Faroe Islands
"The place where the weather changes every ten minutes and every change is beautiful."
The Faroe Islands sit halfway between Norway and Iceland, a self-governing territory of Denmark that feels like its own planet. Eighteen islands of vertical green cliffs, grass-roofed houses, and sheep that outnumber people seventy thousand to fifty-four thousand. The weather is horizontal rain, sudden sun, fog that erases mountains, and light that breaks through clouds in shafts that look deliberately placed. Nothing about this landscape is moderate.
Drive the tunnels between islands — some plunging beneath the ocean floor — and every emergence brings a new composition of cliff, sea, and sky. The village of Gasadalur clings to a cliff above a waterfall that drops directly into the Atlantic. Mykines island, reached by ferry or helicopter, is home to puffin colonies so dense the hillsides move. Torshavn, the capital, is one of the world’s smallest, with a turf-roofed parliament that has met since the Viking age.
When to go: May through August for puffins, the longest days, and the most accessible weather. June and July are best for Mykines. The islands are dramatic year-round, but winter access can be disrupted by storms. Bring layers for every season.