Faroe Islands
Torshavn
A capital you can walk across in an hour, where the government still works from turf-roofed timber houses on the rock where Norse settlers held their assembly.
Torshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands, a self-governing North Atlantic archipelago of the Danish realm between Iceland, Norway and Scotland, and one of the smallest capitals anywhere. Its old heart is Tinganes, a rocky tongue of red-painted, turf-roofed government houses where a Norse assembly met more than a thousand years ago. Around it sit a harbour of fishing boats, an old fort and a national gallery out of all proportion to the town, and it is the natural base for day trips by road, undersea tunnel and ferry to sea cliffs, seabird islands and grass-roofed villages.
Suggested stay
3–6 days
Language
Faroese, Danish
Currency
DKK
Timezone
UTC+1
Why you'll love Torshavn
Tinganes the Faroese government still works from red-painted timber houses with grass on their roofs, on the bare rock where Norse settlers held the islands' first assembly
The old town the lanes of Reyni wind uphill from the harbour between black-tarred houses, white window frames and turf roofs, a lived-in quarter rather than a museum piece
Art out of scale the national gallery, in the town's planted woodland park, holds Mikines's storm-lit seascapes and a strong line of Faroese painters who followed him
Islands on the doorstep undersea tunnels and small ferries put bird cliffs, grass-roofed villages, puffin colonies and waterfalls dropping into the sea within an hour or two
Best time to visit
Aug
13-13° days
62.010° N, 6.772° W
UTC+1 · Atlantic/Faroe
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Weather & when to go to Torshavn
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Aug
Hiking prime Jun-Aug
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Torshavn
December to March grade avoid: the darkest, wettest and stormiest stretch, with only a few hours of daylight around midwinter and ferries at the mercy of the wind. April to July and September to November grade ok and August is the one great month, but fog can close a mountain walk or cancel a Mykines crossing in any season.
Top things to do in Torshavn
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Tinganes - government on the parliament rock
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe rocky peninsula splitting the harbour in two has been the islands' meeting place since the Norse assembly first gathered here, and the Faroese government still works from its red-painted, turf-roofed timber houses. It is open to wander: narrow lanes run between ministers' offices, many rebuilt after a fire in 1673, down to the flat rocks at the tip.
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Reyni - the old town lanes
history scenicBehind Tinganes, the old quarter climbs in a tangle of narrow alleys and tiny squares lined with black-tarred houses, white window frames and grass roofs. It is still lived in, and a short loop takes in Havnar Kirkja, the 18th-century church that serves as the town's cathedral, by the western harbour.
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Skansin - the harbour fort
history 👍 PopularA grassy earthwork fort on the headland above the eastern harbour, first built in 1580 by Magnus Heinason to keep pirates out of the bay. The British made it their headquarters during the Second World War occupation, and two of their naval guns still point out to sea beside a small lighthouse, looking across to Nólsoy.
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National Museum of the Faroe Islands - the Kirkjubøur pew ends
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedTjóðsavnið, in Hoyvík on the north side of town, tells the islands' story from Viking-age finds to fishing boats and village life. Its treasure is a set of carved medieval pew ends from the church at Kirkjubøur, returned from Denmark. The open-air half, the Hoyvíksgarður farm, is a turf-roofed farmstead kept as it was worked.
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Listasavn Føroya - Mikines and the Faroese painters
culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedThe national art museum sits at the edge of Viðarlundin, the town's planted woodland park, and is the place to see Sámal Joensen-Mikines, the Mykines-born father of Faroese painting, whose dark seascapes and funeral scenes catch the islands' light and weather. Later painters fill the other rooms, and the stream walk through the park makes a calm hour either side.
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Nordic House - concerts under a turf roof
culture artsA grass-roofed cultural centre on the north edge of the centre, built into the landscape as a meeting place for Nordic culture and now the islands' main stage for concerts, theatre and exhibitions. Check what is on: an evening of Faroese folk, jazz or classical music here is one of the best ways into the local scene.
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Kirkjubøargøta - the old path to Kirkjubøur
hiking scenicThe old footpath south leaves from the edge of town and crosses open moor and cairn-marked upland before dropping steeply to Kirkjubøur and its medieval church ruins, with the islands of Hestur and Koltur ahead. Allow two to three hours one way, go only in clear weather, and arrange a lift or check the sparse bus back.
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Ólavsøka - the national festival
culture artsAt the end of July Torshavn fills for Ólavsøka, the Faroese national festival: a procession to the opening of the Løgting, rowing races in the harbour, crowds in national dress and, late on the final night, a mass chain dance singing the old ballads in the streets. Beds in town are scarce that week.
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Skerpikjøt and ræst - the Faroese table
foodFaroese cooking is built on preservation: skerpikjøt is mutton wind-dried for months in slatted sheds called hjallur, and ræst is fish or meat left to ferment in the salt air until pungent. Try them alongside fresh cod, lamb and langoustine in town, or book a heimablídni, a meal served in a family home, on a trip out to the villages.
Best areas to stay in Torshavn
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Central Torshavn and the harbour
First-time visitors $$Compact harbourfront old town
Explore hotels in Central Torshavn and the harbour →
Hoyvík and the northern hillside
Drivers & views $$$Quiet residential slopes above the fjord
Explore hotels in Hoyvík and the northern hillside →
Nólsoy
Island quiet $$Small island village across the fjord
Explore hotels in Nólsoy →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Torshavn
Getting to & around Torshavn
Getting there
Fly into Vágar Airport on the next island west, then about 45 minutes by road through an undersea tunnel, or sail in on the ferry from Denmark or Iceland
Flight
Vágar Airport (FAE)
Just under 50 km by road, through the undersea tunnel from Vágar to Streymoy and along the fjords. The 300 bus runs to the terminal on Torshavn harbour in about an hour; a hire car or taxi takes around 45 minutes. Most flights come from Copenhagen.
Ferry
Torshavn ferry terminal
Smyril Line's Norröna sails from Hirtshals in northern Denmark, a crossing of around a day and a half, and on to Seyðisfjörður in east Iceland, docking beside the old town
Cruise
Torshavn harbour
Cruise ships call through the summer, tying up within walking distance of Tinganes
Getting around
Walking
Tinganes, Reyni, Skansin and the harbour sit within minutes of each other; the gallery and national museum are a longer walk uphill
Free
City bus
Torshavn's red city buses loop the town and suburbs, including Hoyvík and Argir, at no charge
Free
Intercity bus
Blue buses run from the harbour terminal to the airport, Vestmanna and villages across the linked islands, but sparsely, especially on weekends and outside summer
TBC
Ferry
Public ferries leave the harbour for Nólsoy and for the long crossing to Suðuroy in the far south
TBC
Hire car
The easiest way to reach the day trips; the main undersea tunnels are tolled, some older tunnels are single-lane with passing bays, and sheep wander onto the roads
TBC
Day trips from Torshavn
Kirkjubøur
Half dayMedieval church village
The islands' medieval seat of bishops keeps the roofless Gothic walls of the never-finished Magnus Cathedral, Ólavskirkjan, a 12th-century church still in use, and Roykstovan, a turf-roofed farmhouse worked by the same family for centuries, all on a strip of shore facing Hestur and Koltur.
Getting there
car | walk
About 20 min by car south over the hill, or 2-3 hours on foot by the old path
Nólsoy
Full dayIsland village and lighthouse
The island that shelters Torshavn's harbour has one small village with a gate made from whale jawbones, and a long moorland walk south to the lighthouse at Borðan. In summer a huge storm-petrel colony returns to the island after dark, seen on guided late-evening walks.
Getting there
ferry | walk
About 20 min by ferry from the harbour, then on foot
Vestmanna bird cliffs
Half daySea-cliff boat trip
Boats from Vestmanna on the west coast of Streymoy nose into caves and narrow sounds beneath sheer cliffs several hundred metres high, loud with nesting fulmars, guillemots and, in season, puffins. Trips run in the summer half of the year and turn back when the swell is up.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
About 40 min by car or bus to Vestmanna, then a boat tour
Saksun
Half dayTurf-church hamlet
A handful of turf-roofed farm buildings and a small church stand above a tidal lagoon closed in by steep green walls. At low tide you can walk the sand toward the sea, but the tide returns fast, and the land around the farm is private, so keep to the marked way.
Getting there
car
About 45 min by car north across Streymoy
Gásadalur and Sørvágsvatn
Full dayWaterfall and cliff lake
On Vágar, the Múlafossur waterfall pours off a cliff into the sea below the tiny village of Gásadalur, which had no road until its tunnel opened. Nearby, the walk beside Sørvágsvatn ends at the Trælanípa cliff, where the lake seems to hang above the ocean; that route crosses private land and charges a hiking fee.
Getting there
car
About 1 hr by car west through the Vágar undersea tunnel
Mykines
Full dayPuffin island
The westernmost island is the one people cross the archipelago for: puffins nest in their thousands on the grassy slopes out to the Mykineshólmur lighthouse, reached by a footbridge over a sea gorge. They are there roughly May to August; the ferry depends on the swell, and walkers pay a landowner fee and should book ahead.
Getting there
car | bus | ferry | flight
About 1 hr by car or bus to Sørvágur, then roughly 45 min by ferry, or a short helicopter hop
Gjógv and Slættaratindur
Full dayGorge village and summit
Gjógv, at the northern tip of Eysturoy, takes its name from the sea-filled gorge that serves as its harbour, ringed by grass-roofed houses. On the way the road crosses the pass below Slættaratindur, the islands' highest peak, a steep walk to a summit that on clear days shows most of the archipelago.
Getting there
car
About 1 hr by car north through the Eysturoy undersea tunnel
A little history of Torshavn
Torshavn, Thor's harbour, began as the place where the Norse settlers of the Faroes gathered for their assembly on the Tinganes rocks, a sheltered landing between two small bays. For centuries it was a meeting and trading place more than a town: under Norwegian and then Danish rule the royal trade monopoly ran from warehouses on Tinganes, and Skansin fort was raised in 1580 to guard the bay against pirates.
The town grew once the monopoly ended in 1856 and a fishing economy built on sloops and later trawlers took hold. Britain occupied the islands during the Second World War while Denmark was under German control. A narrow vote for independence in 1946 was set aside, and the Home Rule Act of 1948 made the Faroes a self-governing nation within the Danish realm, with Torshavn as its capital. In 1973 the islands chose to stay out of the European Community when Denmark joined.
Norse settlers hold the islands' assembly on the Tinganes rocks
Magnus Heinason builds Skansin to defend the harbour against pirates
Fire sweeps through Tinganes, whose timber houses are rebuilt on the same rock
Denmark abolishes the Løgting, the islands' ancient parliament, later restored in 1852
The Danish royal trade monopoly ends, opening the way for Torshavn's growth
Britain occupies the Faroes after Germany invades Denmark, and Skansin becomes a British base
The Home Rule Act makes the Faroes self-governing within the Danish realm
The Faroes stay outside the European Community when Denmark joins
An undersea road tunnel links Vágar and its airport to Streymoy
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F / K
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+298
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Torshavn
▸ When is the best time to visit Torshavn?
August grades great, the mildest and most settled month. April to July and September to November grade ok: early summer brings near-endless daylight and the puffins, autumn turns wetter and windier. December to March grade avoid, with heavy rain, storms and only a few hours of daylight around midwinter. The weather can change within minutes in any month, so plan slack days.
▸ When can you see puffins from Torshavn?
Roughly May to August, when they nest on Mykines and on the cliffs seen by boat from Vestmanna; by the end of August most have left for the open sea. Mykines is the place to see them close up, but its ferry depends on the swell, so leave spare days rather than booking it on your last one.
▸ Do I need a car in the Faroe Islands?
Not for Torshavn itself, where the centre is walkable and the red city buses are free. Beyond town, blue intercity buses and public ferries reach most villages but run sparsely, so most visitors hire a car for the day trips. Drive slowly: some older tunnels are single-lane with passing bays, and sheep graze by the roads.
▸ Is Torshavn expensive?
Yes. The Faroes are among the pricier corners of the Nordic region, with limited hotel stock that fills in summer, costly restaurant meals and hiking fees on some popular routes across private land. Supermarket food, self-catering rentals and the free city buses help, and booking beds and a car early matters more than hunting for deals.
▸ What currency do the Faroe Islands use, and are they in the EU?
The Faroese krona, issued at par with the Danish krone; Danish notes and coins are accepted everywhere and cards work almost everywhere too. The islands belong to the Danish realm but not to the EU, so EU roaming allowances may not apply and customs rules differ from Denmark's.
▸ How many days do you need in Torshavn?
One or two days cover the town itself. Plan three to six to use it as a base for Vágar and Mykines, the Vestmanna cliffs, Saksun and the northern villages, with room for fog and cancelled ferries.