowww.framtak.com/eysturoy

Eysturoyar Kunningarstova Fuglafjrur (T.i.) Bug, P.O.Box 100, FO-530 FuglafjrurTel +298 444860 Fax +298 445180infoey-f@post.olivant.fowww.framtak.com/eysturoy

Streymoy, Nlsoy, Hestur og Koltur

Kunningarstovan (T.i.)Niels Finsens gta 13, P.O.Box 379, FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 315788 Fax +298 316831torsinfo@post.olivant.fowww.visittorshavn.fo

Aldan (T.i.)undir Bryggjubakka 17, P.O.Box 118, FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 316055Fax +298 310858tourist@tourist.fowww.tourist.fo

Vgar - Mykines

Vga Kunningarstova (T.i.)FO-370 MivgurTel +298 333455 Fax +298 333475vagar@post.olivant.fo

Suuroy

Kunningarstovan Tvroyri (T.i.)FO-800 TvroyriTel +298 372480Fax +298 371814sout-inf@post.olivant.fo

Kunningarstovan Vgi (T.i.)FO-900 VgurTel +298 374342infovag@post.olivant.fo

Sandoy, Skvoy og Stra Dmun

Sandoyar kunningarstova (T.i.)FO-210 SandurTel +298 361836 / +298 222078 Fax +298 361256sandinfo@post.olivant.fo

Information of Faroese folk tales

Many walks refer to tales and stories connected tothe mountain paths. The local guides can tell thesestories and information in English and Danish is alsoavailable at the local libraries.

Tour organisers

Faroe TrekkingSlttal 4, FO-100 TrshavnTel +298 320404trekking@trekking.fowww.trekking.fo

Frernes GuideforeningTel +298 223249

GreenGate Incomingundir Bryggjubakka 3, FO-100 TrshavnTel +298 350520, Fax +298 350521info@greengate.fo, www.greengate.fo

Smyril-Line Incoming J. Broncks gta 37, P.O.Box 370, FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 345936, Fax +298 345950incoming@smyril-line.fowww.smyril-line.fo

Flogfelag Froya IncomingHoydalsvegur 17, P.O.Box 3225, FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 340052, Fax +298 340051incoming@ff.fo, www.ff.fo

Public transportation

Strandfaraskip Landsins (buses & ferries)Yviri vi strond 4, P.O.Box 88, FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 343030, Fax +298 343003ssl@ssl.fowww.ssl.fo

Atlantic Airways (helicopter)Vagar Lufthavn, FO-380 SrvgurTel +298 341060, Fax +298 341061booking@atlantic.fowww.atlantic.fo

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Clothes and equipment

Local clothing and sport shops have a wide range ofequipment. For further information, contact the localtourist information office.

Bookshops

H.N. Jacobsens Bkhandil, Trshavn,Tel +298 311036

SMS, Bkaslan, Trshavn,Tel + 298 319575

Hjalmar Jacobsens Bkahandil, Trshavn,Tel + 298 311584

Bkabin, Saltangar,Tel +298 449292

Alfabkahandilin, Klaksvk,Tel + 298 455533

Leikalund, Klaksvk,Tel +298 457151

Sandoyar kunningarstova (T.i.), Sandur,Tel +298 361836 / +298 222078

Eldhs, Sandur,Tel +298 36 10 02

Suuroyar Heimavirki, Vgur,Tel +298 373960

Most tourist information offices sell maps.

undir Bryggjubakka 17 P.O.Box 118 FO-110 TrshavnTel +298 316055 Fax +298 310858 tourist@tourist.fo www.tourist.fo

www.visit-faroeislands.com