islands

Even for many seasoned travelers, the Faroe Islands remain something of an enigma. The islands—about halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the Atlantic Ocean—are simply a curious speck on the map when flying between the U.S. and Europe.

Those who do make the effort to visit are rewarded with wild, windswept lanscapes, traditional coastal communities and rare wildlife.

If getting to the rugged Faroe Islands was easier, there would be far more visitors. Yet new direct flight routes from Norway and France have brought more visitors than ever before to the islands.

New hotels in the capital Toshavn are just about keeping pace with demand during the summer. But this is no bustling place. Even in the middle of summer, it’s easy to find total isolation in unspoiled nature.

If you’re keen on visiting the Faroe Islands, there are direct flights to Vágar airport year-round from Denmark and many other seasonal options. For the adventurous, you can also travel by ship from Denmark or Iceland.

Faroe Islands by air

Atlantic Airways is the island’s main airline, operating daily flights to and from Copenhagen in Denmark year-round. On most days there is a departure in the early morning, early afternoon and early evening to Torshavn. Return times are typically early morning, mid-afternoon and late evening.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) also runs flights from Copenhagen. Although not as frequent as Atlantic, the SAS departures can prove useful when connecting from SAS flights or other Star Alliance member airlines including Air Canada, Lufthansa and United.

The SAS flights vary upon season, however. In the spring and summer there are daily flights up to